Christian subversion and missionary activities

[Guest]

http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/doc...t.php/33304.pdf

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 25 2006, 01:18 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 25 2006, 01:18 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Don't be so sure - you don't know who's playing whom. If you know what I mean.
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Doesnt matter. A man will still say anything to get laid.. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->6 held for firing at mob after attempted conversion 

Express News Service

Vadodara, September 22: Barely a day after the Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2006, was cleared by the Gujarat state assembly, an incident of attempted forcible conversion among tribals of Dahod district was reported. Six people, supposedly missionaries, were arrested by the Devgarh Baria police on Thursday evening following allegations that they had fired at a mob which allegedly heckled them while they were visiting a member of the mission in Diviya village.

The incident was reported by Diviya village resident Kanji Nayak, supposedly after the ‘missionaries’ fired three rounds at villagers. In his police complaint, Nayak said that he had seen seven men and a woman just outside the village on Thursday. On inquiry, Nayak was told that they were representatives of the missionary church. ‘‘The group allegedly tried to convince a small band of people that Hindu gods and godesses are no good and tribal brothers should adopt Christianity as a faith. It is reported that certain benefits like food, repairs of huts, and free education to children were also offered,’’ said Devgarh Baria police sub-inspector R M Parmar.

The eight reportedly attracted a crowd when they started propagating Christianity. On facing opposition from the complainant and a few others, one of the accused, Dashrath Bilban, reportedly took out a contrymade pistol and fired three rounds at the fleeing mob. No one has been reported injured following the incident.

The police have recovered a used cartridge shell from the alleged incident site, along with a few copies of the Bible and some leaflets purpotedly published by a little-known Protestant group ‘Indian Missionary Society’. After the alleged firing, the group is said to have fled on two motorcycles in two different directions. The villagers reported the incident to the police, complete with the name and addresses of all the accused. On Thursday itself, the Devgarh Baria police conducted a search operation and six of the accused were arrested from Raniar, Kariarai and Chainpur villages around Limkheda. All the accused had claimed allegiance to a church based in Wankhdi village, about two kilometers from Limkheda.

‘‘No weapon could be recovered following the incident. The accused have stated that they had gone to visit a woman associated with the same church who was ill. They claimed that on their way back, they were threatened and hounded out of the village by the complainant and some others with little or no provocation,’’ said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dahod), N B Munia. All the accused were produced at a Dahod court on Thursday. The police have submitted a remand plea for 14 days for the accused, to interrogate them about the weapon used in the fiasco.

One of the women was learnt to be a member of woman’s welfare organisation ‘Anandi’ operating from Devgarh Baria. Refuting claims that they were trying to propagate Christainity through their volunteers, a spokesperson of the organisation said, ‘‘We provide identity cards to most of our volunteers who are part of our women’s self-help group network. Some of them are also Christians.’’

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory...sid=202362<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The same express doesn't say "supposedly" or "Hindu extremists" when it concerns Hindus, but when it comes it missionaries it is "supposedly".

[Guest]

Note
allegedly heckled them
The group allegedly tried
Dashrath Bilban, reportedly took out a contrymade pistol
cartridge shell from the alleged incident site

‘‘We provide identity cards to most of our volunteers who are part of our women’s self-help group network. Some of them are also Christians.’’


Express at its best. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[shamu]

The infamous Kerala astrologer, Parappanagadi Unnikrishna Panikker has turned out to be a big fraud. In the incident below related to "Deva Prasnam" at Shabarimala, he claimed that there was a female presence at the temple. The Tanthri who opposed him was later got into trouble with a racked headed by one Shobha John. Looks like it needs to be investigated if this infamous astrologer is working in tandem with missionaries to defame Shabarimala. He shot into celebrety status when he predicted Jayalalitha coming to power when everything was against her. I remember SV Badri saying that Panikker was involved in Thirupathi episode too.

