Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 6, 2003
A leading newspaper just performed
a sterling service by publishing a photograph of the "Ganesh chappals"
that have so enraged the Hindu-Indian community in America. Without the
photograph, it would have been difficult for people in this part of the
world to envisage how something so deeply offensive could have been contemplated
and executed with such equanimity by cobblers in a country otherwise prone
to the mantra of out-sourcing. The slippers bore tiny motifs of the god
Ganesh all over, and no doubt one had only to slip one's feet into them
to feel secular superiority coursing through one veins!
Not so long ago, a leading British
store thought Hindu gods were good enough (sic) to grace toilet seats.
Without being hyper-sensitive, one may legitimately question why Hindu
gods alone are singled out for such honour. I do not believe the incidents
are innocent, harmless or accidental. India has been associated with the
spiritual quest since the dawn of civilization; the dullest soul in the
world knows the esteem in which gods are held in this land. For a god as
universally renowned as Ganesh to land up beneath human feet is to my mind
a very intentional insult.
Hindus have a special prayer seeking
Mother Earth's forgiveness for having to put their feet upon her sacred
body. We cannot view a god on footwear as part of secular evolution. What
is more, the religious symbols and icons of the faiths to which the offenders
adhere (howsoever nominally) have never found their way into the same profane
space into which Hindu gods are being thrust with apparent regularity.
I therefore think that it was a mistake for the American Hindu community
to let the manufacturer get away with an apology and withdrawal of the
offending slippers. The next time such an offence occurs, they should file
a class action suit.
I believe these cultural shock and
awe tactics are related to the consistent White Christian goal of eradicating
all native faiths and traditions in the world. What better way than by
eroding the sanctity of other gods? At some level these activities connect
with last year's well orchestrated campaign against a US-based charity,
India Relief and Development Fund (IDRF), titled "The Foreign Exchange
of Hate: IDRF and American Funding of Hindutva." Coming in the wake of
the Gujarat riots, it got good mileage internationally.
The November 2002 report, published
by Sabrang Communications, India, and South Asia Citizens Web, France,
was basically a rehash of old allegations by the Forum of Indian Leftists
(FOIL) and was even authored by Biju Mathew, FOIL founding member. Some
American Indian friends of mine have since united under the aegis of Friends
of India and investigated the "Hate" charges. Sifting through layers of
innuendo, they have arrived at facts which debunk Sabrang-FOIL fulsomely.
IDRF's principal crime (sic) is
that it collects funds to provide services to the poor in India, irrespective
of caste or religion, in areas that missionaries fondly imagine are their
sole preserve. Projects are monitored through volunteers who meet their
own out-of-pocket expenses and thus ensure that as much as 99.1% funds
reach intended beneficiaries.
Such dedication adversely affects
the harvesting of souls! Not surprisingly, Friends of India found that
Sabrang-FOIL was targeted at US corporations that provide matching funds
to employee contributions to IDRF. Hurting IDRF financially would deprive
Indian NGOs of funds and leave the field open to rich evangelists. IDRF
was by no means flush with funds as most of its donors were small donors.
Over a thirteen year period, it raised just thirteen million dollars. In
contrast, in 2001-2002, Christian bodies in Karnataka alone received ninety-eight
million dollars!
Sabrang-FOIL leveled serious charges
against IDRF-funded agencies in the core areas of education, tribal welfare,
and so on. Regarding Ekal Vidyalaya schools, it said: "While the stated
purpose of the schools is eradication of illiteracy in remote areas, the
One Teacher School are heavily involved in spreading Hindutva 'education'
with a focus on stopping conversions to Christianity and encouraging 'reconversions'
to Hinduism."
As opposed to this, Radhika Sharma
in India Currents (an Indian-American monthly from San Francisco, USA),
observed: "Ekal Vidyalayas offer five years of free non-formal education
to village children aged 5-14 years in groups of 30 to 40. The teachers
are locally educated youths who have passed grades 8 or 9 and have been
trained specifically for the purpose. These village schools also serve
the ancillary function of a meeting point for the entire community wherein
ideas regarding health and better lifestyle are discussed. The curriculum
is designed by educationalists to cater to special local needs and is taught
in the regional language of the state. The girl child is also well represented:
50 percent of the students and teachers are female."
Friends of India has provided interesting
observations from White American scholar Yvette Rosser (University of Texas,
Austin), who recently travelled in some north-eastern states. Visiting
a non-Christian Dimasi village near Dimapur, Nagaland, she met villagers
who told her that "over a hundred years ago the Americans came with the
Kala Kitab (black book) and told them their Gods were satans.'. Such tolerance!
The village headman told Rosser
that they "decided to get organized when in the fall of 1999 there were
dozens of huge prayer meetings warning people that Jesus was returning
to earth on the new year. Missionaries from different churches would go
through all the villages on bicycles with bull-horns and tell people to
come to the prayer meeting and be saved - to leave their old evil ways
behind and be saved when the rapture comes on Dec. 31, 1999." The Dimasis
countered with their own prayer meeting, and later got assistance from
the Vivekananda Kendra to print their own Dimasi prayer booklets. No wonder
the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of Northern America
is so upset with them! The Dimasis also managed funds to preserve a unique
ancient monument - a giant chess set associated with Mahabharata hero Bhima's
wife, who hailed from this tribe. I've seen pictures of this set, and it
truly deserves to be top on our Heritage list.
Friends of India has thus taken
the Sabrang/FOIL report apart, charge by charge, and established that its
authors have no primary evidence from appropriate government sources or
other acceptable proof-points to substantiate their wild accusations. Indeed,
the report appears to be nothing more than ideological hatred packaged
into accusations against NGOs who are providing yeoman services in education,
healthcare, managing orphanages, rehabilitation work (Latur and Gujarat
earthquakes, Kargil victims), and other social service projects.
The most fundamental allegation,
of course, relates to 'Hinduizing' activities of the Sangh Parivar and
its affiliates. Here I can do no better than to leave the reader with the
profound thoughts of the US-based Jubilee Church: ".India ... is desperate
for the truth of the gospel. In the land of a million gods, multitudes
live in confusion and spiritual bondage with no knowledge of God's goodness.
We bring the good news of the gospel not only through evangelism and crusades,
but also by revolutionizing the standard of living through missionary work,
including the development of a Bible College to equip local pastors,
and digging wells to bring fresh water to needy villages." Aaa hah...
