A post at Get Religion caught my eye yesterday with the title, “Should Amazon tribes be allowed to kill their young? Foreign Policy editors aren’t sure.” It linked to a story in Foreign Policy magazine from April 9 about a handful of indigenous tribes in Brazil that engage in the ritual killing of infants and children—namely, those with a disability, twins, and the children of single mothers, all of whom are considered to be a bad omen—and the legal efforts underway to end the practice.
One would think that the answer to the question posed by the subtitle to the Foreign Policy article—“Should Brazil keep its Amazon tribes from taking the lives of their children?”—would be a resounding, “Yes.” Surely no one would argue these tribes have a right to kill unwanted children. Surely even the most committed multiculturalist would not condone such barbarity. Right?
But to assume that would be to underestimate the force of cultural relativism on the Left. If our friends on the Left encountered, in the present day and in real life, the ritual human sacrifices of the Aztecs or the fires of the Canaanite god Moloch, more than a few would insist that we not pass judgement on these indigenous cultural practices, and would probably denounce those who tried to do so as racists and imperialists.
On 4 November a young Christian couple, Shahbaz Maseeh (32) and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi (28) -- both bonded labourers (slaves) -- weresavagely murdered by a large mob of angry Muslims in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, Punjab Province. Local mosques had broadcast the claim that the couple had desecrated Qur'anic texts. According to some reports the couple were beaten to death and then burned. Other reports say they were alive when thrown into the kiln. Police are reportedly investigating and have increased security around Christian neighbourhoods. The couple had reportedly been under extreme pressure and were not being paid. When they applied to leave they were told that as bonded labourers they would have to pay to redeem themselves. But it was much more than they could afford, so they were planning to flee with their four young children. Pray for the Church in Pakistan.
Elizabeth Kendal reports: Tensions are erupting in Chhattisgarh's southern Bastar district as violent persecution with impunity becomes prevalent. At least 50 villages have banned all non-Hindu religious practice. In many places Christians are being denied food rations and access to water. Churches are being attacked and Christians assaulted without the authorities intervening, which guarantees that the situation will escalate. Officials in Madota invited Christians to meet with them for mediation on 25 October. The Christians attended but nobody else did. Then in the evening a truck arrived with 50 Hindu militants who attacked the defenceless Christians with knives, swords and axes. Fifteen believers were wounded and 12 required hospitalisation for serious injuries. Many Christians have fled. Impunity is almost inevitable. Please pray for the Church in India.
RAJASTHAN, India -- Every year, millions of Indian
girls are married as children. In some instances the brides are no more
than 4 or 5 years old.
Child marriages are illegal in India, but the practice is flourishing.
Rajasthan is the epicenter of India's child
marriage. More than half of girls born in the area become child brides
before the age of 15.
"The life of a child bride is very sad," said Prem Dabi, who's studying the impact of child marriage on Indian society.
"The moment she gets married, from a physical,
mental, emotional and educational perspective, her life becomes very
challenging," Dabi added.
Most of India's rural poor live on less than a dollar a day. Marrying off a daughter means one less mouth to feed.
See behind the scenes photos from this story on George Thomas' Facebook page. While you're there, share reaction to his report on India's #childbrides.
Dinesh Shur is a village pastor.
"Girls are seen as a liability and burden," Shur
explained. "The girl's family is responsible for the paying [of] the
dowry, so the longer they wait to get the girl married off, the more
they'll have to pay the future-in-laws."
Secret Weddings
April and May are popular months for marriages in
Rajasthan. Villages will hold thousands of ceremonies, the majority of
them between minors.
"Every year you'll see the images of parents holding
their children, sometimes as young as 4 or 5 years old, in their lap as
they get married," Dabi said.
India first introduced laws against child marriage
in 1929, and back then the legal age for marriage was set at 12. It was
eventually increased to 18 years old in 1978.
To evade the law, families often perform marriages
in secret, usually late at night. Outsiders are rarely allowed to attend
these ceremonies, let alone film them.
Rajma Patel's parents made an exception, giving CBN News permission to film their son the night before his wedding.
"I am becoming a man tomorrow," Patel laughed on camera.
His parents insist that he's 21. But his friends
told CBN News off camera that he's only 10. His young face covered in
traditional makeup, he wears a special suit with flashing colored
lights.
"I want the youngsters in the village to follow my example," Patel said.
The entire village spends the night before the wedding drinking and dancing.
"Under the influence of alcohol, these dance rituals
become sexually charged and often you'll see young boys and girls
joining in. It becomes a place to find potential child suitors," pastor
Shur said.
Loss of Innocence
CBN News wasn't allowed to film Patel's bride, who is said to be no more than 8 or 9 years old.
"The parents always lie about the child's age," Dabi
said. "Families know what they are doing is not right but because of
culture and economic reasons, the parents will marry their children off
at a young age."