Police see conspiracy behind Jaimala episode

Pioneer News Service | Thiruvananthapuram

The police team, which probed Kannada actress Jaimala's claim that she had entered the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala disregarding the ban on women in the 10-50 age group, has hinted at the possibility of a conspiracy to defame the shrine and its authorities.

Sources said the inquiry found that there were 'strong reasons' to suspect a conspiracy between the actress and astrologer Parappanangadi Unnikrishna Panicker - who conducted a Devprasnam (astrological examination) which concluded that women of menstruating age had entered the temple premises - to show the temple authorities and priests in poor light.

The special probe team headed by SP, Crime Branch, Ramachandran Nair, found that Jaimala and Unnikrishna Panicker knew each other for many years. In fact, Panicker had even performed a prasnam at Jaimala's residence in 2004, the sources said.

Police say it is significant that the actress made her claim of having visited the shrine 20 years ago shortly after the devaprasnam conducted by Panicker found gross improprieties in the conduct of the temple rituals by priests.

A section of the priests had then questioned the propriety of Panicker's open comments during and after the devaprasnam. The inquiry report holds that it is possible that the Jaimala episode could be the result of a conspiracy. The report would be submitted to the Government shortly, sources said.

Various leaders and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which is in charge of the administration of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, had expressed doubts that there could be a conspiracy behind Jaimala's claim.

TDB president G Raman Nair and members MB Sreekumar and Punalur Madhu said that the board viewed the police conclusion about conspiracy seriously. They have said that no astrological prescriptions by Panicker other than those related to pooja procedures would be implemented at the temple. Sabarimala temple Tanthri Kantararu Maheswaru, responding to the police revelation, said that the investigators should track down the people behind the conspiracy.

The Sabarimala temple was mired in a controversy after actor Jayamala claimed that she had visited the temple in 1987 when she was 27 years old and had even touched the feet of the idol in the sanctum sanctorum after she was pushed in by a jostling crowd of devotees. Jayamala had refused to meet an investigating officer in Bangalore.

Priests and other temple authorities had said that the claim by the Kannada actress could not be true given the situations at the shrine.

The Jayamala issue had sparked off serious debates in social circles over the right of women to worship Lord Ayyappa at the Sabarimala temple. Even a case was filed in the Supreme Court seeking permission for women to pay obeisance at the hill shrine.

[Guest]

<b>How Christian Evangelists Target Hindu American Students</b>

[Guest]

<b>Conversion attempts in the time of grief</b>

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Missionary mafia now to kidnapping bussiness</b>
link
9/27/2006 5:50:05 PM  H
Kozhanjeriolice arrested two Missionaries  here for attempting to  Kidnap a gypsy girl of seven years.

<b>Due to timely intervention of the Public the attempt was spoiled.Thottathil Thomas and a crypto Christian Venkitakrishnan was arrested by Police.They belong to Bathesthu Charitable trust in Puthankurisu.</b>

The Missionary Mafia in Kerala now focuses on increasing their strength in Charity Homes by Kidnapping! In order to receive foreign funds they have to send the photos and videos of the inmates to their masters in US and Europe 
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[acharya]

US Ambassador presents award to Bangalore-based college

Staff Reporter

For preservation of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts, rare books



David C. Mulford takes a close look at the manuscripts — Photo: Shaju John

CHENNAI : A Bangalore-based Union Theological College received an award and grant from U.S. Ambassador David C. Mulford for preservation of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts on Wednesday at the US Consulate General in Chennai.

The principal of the college, O. V. Jathanna, received $ 15,000 granted from the Ambassador's Cultural Preservation Fund for preservation of palm-leaf manuscripts and rare books in the college archives and converting the information into microforms.

The college, which was established in 1910, has a collection of 2,000 manuscripts in several Indian languages. The 200-year-old manuscripts stand a testimony to cultural heritage of India and include information about folk literature, traditional systems of medicine and religious writings.

The other historic material include Mahatma Gandhi's letters to Christian leaders, writings of 18th century Tamil Christian poet Vedanayagam Sastriyar and first Tamil Bible printed in India.

