[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


CHRISTIAN VILLAGE BURNED BY HINDUS--WAVE OF SECULAR VIOLENCE GOES BACK 
                            TO CHRISTMAS DAY

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 24, 1999

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I was very distressed to see an article in 
the March 19 issue of the New York Times reporting that in the village 
of Ranaloi in India, a mob chanting ``Victory to Lord Ram'' burned down 
157 of 250 homes of Christians. I thank my good friend Dr. Gurmit Singh 
Aulakh for calling my attention to this atrocity, which unfortunately 
is not an isolated incident but part of a wave of anti-Christian 
violence that began on Christmas Day.
  Since Christmas, several Christian churches, prayer halls, and 
religious missions were destroyed by Hindu extremists affiliated with 
the Bajrang Dal, a part of the VHP, a militant Hindu organization that 
belongs to the same family of organizations as the ruling BJP. The VHP 
also praised the Hindus who raped four nuns, calling them ``patriotic 
youth'' and denouncing the nuns as ``antinational elements.'' In 
January a missionary and his two very young sons were burned to death 
in their jeep by a gang of Hindus chanting ``Victory to Hannuman,'' 
then another nun was raped. In early February the bodies of two more 
Christians have been found in the state of Orissa. At least four 
priests have been murdered. In 1997, police broke up a Christian 
religious festival with gunfire. A country that engages in such 
practices should be declared a religious oppressor and perhaps a 
terrorist state.
  This latest incident took place during the period of Lent, leading up 
to Easter. With Easter coming in April, followed soon after by the 
300th anniversary of the Sikh Nation, we may now have the best 
opportunity to raise the consciousness of the world to the religious 
tyranny that exists just under the veneer of Indian democracy.
  Although India has democratic elections, for Christians, Sikhs, 
Muslims, Dalits, and so many others, there is no democracy. No matter 
who they elect, the result is more killing and more oppression. Is this 
true democracy? As I have said before, this is not democracy, It is 
merely the opportunity to choose one's oppressors.
  The only solution is freedom for all the people of South Asia. As the 
world's only superpower and the beacon of freedom for the world, the 
United States must do whatever it can to extend the blessings of 
liberty to all people living under tyrannical, intolerant leaders, even 
if they claim to be democratic. We should stop funding this repressive 
government with American aid, impose economic sanctions as we did 
against the apartheid regime in South Africa, and go on record urging 
India to allow a plebiscite--a free, democratic vote--in Punjab, 
Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Christian Nagaland, and throughout their 
polyglot state to decide the future political status of these regions. 
This is the only way to end the genocide, settle the differences, and 
finally bring lasting peace to this troubled tinderbox known as South 
Asia.
  Freedom is not only America's founding principle, it is our mission. 
Let us carry that mission to the deserving peoples and nations of the 
subcontinent. We look forward to the day when the glow of freedom 
shines on all the people of South Asia and the world.

                [From The New York Times, Mar. 19, 1999]

              157 Homes Burned in Religious Clash in India

                          (By Celia W. Dugger)

       Bhubaneswar, India, March 18.--Less than two months after a 
     Hindu mob killed a Christian missionary from Australia and 
     his two young sons here in the eastern state of Orissa, 
     Hindus and Christians clashed in a village this week, and 157 
     of the 250 Christian homes were burned down, state officials 
     say.
       The officials said they presumed that Hindus set the fires 
     on Tuesday, but have no solid evidence. Christian villagers 
     interviewed by television reporters blamed Hindus, who they 
     said shouted ``Victory to Lord Ram,''a Hindu god, as they set 
     the fires. Thirteen people were wounded, three by gunfire, 
     and the police have arrested more than 40 people, officials 
     said.
       The tensions in the village--Ranaloi, in southern Orissa--
     developed after someone painted a trident, symbol of the 
     Hindu god Shiva, over a Christian cross on a boulder about a 
     mile outside the village.
       The violence is part of a growing number of attacks on 
     Christians in India in the last year. Church officials and 
     opposition political parties say the problem has worsened 
     since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party became the 
     head of a national coalition Government a year ago. Party 
     leaders say they oppose the violence.
       It is not clear who was responsible for the violence in 
     Orissa, which is governed by the Congress Party. The state's 
     Chief Minister, J.B. Patnaik, resigned after the killing of 
     the missionary, Graham Staines, and his sons, Timothy, 10, 
     and Philip, 6.
       D.P. Wadhwa, the Indian Supreme Court Justice who was named 
     by the Government to head an inquiry into the Staines 
     killings, harshly criticized the central Government for 
     failing to provide resources to investigate. The commission 
     of inquiry, which was set up six weeks ago, is due to issue 
     its findings in two weeks but has yet to field a team of 
     independent investigators or to be given functional offices 
     to work from.
       The state police blamed a mob that they said was led by a 
     man from the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu nationalist youth group 
     that belongs to the same family of Hindu nationalist 
     organizations as the Bharatiya Janata Party.
       Leaders of the Bajrang Dal denied involvement, and said the 
     violence was a backlash against what they called the 
     Christians' deceitful efforts to convert impoverished, 
     illiterate Indians.

     

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