Hindu leader calls for beheading those who preach to Hindus

[SmashTheRight]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Behead-those-who-convert-Hindus--Togadia/872403/


VHP international general secretary Pravin Togadia on Monday called for a new Indian Constitution that allows for “anyone who converts Hindus to be beheaded”.

Workers of the VHP from across the country had gathered here, many of them staying in the dargah premises for the three-day conference, causing a lot of anxiety for the police, Monday being Eid-ul-Azha.

Asaram Bapu’s son Narayan Sai, who also came for the concluding ceremony on Monday, said, “I would suggest that we Hindus should include Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains because their line of thinking is no different from Hindus, except for a few small habits.”

[Maccagirl]

1. What century are we living in again?

n/t

[MisterP]

11. the 21st: this sort of Hindu fundamentalism is a 20th/21st-century phenomenon

[Mazdak]

25. I wouldn't call it Hindu Fundamentalism

Hindu "fundamentalism" if it can even be called that is linked to the idea of anti-colonialism, both British and Islamic. India, a predominantly Hindu nation had been ruled by Muslims and Christians for centuries, during which tens of millions died, were forced to convert, or were otherwise persecuted. This guy might have a chip on his shoulder due to India's past, but he's not speaking for Hinduism or Hindus.

Hinduism is obviously a peaceful religion, and there's no sanction for murder in Hinduism.

[Will Miller]

2. He is only one person

And he doesn't represent all Hindus.

Hinduism is by far one of the most peaceful and inoffensive religions on the planet.

[bananas]

4. Yes! Abolutely correct! nt

[HopeHoops]

3. That seems a wee bit harsh.

Although the thought has crossed my mind when the Jesus freaks in uncomfortable shoes come around. I have to wonder if they've ever actually gotten anyone to go to any of their churches by handing out their coloring books and asking for donations.

On Edit: When we lived in NH, my wife answered the door to a pair from some church and one of them asked her if we had a bible in the house. My wife answered, "yes, which version?" The two just stood there like they were in suspended animation. Apparently it had never crossed their feeble minds that there might be more than one version. We've got somewhere around ten versions just for reference purposes, and a beautiful Qu'ran as well.

[Donnachaidh]

5. while the beheading is wrong, perhaps he should call for the jailing of the converters

After all, what gives them the right to try to convert people from their beliefs?

[ZombieHorde]

6. Are you trying to convert us to your belief that perhaps he should be calling for the jailing of the

converters? What gives you the right to try to convert us?

[Donnachaidh]

7. oh please

let's leave the neener neener responses in the schoolyard. :eyes:

[ZombieHorde]

8. I am pointing out how thoughtless your response is.

Converting people means you're telling people why they would benefit to think differently about a subject. Locking people up for that is extremely authoritarian and absurd. Just think about it for a little while.

[Deep13]

15. "As a Muslim, you will no longer be 'untouchable'."

Throw the book at him!

[LeftishBrit]

22. People might well find attempts at conversion irritating...

however, it should not be a criminal offence.

[Deep13]

9. Funny, I was just reading about Hindu nationalism...

and how it considers the religions it mentions as "Hindu," but anything Abrahamic, including millions of Muslim Indians, is foreign. I suspect this is in reaction to the steady stream of low caste or out caste conversions to Islam.

[LeftishBrit]

10. Sigh, Too many people think that violence is justfied in the cause of religion

Which in part is due to the frequent actual or perceived association between religion and nationality. In any case it's depressing.

[Vehl]

12. Never even heard of this guy,nor do I condone his actions. But i can understand his anger

Hinduism has neither leaders nor dogma, so he is no Hindu "leader" by any stretch of imagination.
As for beheading, its funny he used that word cos India does not even enforce the death penalty.


But I can understand the anger at the actions by missionaries which probably caused him to say this.
Missionaries in India are a horrid bunch. Armed with Billions from the Evangelical churches in the west, they have been trying to "save souls" and add more sheep to the "flock" by hook or crook.

In fact they kidnap children, scare them into converting...and later showcase them as the "children of Christians murdered in India by Hindu fanatics"

The Indian preacher(evangelist missionary) and the fake orphan scandal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x314281

An Indian missionary charity falsely portrayed young Buddhist girls from Nepal as "orphans" of murdered Christians in a global fund-raising operation involving British and American churches.

Parents paid a child-trafficker more than £100 to take their daughters to good schools in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, but instead they were taken more than 1,200 miles to Tamil Nadu, southern India.At the Michael Job Centre, a Christian orphanage and school in Coimbatore, they were converted to Christianity, given western names and told that its charismatic founder, Dr PP Job, was now their father.

On websites, the children were given serial numbers and profiles. The charity claimed they had been either abandoned by their parents who did not want the financial burden of raising girls, or orphaned after their "Christian" parents were murdered by Nepal's Maoist insurgents.The profiles were used to attract financial sponsors from around the world.