US Consul General in Chennai David T. Hopper, and Consul for Public Affairs in the US Consulate Frederick J. Kaplan were also present.

The US Department of State helps countries preserve historic sites and manuscripts, museum collections and traditional arts through the grant.

Mr. Mulford also visited the Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine in Tambaram on the same day.

[Guest]

Not related to India but a news ....
<b>Cops: Priests fleeced Florida flock of millions</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->DELRAY BEACH, Florida (AP) -- <b>Two Roman Catholic priests stole millions in offerings and gifts made to their parish as far back as 40 years ago</b>, prosecutors said Thursday.

Monsignor John Skehan, who was pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church for four decades, was arrested Wednesday night on charges that he stole $8.6 million from the church, using the money to buy property and other assets, investigators said.

The 79-year-old priest was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport as he returned from Ireland and was being held on $400,000 bond on grand theft charges.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Crime Branch raid in Christian fraud centre
9/30/2006 9:56:08 AM  HK
Muringoor:As per High court directive, Crime Branch conducted raid in Christian divine retreat  centre in Muringur today.The Raid was under Crimebranch SP , Muhagir and a group of Medical doctors.

They collected valuable documents to prove the fraud bussiness going over there.They have admitted thousands of Mentally ill people without any single Medical personnel in the centre and the team also found out huge quantities of Drugs and Tranquilizers from the centre.They have been using this on inmates on heavy doses without any proper Medical advice.

The Mental home, De addiction centre, Nursing Home and  Pharmacy in the centre are working illegally without any licence informed the Doctors in the Team

<b>High court ordered investigation against this Mafia centre in the name of  Jesus, in response to various complaints from different quarters accusing Conversion activities,Mysterious murders of inmates, Human right violations, Encouraging drug usage among inmates,Sexual exploitation etc.</b>

For detailed report check
http://www.haindavakeralam.org/PageModule....eID=1946&SKIN=C<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>A temple is not a secular space</b>
By Sandhya Jain

The “reform industry” is still at work questioning the tradition of barring women between 10 and 50 years from Sabarimala. It needs to be stated in this context that there are several Ayappa temples in India, including one in Delhi, where women devotees are welcomed.

Although the Kerala Police have not spelled out the larger conspiracy to defame the Sabarimala shrine, there can be little doubt that actress Jaimala acted at the behest of her Christian co-religionists to secure non-Hindu intervention in the affairs of one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimages. The so-called incident became a useful tool for the anti-Hindu industry to fight for the right of non-believing Hindu women to enter the temple in the name of equality and women’s rights, when all devout women have hitherto accepted the ban on entry for women between the ages of 10 and 50.

Since the “astamangala devaprasanam” that led to the actress’ so-called confession is linked to the defamation scandal concerning Chief Thantri Kantaru Mohanaru, who denied the veracity of the “devaprasanam” and refused to participate in the prescribed “purification” rituals, the police would do well to ensure early rehabilitation of the affected priest. The incrimination of the priest in a sexual scandal, again involving the Christian woman of allegedly loose morals, is not an individual matter, but as in the concocted case against the Kanchi Acharyas, involves the prestige of the entire Hindu society.

The Kerala crime branch has now found that the claim by the Sabarimala Thantri that astrologer Unnikrishna Panicker, who conducted the “devaprasanam,” has old links with actress Jaimala and had conducted pujas in her Bangalore residence in 2000. The actress shot into the national limelight when, after Panicker’s claim in June that the sanctity of the Sabarimala temple had been breached and therefore the deity was angry, she “confessed” that she had made the pilgrimage 19 years ago at the age of 27, entered the temple undetected after the long trek and the ritual bath in the river, and even touched the feet of the deity.

