Missionary's widow forgives her family's murderers
The situation in India remains tense following the murder of Australian
missionary Graham Staines and two of his sons by Hindu extremists.
Hundreds of millions witnessed Gladys Staines, Graham Staines' widow,
forgive her family's murderers in the name of the gospel on Indian
television - a scene which moved many to tears "and may have achieved more
for the gospel in India than many years of missionary work", according to
an Indian evangelist.
Afraid of Christianity?
The election of a Hindu majority government around 1 year ago boosted
militant right-wing Hindu groups and gave them astonishing freedom. The
groups are often driven only by a fear of "a triumph of the West and its
religion, Christianity", according to local observers. Hindu splinter
groups such as the RSS recruit mainly dissatisfied 15- to 30-year-old
single men, train them in groups which then burn churches and disrupt
evangelistic events etc. The groups' main motive seems to be fear, as
demonstrated by a newspaper report stating that "Hindutva lobbyists are
worried that Christians, of which there are now officially 23 million,
will soon outnumber the Hindus, currently numbering 820 million." For some
years, it has mainly been Indian Christians which have started to shake
the power-based Indian political system as never before through prayer,
evangelisation, Christian schools and church planting. "It is simply the
fear of members of the 'High Castes' that Christians will destroy their
power structures, for example by making the masses aware of their rights,"
said another newspaper report.
'Hinduistic' Dalits continue to become Christians
Behind the tensions lies also the smouldering caste conflict between the
underprivileged Dalits and the overprivileged Brahmans and other members
of the so-called "High Castes". Most of India's Christians are from the
low castes, and many of the 260 million Dalits are playing with the
thought of turning their back on Hinduism, which has brought them little
more than suffering and scorn, with the 'hope' of many future
reincarnations in a similar social position.
A Christian Prime Minister soon?
The Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party under Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, which attained power one year ago, is trying its best to create
a moderate image. In view of its tolerance of anti-Christian events, these
efforts are not convincing even in India itself. Most opinion polls show
that the next Prime Minister will be Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born
Catholic widow of previous Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Even the BJP is
afraid that the next Prime Minister will be a Christian, according to a
high-ranking member of the Congress Party. Most foreigners visiting the
present Prime Minister also visit Sonia Gandhi in Janpath Road in Delhi.
Source: various, including EA Religious Liberty, Mark Albrecht, e-mail
MarkAlbrecht@xc.org, and www.newsroom.org