Challenges Faced by Indian Church

Madhu Chandra *

A Choir performing at Tamu - Moreh, Indo-Burma border - Pix :: Lunminthang Haokip

The Christians along with other minority communities are facing serious challenges in last one and half decade. The challenges have become more severe with the raise of fascist forces in India. Most of these challenges are fought in media and Christian churches have not equipped themselves to tackle these challenges. Many Indian churches and Christian communities are forced to act when they are affected by some of these challenges under the terror of fascism.

To understand the challenges faced by Indian Church, it will be worth to list how Indian churches got involved in national building. The challenges involve the continuous involvement in national building.

The Role of Indian Churches in Building Nation in the Past

Before moving forward in addressing the issues of the role of Indian churches in national building, it will be worth to note the contributions given by Indian churches in national building in the past.

Impact on Secular Idea of India

The idea of India was invented by Mahatma Gandhi through the influences of Rabindranath Tegore, explored by Jawaharlal Nehru and latter redefined by B. R. Ambedkar. The idea of India according to the founding fathers mentioned above is secular state and democracy nation.

Indian Churches had role in making India as secular state and democratic country. The campaign against Sati system and female infanticide led by William Carey and Raja Ram Mohun Roy a reformer influenced by Christian missionaries are the land mark of Indian churches' role in making India as a secular state and democratic nation.

Few of those who influenced Indian reformers who played vital role in making India as secular state and democratic nation, are Freidrich Schwartz of German missionary at Tranquebar who influence Tulsi Raja and Muslim ruler Hyder Ali.

CF Andrews another missionary has close influence upon India by his identification with Mahatma Gandhi and Tagore. Bishop Waskon Pickett, an American Methodist Bishop associated with Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. B R Ambedkar and Indira Gandhi.

When Gandhi was assassinated, it was Bishop Pickett was conducted first memorial service in Lucknow Methodist Church. He also took part in sorting out national problems when there were community clashes between Skhs and Hindus. Bishop Pickett was close friend of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar the father of Indian Constitution and messiah of Dalit emancipation. Dr. Radha Krishnan praised Bishop Pickett in 1969 for the impact of Indian Christians on national influence and participation.

Impact in Indian Education

Exceptional is the educational contribution by pioneering missionaries. Long before, Governments established schools; it was Christian missions that started mission schools. The educational contribution of Indian churches is house hold icon of every Indians.

American missionaries compiled and published the earliest grammars and dictionaries of Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Manipuri. Missionaries gave an enormous boost to mass education and we have legacy of it in whole nation.

Impact on Women's Education

Culturally, among Indian societies, women were considered not for education. Any girl having ability to read and write were practically confined to nautch girls and not for respectable women. Despite local disbelief and pessimism, the missionaries believed that the girls could be educated and transformed.

The first school for girls in whole of India was established at Tranquebar in 1707 by missionaries. Mannah Marshman opened school for girls at Serampore in 1800 and Miss Isabella Thoburn started women's college on her verandah at Lucknow in 1870 and it became the first women's college in whole of Asia.

Ida Scudder, a missionary to South India founded Vellore Christian Medical College in 1900 to train women as doctors and nurses and men are admitted only in 1947.

The Present Challenges

India has lot more challenges than ever in its history after independent. Poverty of Indian society remains almost the same after independent. The fascist forces are left uncontrolled and assaulted Indian democracy.

Attack on Indian Secularism

The idea of India, invented by Gandhi, explored by Nehru and redefined by Ambedkar, is secular and democratic which is reflected in the preamble of Indian constitution:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all; FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

Component of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in the preamble of Indian Constitution is attacked by the rise of fascist forces in India. The Hindutva fascist forces see the preamble and Indian constitution is anti-majority and anti-Hinduism, therefore, they have adopted a new idea of India, which is based purely upon Brahminical ideology. Their new idea of India is to make India as Hindu nation based upon Vedic culture, faith and ideology.

Once Hindutva succeeds in implementing their version of India, the secularism and democracy, of which every citizens of India enjoys justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, will be taken away.

The signposts of attack on India secularism is seen at the rise of caste based discriminations, faith base discriminations and racial base discriminations. Attack on Muslims, Christians and on other religious minorities are the recent signposts of attack on India secularism and democracy.

Rise of Fascism

India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru said once, 'When fascism comes to India, it will come in the form of communalism.' We have seen this in many forms in many parts of the country. India has militant fascism, cultural fascism, religious fascism and political fascism etc. At the risk of these fascist forces, the life of innocent civilians and their fundamental rights have been attacked and disturbed from time to time.