This created a nationwide furore. On the one hand, the astrologer insisted that all Kerala temples should undergo purification rituals, which many agreed to, just to be on the safe side. But the Sabarimala Thantri declared the incident a fraud, and when he refused to have purification in his temple, he was conveniently embroiled in a sex scandal and ousted from his job. This created further outrage among the people, and the police soon began retracing their steps on that story as well.

But even as the “human rights industry” got into the act, declaring that all Hindu women were suffering untold discrimination by not being permitted to enter this one temple in their child-bearing years, another Christian actress, Meera Jasmine, decided to disrespect Hindu sentiments by entering Raja Rajeshwara temple where non-Hindus are prohibited and women may enter only after evening pujas. She was spotted by the temple staff and claimed to have taken permission from the TTK Devaswom, which administers the temple, but authorities denied this, pointing out that only Hindus are allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Raja Rajeshwar temple. As a result, the temple has to undertake an expensive and time-consuming purification process.

The fact that the actress later shelled out Rs 10,000 for the purification rituals does not detract from the fact that she willfully defied Hindu temple rules. It needs to be emphasised that unlike Islam and Christianity, where the mosque and church are mere congregation halls for collective prayers by the community, the Hindu temple is actually the house of god, where the deity is believed to be physically present (virajman) to listen to the entreaties of devotees. The Hindu temple therefore has a sanctity that does not apply to the mosque and church, which are in a fundamental sense, very secular places. The Hindu temple, therefore, cannot be considered a tourist spot for the idle and curious, and non-Hindus must accept their limits if certain temples do not welcome visitors who are not devotees. There can be no equal right of access to temples for outsiders.

The “reform industry”, meanwhile, is still at work questioning the tradition of barring women between 10 and 50 years from Sabarimala. It needs to be stated in this context that there are several Ayappa temples in India, including one in Delhi, where women devotees are welcomed with open arms. The partial ban on women is explicitly limited to this temple, for reasons lost in history, but genuine devotees do not feel the need to make it a prestige issue.

What is known, however, is that the baby God Ayappa is an ascetic and celibate, born of a union between Shiva and Vishnu in a female avatar (Mohini). Raised by a local ruler, he became the Lord of the jungle with magical powers over all living creatures, especially tigers that roamed the forests. A tradition somehow developed that the deity would be worshipped by male devotees and pre-puberty and post-menopausal women. Male devotees making the journey have to purify themselves by observing celibacy and sleeping on the floor for 41 days prior to the pilgrimage. A strict religious diet is prescribed for this period; and the eventual journey is no picnic.

Interestingly, Kerala also has temples exclusively for women, but the ‘rights’ of male devotees are not a paying industry! It needs to be emphasised that it is the right of temple authorities to decide who may enter the temple, and who may not, and the government would do well to be more vigilant of Hindu rights in this manner. Some months ago, a television channel reported that when an American visitor was denied entry into the Jagannath temple of Puri, he set up his own replica of the temple in Orissa, and said it was open to all! This is simply scandalous. A temple is more than an architectural construction or tourist resort. It is sacred, and cannot be secularized.


http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.p...&pid=151&page=5<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Christianity - thou name is Hypocrisy!

While the christians are busying breaking entry into sacred Hindu temples to undermine its sanctity, with the backing of so-called secular or liberal Hindus, how many of these Hindus know that strict rules are observed in many churches and mosques which you have to abide if you want entry.


I remember an incident from decades ago when I used to visit one church in Chennai (I forgot which one it is) sometimes to see a friend who used to practice music there. Sometimes I used to sit inside, listening to his practice, until he finished. Couple of visits later, the friend was instructed to make me sit in the waiting hall and not inside the church because I was not a christian and it was improper for me to be sitting inside the church (unless of course I planned to convert).

For that matter, in many large churches strict dress codes prevail, which must be followed if entry is desired. Try getting into a greek orthodox church in the touristic Athens with shorts, skirts with hemline above the knees, t-shirts, or even remotely revealing tops or clothes. Even trousers are not allowed for women.

