BHAJAN SINGH, Director of the Organization For Minorities of India (OFMI) will address "INDIA's HIDDEN HOLOCAUST."The vast majority of Americans are totally ignorant of the fact that militant Hindus are brutally murdering our brethren in Christ and other minorities in India. The silence is deafening among our elected officials and those running for political office.
Under British rule in India, ethnic and religious minorities were strategically divided against each other. This was done to prevent the formation of a coalition of minorities which could present a united and powerful front against the British. Post-independence, this strategy was continued by the Indian government. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of Indian minorities have been murdered by the Indian government and extremist groups. Anti-conversion laws, the still thriving caste system, and fake encounters staged by law enforcement all serve to maintain the oppression of India's minorities.
Considering India's emergent status as a global superpower, it is imperative for non-Indians to understand the issues and circumstances of Indian minorities. So the Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI) was created to educate people about situations affecting the major religious and cultural Indian minorities, which include Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Muslims, and Sikhs. Their organization is composed of various Indian minorities who have joined together to encourage dialogue and understanding between Indian and non-Indian minorities.
According to the President of Dasmesh Darbar, a Sikh house of worship in the Vancouver, BC area:
"The Vancouver Sikh community strongly condemns the recent anti-Christian violence in India. Several people, including a nun in Orissa and a priest in Andhra Pradesh, have been brutally murdered over the past 10 days. This bloodshed is the latest in the war on Christians, Dalits, Muslims, and Sikhs, who consistently suffer blatant human rights abuses at the hands of Hindu extremists...
...On August 16, Father Thomas Pandippallyil's body was discovered in Andhra Pradesh. His body showed signs of torture, including broken legs and hands and eyes torn from their sockets. On August 25, a nun was burned alive when Hindu rioters torched a Christian orphanage in Orissa. Reports continue to emerge of Hindu fundamentalists burning churches and shooting Christians, particularly in Orissa...
...Seven Indian states have undermined both freedom of religion and of speech by outlawing religious conversion and banning promotion of any religion but Hinduism, thus encouraging harassment and assault of Christians, whose religion compels evangelism. A May 2005 case from Voice of the Martyrs further illustrates the risk to Indian Christians: 'The death sentence for the man convicted of murdering Australian missionary Graham Staines and his boys in 1999 was commuted... Seeing this as leniency for those who kill Christians, a Hindu militant and at least two others entrapped and murdered two pastors on the outskirts of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.'...
...Hindu fundamentalists are emboldened to commit such offenses by the Indian state's anti-minority policies. These began with Gandhi, who said: 'It cannot be said that Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are separate religions. All these four faiths and their offshoots are one. Hinduism is an ocean into which all the rivers run. It can absorb Islam and Christianity and all other religions.' This philosophy was then adopted into Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which says: 'Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion.'...
...'Gandhi turned his anti-minority ideology into Indian state policy,' said Dasmesh Darbar president Sudager Singh. “With the stroke of a pen, he forcefully converted millions of minorities to Hinduism through Article 25. His position as ‘Father of the Nation’ deserves serious reexamination.'...
...The Vancouver Sikh community urges the launch of international investigations of Indian state complicity in anti-minority violence. We also demand the repeal of Article 25 and unequivocal protection of freedom of religion and the press. Finally, we request the swift apprehension of those responsible for the recent murders."
Today's guest, "Bhajan Singh, a member of the Sikh religion, was born in Singapore. He moved to the United States in the 1980's, where he has been active in the Indian-American minority communities for over 20 years. During that time, Bhajan has monitored the rise of Hindu nationalism and its impact on Indian minorities. He currently resides in California. You can contact him at info@ofmi.org.
Bhajan Singh and OFMI are involved in protesting the erection of a larger than life-size bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which is a gift from the Government of India, at James Madison University in Virginia in "recognition of the work of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence." The statue will be unveiled and dedicated on October 2, 2008, the International Day of Nonviolence and birth anniversary of Ghandi, by Mr. Ronen Sen, Ambassador of India to the US. This statue is the first of Mahatma Gandhi in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the third at a college campus in the United States of America. Moreover, James Madison University is the first (and only) institution of higher learning outside of India to have a center named after Mahatma Gandhi. This is highly offensive to OFMI and victims of Hindu persecution who view Ghandi as a symbol for racial hatred, not a hero of racial equality.
You can listen to another free, downloadable MP3 of an "Iron Sharpens Iron" interview on a related topic with another Sikh, Col. G.B. Singh (U.S. Army, Retired), author of "Ghandi: Behind the Mask of Divinity" and "Ghandi Under Cross-Examination" by clicking here.
No comments:
Post a Comment