To curb the militant related fascist violation, the measurements are taken from state and central level in North Eastern state, Jammu and Kashmir and now the Maoist affected states although they are not able to control totally. What worry the most for the country is the rise of saffron fascist forces, which has attacked on religious minorities, the Dalits and Hindu secular civil societies.

In Gujarat during Post Godhra episode, Arundhati Roy reports, 'Human rights organizations have said it is closer to 2,000. As many as 100,000 people, driven from their homes, now live in refugee camps. Women were stripped and gang-raped, and parents were bludgeoned to death in front of their children.'[1]

In recent ethnic cleansing of Christians in Orissa's Kandhamal district: 'Since Aug. 23, 2008, the aicc recorded: 315 villages damaged, 4,640 Christian houses burnt, 54,000 Christians homeless, at least 6 pastors and one Roman Catholic priest killed, 10 priests/pastors/nuns seriously injured, estimated 18,000 Christians injured, at least two women (including a nun) raped, 149 churches destroyed, 13 Christian schools and colleges damaged.'[2]

After carrying out the attack on Muslims and Christians, they attacked on women who at individual rights went for pub at Mangalore in January 2009.

The lie and hate campaign of Sangh Parivar against religious minority along with Hindutva ideological promotion carried out unimaginable speed all over the country. The Hindu nation is the agenda of Hindutva forces. Hidden agenda of Hindutva is engineered by Brahminical hierarchy, which is to ensure the caste base society under the dominion of Brahmanism.

The presence of secular minded civilians and non-caste base religions, particularly the Islam and Christianity are threat to their hidden agenda of Hindutva fronts.

Caste Apartheid

Islam has ruled India over centuries beginning from the first invasion in 715 AD led by Arabs till the last dynasty of Bidar in 1619 AD. British ruled a period of 200 years and Christian missionary witness in Indian soil over 2000 years. These powerful rulers of the world and the Christianity could not uproot the caste apartheid of the India.

India's 85% of population at the bottom line of caste hierarchy are affected in their socio-economic and educational lives. The worse affected are the outcaste who are known as Dalits. Over 3000 years, Dalit-Bahujan communities are treated in inhuman manners for their births and remain slavery under caste dominion.

The British could abolish slavery system in Britain 200 years ago through and by the tireless effort William Wilberforce. The same British ruled India for 200 years, but could not do any thing to abolish casteism. The Christian missions of the nation and foreign failed to bring the full message of the gospel of Jesus Christ in India context. The caste apartheid of sociological disorder has been ignored by the Indian and foreign missions while the business of winning soul has been only central concentration.

The sad part of the story is that the Indian churches not only failed to remove caste apartheid but the system was brought within church setup.

Anti-Christian and Minority Policies in Different States

The Anti-Conversion Bills currently passed in eight different states of India - Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Only Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Himachal enacted these bills and they are enforced. Christian minorities and Dalits are persecuted under these rules.

All India Christian Council opposed anti conversion bills passed by Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. We succeeded except Himachal Pradesh.

Let us not be misled by the hidden agenda of anti conversion bill adopted in these states. These laws are not targeting Christians although Christian offenders are punished and misused in many cases. The main hidden agenda of anti conversion bills is to stop Indian Dalits from leaving Hinduism to get ride of caste oppression by converting to other religions which does not practice caste. This movement came after B R Ambedkar ignited to leave the religion if it keep you oppressed and go to others that does not. The migration of Dalits from Hinduism began 55 years ago when B R Ambedkar let the movement at Nagpur with 50,000 Indian Dalits quite Hinduism and embraced Buddhism in 1956.

The Challenges of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is reported worldwide as the largest organised crimes. National Human Rights Commission's senior research officer Savita Bhakhry says, 'Trafficking in human beings, more in women and children, is one of the fastest growing forms of criminal activity, next only to drugs and weapons trade, generating unaccountable profits annually.'[3]

India is also affected by this epidemic, which is not recognized as one of the greatest thread to human rights violation. To the challenges of organised crime of human trafficking which has affected children and women, particularly in the areas where people live in socio-educational and economically backward areas. It has been considered human trafficking in a contemporary form of slavery.[4] A question arises on what should be the response of Church to this organised death thread crime of human rights violation.

[1] http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020930/roy
[2] http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2608/42/
[3] Savita Bhakhry, 'Human Rights and Trafficking in Persons,' Combat Law, 5/3 (2006) 44.
[4] Anindita Bhowmik and Sampurna Behura, 'Liberalised Sex Slavery, Transit Point India,' Combat Law, 5/3 (2006), 48