CBN News was allowed to film Veena's wedding. Her wedding took place during the day, which is very uncommon.
"We've been preparing for this wedding for nearly a
year," Veena's father Kehra said. "I've invited the entire village to
come for this happy occasion."
Veena tried to look her best as she prepared to teeter down the aisle of her house. But she was anything but happy.
In between combing her hair and putting on jewelry,
she sobbed uncontrollably. The family tried to console her. When CBN
News asked her why she's crying, she refused to talk.
"She has no idea what it means to be a wife, how to
take care of a family. But because this has been forced upon her, she
has to go along with it. I think she's a little scared," Veena's aunt
Jeetha said.
Veena's family insisted she's 18. But she looks 7 or 8.
"I also got married when I was very young. She will adjust," Jeetha said.
No End in Sight
India is only one of many countries where child
marriage is thriving. Each year, some 10 million girls are married
before they turn 18. The practice is most common in Africa, the Middle
East, and South Asia.
"The girl is married then moves in with
her husband's family," Dabi explained. "She's not allowed to go to
school to get an education. As soon as she reaches puberty she's
expected to have children."
And the ripple effects of these young marriages are devastating. Research shows that girl brides are more likely to
Die during pregnancy and childbirth
Lose her child before it's born
Be infected with HIV
Have three or more births, and
Undergo multiple abortions.
In the village, Veena's soon-to-be husband, Darji
Damor, arrived in a bus with his family. Wearing a special crown with
flashing lights, he joined a procession of villagers making their way to
the bride's home.
His face was partially covered by a multi-colored
mask worn until the ceremony is over. His family also insisted he's old
enough to legally marry.
"I am ready to be a husband," Darji said.
Weak and exhausted from her emotional preparation, Venna had to be carried down the aisle by her father.
She sobbed through the two-hour ceremony.
"It is heartbreaking to watch," Dinesh said. "These are children, little children getting married."
Not many people are aware of the situation that Christians face in many parts of India. Elizabeth Kendal, international religious liberty analyst and advocate, explains the violence and injustice Christians face:
Hindu nationalism -- the idea that India should be a Hindu State -- is the political construct of India's high caste Hindu powerbrokers who pursue political power for the purpose of perpetuating their own power and privilege.
Hindu nationalism works to dragnet the votes of India's Hindu majority (74 percent), primarily through promoting Hindu supremacy and to effect religious conversions for political gain through fear-mongering amongst India's indigenous tribal peoples who are traditionally non-Hindu. The Hindu nationalists tell the indigenous tribals that their nation is under threat from seditious elements (Muslims and Christians) who they say are in the pay of foreign enemies like Pakistan and the CIA. The only way to protect India from separatism and colonialism is for the tribals to join the Hindu mainstream and fight politically and physically. This Hindutva propaganda goes largely unchallenged and is responsible for the dramatic escalation in dangerous communal violence right across India, a situation that is further fuelled by the impunity with which attackers are rewarded.
Take this opportunity to listen to Joseph D'Souza's powerful message about caste in India, "the world's longest-lasting slave system," and the challenge facing the Christian church. This is a most worthwhile 8 1/2 minutes of your time! It is altogether informative, instructive and inspirational at the same time. I was powerfully moved. (HT: P. Dance)
D'Souza said there is more slavery in our world today than there was at the time of Wilberforce when he fought the transatlantic slave trade. 250 million people are considered the outcastes of Indian society. I found it fascinating, and horrifying, that a "creation myth" is the root of the stratification of Indian society. The myth says that God created human beings in a hierarchy of purity and impurity. 25% of India’s population has no rights, is dehumanized, segregated, and silently endures an apartheid system. But there are great signs of hope. If you haven't yet listened to the video posted above, take the time now to do so.
India's vaunted tech savvy is being put to the test this week as the country embarks on a daunting mission: assigning a unique 12-digit number to each of its 1.2 billion people.
The project, which seeks to collect fingerprint and iris scans from all residents and store them in a massive central database of unique IDs, is considered by many specialists the most technologically and logistically complex national identification effort ever attempted. [more...]
[...] Bangladesh has much to be proud of. Its economy has grown at nearly 6% a year over the past three years. The country exported $12.3 billion worth of garments last year, making it fourth in the world behind China, the EU and Turkey. Against the odds, Bangladesh has curbed population growth. Today the average Bangladeshi woman bears fewer than three children in her lifetime, down from more than six in the 1970s. [more...]
Compass Direct News (via Christianity Today) reports:
Christians in India heaved sighs of relief after the
surprise rout of a Hindu nationalist party in May national and state assembly
elections in Orissa, the scene of anti-Christian violence that killed hundreds
and displaced tens of thousands last year.
