BHARATA BHARATI

Hindu leaders and interfaith dialogue – SDS

At the interfaith meeting advertised above, between Sri Sri Ravishankar and Dr. Zakir Naik, Sri Sri conspicuously failed to defend Hindu Dharma and the concept of God in the Bhagavat Gita. He has probably never read the Bhagavat Gita so it is unfair to expect him to defend it. He is a popular Hindu godman and yogi who falls into the category of “Hindu idiot” when it comes to his knowledge of Hinduism and Islam. Why Hindu leaders attend these inter-religious meetings with Muslims and Christians when they have not prepared themselves and do not have any knowledge of the Koran and Bible, or studied the history and ideologies of these two aggressive Abrahamic religions is beyond understanding.

Baba Ramdev attended the Jamiat-i-Hind at Deoband where the mullahs issued a fatwa upholding an earlier fatwa against the singing of India’s national song Vande Mataram. Did he sign the fatwa too? It is not such a foolish question: our Hindu leaders have done worse things to the Hindu community. M.K. Gandhi sold the Hindus down the river in an attempt to appease Muslims during the Independence struggle. He failed miserably. If Gandhi could not change the mind of sectarian and separatist Muslim leaders, what makes today’s Hindu godmen think that they can do better?

Baba Ramdev has even gone so far as to equate the Koran and Bible with the Vedas in his book Jeevan Darshan, calling them all Dharma Granth. Obviously he has not read either the Koran or the Bible or the Vedas, or he would not have made such an absurd comparison. Out of 6236 verses, the Koran has 3900 that teach intolerance and hatred. Some 900 of these verses discuss murder, looting, rape, and hellfire for kafirs. The Koran advocates cheating and the telling of lies in order to spread Islam among non Muslims. The Bible is not much better. Jesus promises to destroy the family and divide father against son and mother against daughter. He also promises eternal hellfire for those who do not follow him (he is the first prophet in history to conceive of such an evil place as an eternal hell for his critics). None of these teachings constitute Dharma in any sense, and Baba Ramdev has been challenged by P. Deivamuthu, the learned editor of Hindu Voice in Mumbai, to explain himself. We all eagerly await his reply.

But all is not lost. Hindus still have their traditional religious teachers who act in the interest of the whole Hindu community rather than for themselves or their followers alone. They are usually not allowed to speak out on import issues by  anti-Hindu politicians and state ministers, but sometimes they do have their say and are heard by even the government in New Delhi. One such occasion was the meeting between the Kanchi Shankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal and Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The Cardinal was told on no uncertain terms that this was the last meeting between Hindu and Christian leaders if the Church did not rein in its missionaries and stop abusing the hospitality that Hindus have extended to Christians from the time of their arrival in India in the 4th century. Radha Rajan gives an account of the meeting below. – Swami Devananda Saraswati

Kanchi Acharya confronts Vatican Cardinal – RR

On June 12, 2009, Pujya Swami Jayendra Saraswati, Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Matham, met Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, and others, in Mumbai for a Hindu-Catholic dialogue.

The meeting was closed door, but informed sources said it was high voltage and shut the door on future dialogue unless all Christian denominations agree to eschew conversions.

We have it on excellent authority that the inter-faith dialogue did not go as planned (by the Vatican and its Hindu apologists at home). We are told that no one except the religious leaders themselves and one or two persons to assist them in the dialogue were permitted in the hall.

The Kanchi Acharya spoke as is characteristic of him, in the softest tone possible, with the unfading smile never slipping from his face, in chaste Hindi. However from the statement that he released to the press and media after the dialogue, it is obvious that the soft tone and chaste Hindi socked the gathering on the jaw. It is a good thing for Hindus that this time we had a man who knows his dharma and more importantly, like Sri Krishna understands evil, to speak for this bhumi.

Below are the main points of the prepared speech of the Shankaracharya, which he relied upon when making his presentation. – Radha Rajan

1] Exactly one month ago to the date, the Pope went to Jerusalem where Jesus was born, for a similar dialogue that the Vatican had undertaken with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. At the end of that meeting when the Pope and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzer jointly addressed the press and media, the Chief Rabbi thanked the Pope for assuring the Chief Rabbinate that the Catholic Church would desist and cease from all missionary and conversion activities among the Jews. This is construed as endorsed and agreed by the Pope since he was present at the press meet. We need a similar commitment from the Church for Hindus.