While the hindu liberals and christians are trying to knock down many Hindu temple codes under the pretext of modernizing these places, I would suggest that these people try to changes the norms of other places of worship so as to allow entry to all. Why should only women who wear burka be allowed inside a muslim place of worship. All women should be allowed into mosques, irrespective of whether or not they are wearing a burka. I propose sending a couple of prostitutes dressed in their 'working' clothes to visit the famous churches and mosques in India to address this issue of christian and muslim bigotry and discrimination.

While the christian and other anti-hindu mischief makers want to take issue with everything related to hinduism, they daren't touch any age-old practices of christianity and islam.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/south_ asia/5381394. stm

<b>'Miracles' boost Indian Christians  </b>
By Subir Bhaumik

BBC News, Shillong 

 
More than 100 years after the first waves of a great Welsh religious revival reached faraway north-eastern India, Christian church leaders are claiming a religious reawakening in the region.
 
Leaders of the Presbyterian Church in the north-eastern Indian states of Meghalaya and Mizoram - sandwiched between Muslim Bangladesh and Buddhist Burma - say there have been miracles occurring.
 
A church at Malki, in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, has been receiving a steady stream of devotees ever since word spread that a cross here has been glowing and radiating the image of Lord Jesus.
 
This, combined with recent reports of several school students "convulsing, behaving abnormally and even fainting", has prompted the talk of a revival.
 
"The Holy Spirit is here to reawaken people," says Reverend Laldawngliana, a spokesman for the Presbyterian Church of India in Shillong.
 
Special prayers
 
He says similar religious experiences proclaimed the beginning of a reawakening in the region in 1906, just two years after the last great revival in Wales.
 
The Presbyterian Church celebrated the centenary of the revival with special congregations and prayer services in April.

Reverend Laldawngliana says reports of students fainting started pouring in a couple of weeks after the centenary celebrations.
 
Theologian Reverend Chuauthuama says similar reports have come in from Mizoram too.
 
All the seven north-eastern states have a significant population of Christians and at least three states in the region - Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland - are Christian majority.
 
Christianity came to the northeast in early 19th century when the British conquered Assam and slowly muscled their way into the rest of the region.
 
The Presbyterian Church of India was founded in 1841 by a Welsh missionary, Reverend Thomas Jones, in Meghalaya (then a part of Assam).
 
'A boost'
 
"The revival in 1906 gave a fillip to the evangelical works of Welsh missionaries in both Meghalaya and Mizoram," says Rev Vanlalchhuanawma, an expert in the history of Christian revivals.
 
"Christianity came to the region in a western garb. Now if a revival really occurs in the region, we will be very happy. It will possibly give a boost to our efforts to get rid of the 'foreign religion tag'," he says.
 
Christian leaders in Mizoram and Meghalaya say a revival here may help the church in Wales, the seat of the Presbyterian Church.
 
Though Wales witnessed some 15 major revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries, the region has of late been going through a religious crisis.
 
According to a 2001 study, not even one in 10 people in Wales regularly go to church.
 
The Presbyterian Church of India sent two priests - Rev Hmar Sankhuma and Rev John Colney - to Wales a few months back to fill the "spiritual void" there.
 
"We owe a lot to the Church in Wales. We have to do our bit when our parent church is in crisis," says Rev Chuauthuama.
 
'Bogus attempt'
 
The claims of miracles in Meghalaya have gone largely unchallenged.
But Bengal-based rationalist Prabir Ghosh dismisses the phenomenon as a "bogus attempt" by the Church to draw converts.
 
Earlier, Mr Ghosh had challenged the basis for Mother Teresa's beatification. He argued that she should be conferred sainthood on the basis of her great work amongst Calcutta's poor rather than over miracles attributed to her.
 
"The Pope has said this will be the century of Christianity, so churches all over are seeking large-scale conversions and the miracles are part of the exercise," says Mr Ghosh.
 
The governments of the north-eastern states have maintained a studied silence on the issue.
 