A local centrist party, the Biju Janata Dal, took charge of
the Orissa state government, soundly defeating the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 109 to 7 assembly seats. A coalition led by the centrist Indian National Congress won a second term in the federal government; it
defeated a BJP-led coalition in 2004.
"The election result is a statement against the persecution
of non-Hindus," said Vijay Simha, a senior Indian journalist. "Since the vote
went against right-wing parties, the result is a strong rejection of extremist
religious programs."
Sales of Hitler’s Mein Kampf “are
soaring in India where business students regard the genocidal dictator
as a “management guru” and consider the book to be a “management guide.”
An article in Jewish Chronicle
published from London said that sales of Mein Kampf topped 10,000 in
New Delhi alone in the past six months and are expected to rise
further. A spokesman for Embassy Books in Mumbai who publish Mein Kampf, said people are looking at it from a business angle, especially as Hitler had such a strong influence on the world."
“Students are told to use Mein Kampf
and draw parallels with India to learn business strategies. Even for
non-students Hitler's books are popular texts and are clearly displayed
in most book stores around India.”
“A business student living in
Mumbai said that many people in India see Hitler as a good role model
for directing a company and cite him as an inspiration in people
management,” the article said.
- Update 2/6/09 - Joseph D'Souza, the international president of the Dalit Freedom Network, applauds the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" saying,
I have worked with the disenfranchised and marginalised for most of my
life. I’m a citizen of India who is proud of my country’s progress in
recent years, yet I must point out the obvious again. The movie is not
about selling the poverty of India, as a British newspaper alleged (“Shocked by Slumdog’s poverty porn”).
Instead, it is the story about the real India of the majority, where
children become the primary victims of all that is dysfunctional in
society (as The Guardian pointed out).
- (Original post) - Mafia gangs deliberately cripple children for begging profit. This is truly unspeakable. Click here. (HT: Drudge). The new movie, Slumdog Millionaire, depicts some of this but doesn't go far enough.
Dorothy Rabinowitz has an article in The Wall Street Journal recounting the "sage" commentary Chopra offered to CNN and Larry King. This "wisdom" from Chopra gets tiresome.
Two subsequent interviews with Larry King brought much of the same
-- a litany of suggestions about the role the U.S. had played in
fueling assaults by Muslim terrorists, reminders of the numbers of
Muslims in the world and their grievances. A faithful adherent of the
root-causes theory of crime -- mass murder, in the case at hand -- Dr.
Chopra pointed out, quite unnecessarily, that most of the terrorism in
the world came from Muslims. It was mandatory, then, to address their
grievances -- "humiliation," "poverty," "lack of education." The U.S.,
he recommended, should undertake a Marshall Plan for Muslims.
Nowhere in this citation of the root causes of Muslim terrorism was
there any mention of Islamic fundamentalism -- the religious fanaticism
that has sent fevered mobs rioting, burning and killing over alleged
slights to the Quran or the prophet. Not to mention the countless
others enlisted to blow themselves and others up in the name of God. (My emphases) [more. . .]
(2) India's biggest radical Hindu group aims to wipe out Christianity through reconversions and violence. Vijay Simha writes about the Hindu re-conversion effort. He describes the Hindu strategies, and the Hindu reconversion ceremonies as well. Final paragraph:
The campaign to reconvert Christians to Hinduism is part of the overall
RSS strategy to convert India, a secular nation, into a Hindu nation.
The events in Orissa are only the beginning.
Christians who have been persecuted by Hindu militants in 12 Indian
states could face more
bloodshed after another Hindu activist,
Rashtriya Swayamsevak, was reportedly shot dead by Maoists this week.
India's Communist Party
estimates that more than 500 Christians have been killed by Hindu mobs
in Orissa, 12 times more than official government claims of only 40
homicides. One official said he personally authorized "cremation of
more than 200 bodies" found in jungles after Christians were blamed for
the death of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 24. They
continue to be persecuted even though Maoists openly admitted to
murdering Saraswati.
According to the Communist Party report, Hindu extremists may have
used government machinery to "minimize the evidence and possibly
destroy dead bodies."
Thousands of homes and churches have been destroyed, and tens of
thousands of Christians have been forced to flee the violence. Mission
Network News estimates 5,000 Christian homes have been burned, 200
churches ruined, 10,000 people remain in government-operated refugee
camps, and tens of thousands are living in forests – many seriously
wounded.
Referring to a major Washington Postnews article on the current state of extraordinary persecution of Christians in the Orissa region of India, the Family Research Council summarized:
"The Washington Post" reports today that Christians in the Orissa region of India have been
relentlessly attacked in recent weeks by Hindu
extremists who, as the Post
reports, "wielding
swords, hammers and long sticks rampaged through
their village, chanting 'India is for Hindus!
Convert or leave!'" These extremists have destroyed nearly 4,000 homes
of Christian families, and at least 115 churches, resulting in the
displacement of nearly 20,000 people who are now afraid to return. Many
are hiding in the forests. The Hindu fundamentalists claim that
Christianity
is a "foreign religion," a claim that is both untrue and irrelevant.