2] After such inter-faith meetings, the points agreed have to be faithfully abided. Otherwise there will be no point in holding such meetings. Unless the Church reassures Hindus that it will not conduct itself in a manner that wounds Hindu sensibilities and follows up on those assurances, such inter-faith meetings, no matter how frequently they are held, will be futile and not serve any meaningful cause.

3] In 1999, Pope John Paul II had stated that the mission of the Vatican was to plant the Cross in Asia in the third millennium to facilitate the Christianising of the world, which alone would cause the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Pope must tell us the rationale for the First Coming of Jesus Christ when there was no Christianity or the Church to undertake the mission to Christianize the world.

4] We see the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as an intrusive mechanism of a foreign government to interfere in the internal affairs of this country. The USCIRF, which has been permitted to visit this country to hold meetings with our people to ascertain religious freedom in our country, must no longer be permitted to enter this country on this intrusive mission. We will not allow external interference into our internal affairs. [In fact, the Commission was not granted visas by the Indian government after the Shankaracharya made this statement. See  Anti-Hindu bias in US Government Commission – Editor]

5] We know that very large amounts of money come into this country for Churches and Christian groups, ostensibly for charitable work. These funds should be used only for social causes like health, education, etc., and should not be used for religious conversion. During these dialogues, it should be agreed that the funds should be distributed to all organisations who do charitable work, irrespective of the organisations’ religious faith. A common pool should be created and a committee formed to distribute and monitor the usage of these funds.

6] It has become easy for the missionaries to convert Hindus. All Hindu organisations and associations should work together to educate Hindus and eradicate the conversion activity.

7] Hindu dharma is by nature diverse and so all different panthas and sampradayas co-exist on this bhumi without seeking to destroy the others. Hindu dharma has nurtured and supported all faiths and religions because that is the way of dharma. We expect that religions which have come into this bhumi from other lands will respect this vital characteristic of Hindu dharma and not do anything to subvert or disturb the sense of nationhood of this country. Hindu dharma and the Hindu people welcome Christians and Muslims, Parsis and Jews to make this land their home. We expect from these religions that they will not seek to destroy our faith, our religion and wound our religious sensibilities. We encourage all religions to live with mutual respect and harmony in a shared sense of nationalism which should bind us all as one nation. Nationalism should come first.

8] We are aware of the propaganda that [the Church] will cure diseases and ailments if the individual converts to their faith. This is illegal as per the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act 1954 and we call upon the Indian government to take action under the provision of law.

9]  Most of the countries in the world (USA, UK, Japan, Middle East nations, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc.), adopt national resolutions and statements of intent proclaimed by their governments and their highest religious bodies, affirming their determination to protect and defend the culture and the religion from which their cultures derive. In India alone we pass resolutions which officially and legally promote an irreligious and unspiritual creed called secularism. Secularism is an administrative quality; it cannot be the soul of this nation. The soul of this nation is religious and spiritual. We call upon our government and other important religious bodies to recognise this truth and affirm their commitment to protect the soul of this nation.

10] The Buddhist Mahasangha and the Joint Committee of Buddhist Organisations have declared their intention to get the Sri Lankan government to pilot and pass a national anti-conversion bill and make it law. We welcome this move and strongly endorse this measure.

11] The Church in India must stop forthwith the use of Hindu religious words, phrases, and symbols like Veda, Agama, Rishi, Ashrama, Om, and other such in what is referred to as “inculturation” tactics, but which are only intended to deceive the vulnerable sections of our people who are the intended targets for religious conversion. This is also insulting to and wounding of the religious sensitivities of Hindus. Similarly it has been brought to our notice that the Church has scripted a new Bible [called The New Community Bible or “Indian Bible”  published in June 2008 – Editor] for the new converts by usurping sections of our sacred Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas, and incorporating them into the Bible. This must stop immediately and all these Bibles must be withdrawn from circulation. We urge the Indian government to look into the matter and do the needful. – Radha Rajan

See also

1. Interfaith Dialogue: In Whose Interest? – B.R. Haran
2. Interfaith Dialogue: In Whose Interest? – B.R. Haran
3. Interfaith Dialogue: In Whose Interest? – B.R. Haran

Filed under: india, vatican | Tagged: conversion activities, cultural relativism, interfaith dialogue, jayendra saraswati, sri sri ravishankar |