"We are keeping a close watch on the situation," is all that they will say officially.  <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->UP: 350 Hindus convert to Christianity
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/oct/05convert.htm
About 350 Hindus of the district adopted Christianity at a conversion ceremony held in Baksha area in Jaunpur.
Official sources on Wednesday said the 350 Hindus belonged to Agraura, Sonwar, Saduddinpur, Dhaniamau, Uttarpatti and Rari villages of Baksha.

The conversion ceremony took place on Tuesday at Belhara village, <b>where Father Rajendra Chauhan read out the gospel to them.</b>

<b>He also gave each of the neo-convertees a locket of Jesus Christ.</b>

<b>Meanwhile, Angad Singh -- the husband of Belhara gram pradhan Tulsa -- alleged the poor Hindus were forcibly converted by the Christian missionaries.

He has submitted a compliant at the Baksha police station against the missionaries involved in the ''forced" conversions.

However, an FIR is yet to be registered.</b>

Since the last four years, Christian missionaries have been active in the block, encouraging poor villagers to adopt Christianity.
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[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit accuses in-laws of attempt to convert
Ashis Senapati
[ 5 Oct, 2006 0311hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

KENDRAPADA: A Dalit woman has lodged an FIR on Wednesday against her husband and father-in-law, alleging that she was tortured by them for refusing to change her religion to Christianity.

Sumitra (19) said her husband and father-in-law opposed her worshipping Hindu gods in the house.

"My husband and father-in-law pressurised me to change my religion. Last week they assaulted me when I again refused to convert, so I left my husband's house," she said.

According to her, an officer of Patakura police station saw her on national highway 5(A) at Haladiagard and admitted her to a short-stay home at Patakura.

After spending a week there, she reached Mahakalapada police station on Wednesday and lodged an FIR against her husband and father-in-law.

"I am ready to die. But I will not change my religion, "Sumitra added. Sumitra's marriage last year was not a happy event. A resident of Arunanagar village, near Kendrapada, she was allegedly raped by Padia Das in June 2005.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...091476.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[acharya]

Religious Freedom Day on October 14

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The All-India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the All-India Christian Council (AICC) will observe "Religious Freedom Day" on October 14 to mark the day when Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in 1956. They will also celebrate the 2550th anniversary of "mahaparinirvana divas" (salvation day) of Lord Buddha at Nagpur on October 13 and 14.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Confederation chairman Udit Raj said dalits and people from other minority communities were welcome to come to Nagpur and convert to Christianity and Buddhism.

The two-day function would be marked by a discourse on freedom of religion.

[agnivayu]

Is it the same 50,000 who keep converting every year to Buddhism and Christianity for the last 50 years. What a bunch of morons, there was no such thing as Buddhism until the Euro's invented it 200 years ago. It was just a school of philosophy, but Abhrahamic propaganda turns everything into a religion.



<!--QuoteBegin-acharya+Oct 7 2006, 01:14 AM-->QUOTE(acharya @ Oct 7 2006, 01:14 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Religious Freedom Day on October 14

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The All-India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the All-India Christian Council (AICC) will observe "Religious Freedom Day" on October 14 to mark the day when Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in 1956. They will also celebrate the 2550th anniversary of "mahaparinirvana divas" (salvation day) of Lord Buddha at Nagpur on October 13 and 14.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Confederation chairman Udit Raj said dalits and people from other minority communities were welcome to come to Nagpur and convert to Christianity and Buddhism.

The two-day function would be marked by a discourse on freedom of religion.
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[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Is it the same 50,000 who keep converting every year to Buddhism and Christianity for the last 50 years.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Some group pay same paid crowd every year for photo op. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Lot of Bangladeshi illegal Muslims in Delhi are front runners. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[acharya]

Church steps in to save call centre ‘sinners’
- Frown on western mores
Wired to life in the fast lane

Why does it take so long to get through to a call centre? Because everyone is too busy chatting up their colleagues — and more — if the Catholic Church is to be believed.