The Christian presence in India is nearly as old as the church itself.
But
ancient or not, freedom of religion is protected under Indian law. It
is time that the Indian national government stepped up to defend its
own
citizens from violence. And it is also time for our State Department to
insist that they do so. [my emphases]
I urge you to read the entire Washington Post article. I blogged about persecution in Orissa last month also. The persecution and violence continues. One can keep abreast of persecution of Christians at the International Christian Concern website. Click here for a list of atrocities earlier in the month plus video footage.
From Assist News: Violent attacks against Christians in the eastern state of Orissa continued 5th day..
“Some people have
called the violence ‘Hindu-Christian clashes’. But this is not
accurate. Innocent Christians – mostly of Dalit origin – continue to be
attacked by communal organizations which are mocking the rule of law.
Governance in Orissa state appears to have disintegrated,” said Dr.
Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc).
Never underestimate the folly of supposed "leaders." Take Rowan Williams, for example, the current Archbishop of Canterbury. An article in the Times of London reports:
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power
in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.
According to the article,
Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: “We have only one
global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to
accumulate influence and control. That’s not working.”
He contrasted it unfavourably with how the British Empire governed India. “It
is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources
into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what
the British Empire did — in India, for example.
And how about this? The interview was given to a Muslim magazine.
In the interview in Emel,
a Muslim lifestyle magazine, Williams makes only mild criticisms of the
Islamic world. He said the Muslim world must acknowledge that its “political
solutions were not the most impressive”.
All of which led the historian Victor Davis Hanson to respond in a classic, must-read rebuttal:
I suggest that the
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams read a little history about the
British experience in India before he offers politically-correct but
historically laughable
. . . Along with an estimated 35,000 sacred
cows and buffaloes that roam free in the capital, marauding monkeys
have been longstanding pests. . . Estimates of Delhi's monkey population range from 10,000 to over 20,000.
. . . Efforts to drive out the animals is
complicated by the fact that devout Hindus view them as an incarnation
of Hanuman, the monkey god who symbolises strength. Killing them is
unacceptable.
Click here for an informative interview with Manjeet Kripalani who for 10 years was India bureau chief for Business Week magzine and is now the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in New Yori City.
Amont other things, I learned that
There's a cellular phone company called Bharti, which, like most of India's cellular operators, sells its phone calls for between 1 cent and 2 cents a minute. Those are the lowest rates of anywhere in the world. It was possible because of innovations made by these companies for their local markets. And these were innovations that multinational companies were not interested in making because they are not interested in low-cost models for low-cost markets. . . . Companies like Bharti have created this astonishingly low-cost cellular phone call, and what it has done is it has given a big boost to the Indian cellular phone market. It's now the fastest growing in the world and it's changed the life of ordinary Indians. . . .
You've probably read about the ever-growing imbalance of males to females (because of abortion) in India and China. This article brings the subject up to date.
Less than a week after the U.S. Senate
hastily cleared the way for generous U.S. nuclear cooperation with
India, New Delhi made three announcements that pretty much destroyed
the White House’s arguments for proceeding.
First, within hours of the Senate vote, India’s prime minister Manmohan
Singh met in New Delhi with Iran’s new
As this report indicates, persecution of Christians is breaking out all over India in an unprecedented way.
Hindu extremists have launched dozens of attacks against Christians and their churches since January.
GFA president K.P. Yohannan
says at the root of the violence is growing concern by Hindu
nationalists about Christian outreach to India's 300 million Dalits, an
outcaste group whose members are often referred to as "untouchables."
Yohannan says Hindu
nationalists want India to be what they would call a "pure Hindu"
nation. "What they're trying to do," he explains, "is say, 'If you
leave the Hindu fold or if you become Christian, we're going to treat
you badly, and we are going to go after you.'" In reality, he notes,
what these extremists are doing "is a kind of ethnic cleansing,
[warning people to] stay away from Christians and don't become
Christians."
One example of the accelerating persecution was reported here and here this week.
Police officers in northwestern India’s Rajasthan state
arrested Rev. Samuel Thomas, president of Emmanuel Mission International (EMI)
and son of Archbishop M.A. Thomas, EMI’s founder earlier today. Both men had
gone underground after Hindu extremists accused them of distributing a
controversial book in which the militants alleged that their religion and
deities had been denigrated.
EMI’s
orphanages, schools and a hospital have been targeted for closure by a wide
array of Hindu extremists in the past few months, including some who have
offered a reward of $26,000 for the heads of both Thomas and his
father.
Tensions increased earlier this week when Rajasthan state’s
welfare minister, Madan Dilawar, said he should be “stoned to death” if his
government effort to take over EMI’s properties failed.