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Christians express concern over violence in India


  Bishop S.S. Singh addresses participants at the Global Christian Forum meeting Nov. 8-11 in New Delhi, India. UMNS photos by the Rev. W. Douglas Mills. 

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

Nov. 20, 2008


A choir performs during Sunday worship service Nov. 9 at Centenary Methodist Church in New Delhi, India.

Christians gathering in New Delhi have promised not to forget the persecution their Indian brothers and sisters have suffered in recent months.

The killing of a Hindu nationalist leader on Aug. 23 sparked waves of anti-Christian mob violence in the state of Orissa, displacing tens of thousands from their homes and causing nearly 50 deaths. Thousands of homes and scores of churches were burned.

“It’s a heart-wrenching story of interreligious conflict,” the Rev. W. Douglas Mills, an executive with the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, told United Methodist News Service.

Mills was among about 50 participants meeting in India Nov. 8-11 at the Global Christian Forum. They represented a wide range of Christian traditions as well as every region of the world.

Two representatives of the National Council of Churches in India -- Bishop Taranath Sager of the Methodist Church of India, who serves as its president, and Bishop D.K. Sahu of the Church of North India, the council’s top executive – spoke to forum participants about the plight of Christians there. Also addressing the topic were Bishop S. S. Singh, president of the Council of Bishops of the Methodist Church of India, and the Rev. Richard Howell, top executive of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

Although Maoist rebels allegedly have claimed responsibility for the deaths of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and five junior monks, Christians were immediately blamed for the killings by the Hindu majority.

Because of the violence, an estimated two-thirds of the state’s 100,000 Christians in the Kandhamal District left their villages to take refuge in 14 relief camps or the homes of relatives, with some simply hiding in the jungle.

Protests by Christians

Christians across India have protested the violence with rallies, letters and appeals to the government. About 45,000 church-related schools, colleges and educational institutions closed in a protest on Aug. 29 and a day of prayer was observed on Sept. 7.


Concern has been raised over recent attacks on Christians
in India.

The National Council of Churches in India has coordinated through the Utkal Christian Council and National United Christian Forum to reach the victims of violence in Orissa by advocating for peace and helping with relief efforts and the rebuilding of houses, churches and institutions.

Mills drafted the forum’s pastoral letter to Christians and the churches of India, which “expressed our solidarity and our concern,” he added. However, he conceded there was not much they could do. “We spent some time in prayer and promised to tell their story when we got home,” Mills said.

The letter condemned all acts of violence, but also found encouragement in “the overwhelming response and support expressing solidarity with the victims of violence that has come from many quarters of India and that has transcended the barriers of religion. This support speaks well of the spirit of tolerance and understanding between religious traditions that is the tradition of Indian society.”

Forum participants expressed concern for the fear and trauma experienced by victims of violence and the unhealthy living conditions found in relief camps where many have sought shelter. “We appeal to those in leadership in the country to use their offices to provide support and relief and to help those who are displaced reconstruct their lives,” the letter said.

Delegation meets prime minister

A four-member religious delegation -- which included Sager and the Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya and top executive of the World Council of Churches – met Oct. 18 with Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, about the violence.

According to Ecumenical News International, Kobia said during a press conference following the meeting that Singh told him federal assistance would be provided to rebuild churches and Christian houses destroyed in violence and that peace would be restored in the region.

Pledging protection to religious minorities, Singh said Christians would be able to return to their villages and practice their faith without fear, Kobia added. Some Christians are said to have been forcibly converted to Hinduism by violent groups.


The Rev. W. Douglas Mills

Sagar called the violence “a systematic campaign,” according to ENI. “The attacks on Christians are really vicious; they are simply being slaughtered like lambs,” he said.

The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries also has expressed solidarity with Christian groups and mission partners in India, including the Methodist Church of India and National Council of Churches in India.

On Sept. 26, six bishops, including Singh and Sagar, and the other clergy and lay members of Methodist Church in India’s executive committee sent a letter to President Pratibha Patil expressing anguish over the violence against Christians and calling for “serious steps to maintain law and order.” The church has 2,460 congregations and also maintains schools and other social institutions.

The letter from Methodist leadership noted that “even social workers, women and children are not spared and subjected to cruelty, humiliation and are denied their fundamental rights. Needless to say, that is a clear violation of human rights and an open discrimination against a peace-loving Christian community who never retaliates . . . Because of all this, the very social fabric of our secular society is fragmental, and cordial relationship that exists with other communities is also disturbed.”

Forum considers its future

The New Delhi meeting of the Global Christian Forum -- which operates independently from other ecumenical structures – focused on assessing its larger 2007 gathering in Kenya and considering proposals for the future, according to Mills.

Three independent groups who presented evaluations of the forum “all said essentially the same thing,” he added. The Global Christian Forum is highly regarded, operates in a style “right for the time” and should continue, the reports said.

Because the forum draws participants beyond those of organizations such as the World Council of Churches, it offers United Methodists a way to connect with Evangelicals and Pentecostals. “The United Methodist Church exists in many places where the Global Christian Forum is more representative of the region than the traditional ecumenical movement,” Mills explained.

In a statement from the meeting, the forum noted that “its distinctive practice of focusing on the sharing of faith stories of living relation with Jesus has proved a powerful way to build relationships of mutual trust and respect among the widest possible range of Christian groups.”

Upholding that distinctiveness was one of five key objectives identified during the meeting, along with pursing activity at the local, national, regional and global levels – including a global meeting in 2011; upgrading communication and promotional capacity; establishing a “Friends of the Forum” network and further defining plans for an operational budget.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Audio

The Rev. W. Douglas Mills: “… a heart-wrenching story of interreligious conflict….”

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Resources

National Council of Churches in India

Commission on Christian Unity

Global Christian Forum


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