The church is so concerned by evidence that call centres are becoming dens of iniquity that it is offering week-long retreats and counselling in the hope of turning staff away from a life of sin.

With employees who are young, usually single, and on starting salaries much higher than those of doctors or lawyers, India’s booming call centre industry has been responsible for a social revolution.

“Women come to work with condoms in their handbags,” said Alkesh Dua, a call centre worker in Noida. “Everyone is doing it. You’re together all night in this cool, hip atmosphere and you end up getting intimate.”

Employers have tried to compensate for the monotonous nature of the work itself by creating an informal, American-style college campus atmosphere, where there is plenty of after-shift drinking and partying. Since many staff work night shifts, after which normal socialising is impossible, office friendships — with accompanying sexual liaisons — have blossomed.

In Bangalore, a call centre hub, the rising number of abortions — up 50 per cent in two years — is blamed on the licentious lifestyles of the call centre workers. Many middle class parents are now reluctant to let their daughters take up such jobs.

The church hopes to reverse the trend with the launch, in Bangalore, of a series of retreats and counselling sessions, before attempting to tackle the new promiscuity among the country’s 1.3 million call centre and outsourcing workers in the country.

“We don’t want to do moral policing, but we want to advise young people that being “modern” doesn’t mean losing their family traditions or moral values,” said Bangalore’s archbishop Bernard Moras.

In New Delhi, Dominic Emmanuel, the spokesman for the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, said the youth wing in every archdiocese would be mobilised to help. “We have to show them we care by giving them guidance and showing them the dangers of adultery and casual sex.”

The call centre industry, which has been growing by 60 per cent a year, is also under scrutiny over claims that criminal networks are trading British consumers’ bank account details for huge profits.

Long into the night, the clubs and bars in Gurgaon, a Delhi suburb full of call centres, pulsate with staff unwinding after long, stressful shifts dealing with fractious British and American customers.

During the day, workers fill the shopping malls for a dose of instant gratification unknown to their traditionally abstemious parents, for whom saving was a religion.

Call centre staff have been caught by hidden cameras having sex in cubicles.

In a society where dating is frowned upon and where, in some quarters, a woman wearing a sleeveless top is considered sexually immoral, such conduct is bewildering.

Ashok Rau, the chief executive of the Freedom Foundation, an AIDS counselling centre in Bangalore, said financial independence had freed call centre workers from their parents’ control.

In a survey of call centre staff last year, it found that 38 per cent of men and women believed that pre-marital sex was permissible and 25 per cent indulged in casual sex.

The companies involved object vehemently to suggestions that their call centres are dens of vice and adultery.

“It is unfair to single out call centres. This new behaviour can be found all over India and is the result of the economic boom and the opportunities it offers,” said Vrinda Wavalkar, a spokesman for the outsourcing company, ICICI OneSource, in Mumbai.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Husband tortures wife for religion

Kendrapada (Orissa), Oct 5: A Christian husband allegedly tortured his Hindu wife for her refusal to embrace Christianity in Orissa's Kendrapada district, police said Thursday.

Sumitra Mallick, 19, resident of Arunanagar village in the coastal district of Kendrapada filed a complaint Wednesday with the local police alleging her husband Padia Das and her in-laws tortured her mentally and physically when she refused to embrace Christianity.

Padia Das allegedly raped Sumitra in June 2005 and was consequently arrested. To escape the punishment, the culprit agreed to marry the victim while he was lodged in the prison.

Both of them married in a local court in the presence of police. Later Das filed an affidavit before the court and was granted bail on that ground.

"At the time of marriage, I was not aware about his religion. I was under the impression that my husband was a Hindu," said Sumitra.

She said in her complaint: "I used to worship Hindu deities at my home like any other Hindu married woman. But my husband and my father-in-law opposed it. Last week, they assaulted me severely."

Said S. Dalei, a police official: "We are investigating the case and we will take action accordingly."

--- IANS

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