Many of the donors were in the United States, Holland and Britain, where Dr Jobs's sister organisation, Love in Action, is run from St Mary's C of E Church in Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset.

Conversion attempts in the time of grief
http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/24shoba.htm

^^
With events like this its no wonder that the public hates these people.

I await the day that these guys are thrown behind bars and banned forever. Conversion, especially one what preys on the poorest segments of the society is a crime against humanity. This is another form of neo-colonialism.

[Deep13]

14. The short article does not mention Christians...

...only the Muslim holy day. I read that and assumed he was taking about the numerous conversions to Islam by untouchables or members of low castes.

[Vehl]

18. The Muslim conversions are funded by money from the Middle East

Saudi Arabia is the main sponsor of this. They fund a lot of such conversion programs and are equally loathed. Furthermore the version of Islam the Saudi-affiliated organizations spread is Wahhabi-ism, the most fundamentalist version of Islam. needless to say this might cause even more animosity.

Btw the conversion to Islam is pretty rare. I refrain from using the term low castes, but the low castes are given a lot of affirmative action benefits(almost 33% reserved seats in colleges and in government jobs).

The irony is that those who converted to Islam/Christianity are now asking for quotas in education/employment which the low castes are entitled to. Its the classic case of trying to both have the cake and eat it, as Islam and Christianity claim that they do not have any social class-differentiation! (as if the caste system is Hindu in the first place...but that's a topic for a diff thread).

I mentioned the Christian missionaries cos they are the most vocal ones, oft ranting against the "persecution" they face. In the light of the recent scandals involving missionaries a lot of the previous claims of the missionary organizations will have to be looked into in detail. I could hazard a guess that a lot of them might indeed be found guilty of illegal activities. Missionaries in general are highly disliked in India, and not without reason. During the colonial rule the vast majority of missionaries worked hand in glove with the occupiers and prospered under the auspices of the colonial powers.

The notion that one "way"(religion) is the only "true" way and everything else is wrong is anathema to the Indian psyche. The Dharmic religious worldview regarding other religions/philosophies is this.

"Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti"
One Truth, Many paths

Thus, for the Indian mind, the claim that only one religion is true while everything else is wrong sounds like the worst form of ignorance/arrogance.Hinduism is not a missionary religion, and it has always welcomed people of myriad faiths and persuasions with open arms. The Jewish people found refuge in India After the destruction of their first temple. Yet more came when the Romans occupied Judea and later during the Spanish inquisition. Not only were they welcomed, but were given tracts of land to settle, where they live to this day without experiencing a single incident of anti antisemitism from their Hindu neighbors. The only two instanced the Jewish people of India faced antisemitism were when they were attacked by Muslims in the 17th century, followed soon-after by the infamous inquisitions by the Portuguese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa_Inquisition

The Zoroastrians too, were welcomed in India, and one of the largest surviving Zoroastrian community in the world is found in India. They came as refugees when Persia was invaded and taken over by the Islamic armies and have thrived in India. We even had a Zoroastrian head of state!

The main difference between the Jewish/Zoroastrian people who live in India, and the Islamic/Christian ones is that the former do not seek any converts. They live by themselves and are loved by their neighbors. Most Indian Christians and Muslims also follow this trend. However the "my way is the only correct way" mentality of Christianity and Islam also spawns/attracts Missionaries to India, and naturally this cases resentment. Add the fact that they come loaded with cash, and use it to persuade people to change religion is looked upon as a form of bribery, and worse yet, as exploitation of the poor. In light of this it's not too hard to imagine why people are against missionaries and missionary religions.

[NMMNG]

13. I detest proselytizers

But that's pretty harsh.

[cordelia]

16. Like this one?

http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2011/11/10/what-convinced-you-a-survey-for-non-believers/

[NMMNG]

17. Where's the proselytizer?

She's asking atheists what led them to give up their former faith. How is that proselytizing?

[cordelia]

19. From her blog:

"A lot of non-believers are actively engaged in trying to persuade people out of religion. I’m one of them. I think religion is a mistaken idea about the world; I think it does significantly more harm than good; and just as I would with any mistaken and harmful idea, I’d like to persuade people out of it"

etc.

[laconicsax]

20. Why couldn't you give that as your first example?

:shrug:

[NMMNG]

21. Oh noes, she writes a blog

where she tries to persuade people away from their beliefs. People can easily avoid her by not reading what she writes.

Let me know when atheists show up on your doorstep or accost you in public to tell you that you're a depraved piece of scum who can only avoid eternal torture by joining their gang. Let me know when atheist "missionaries" are dispatched around the world to convert people in other nations.

[beam me up scottie]

23. No, they can't!

They're forced to turn on their computers, access the internet, and click on her blog!

:rofl:

[NMMNG]

24. I swear

Atheists breath and it's like we're slaughtering babies in the public square. :eyes: