[sacw] sacw dispatch #3 (11 Oct. 99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #3
11 October 1999
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#1. India, Pakistan have begun weaponising=92 nuclear devices: Newsweek
#2. 3 Christians held for alleged conversions in Gujarat
[...]
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#1. (Thanks to MV Ramana for forwarding this)

News Today [India Today Group Online]
Posted October 11, 1999
Section:INTERNATIONAL
http://www.india-today.com/ntoday/newsarchives/99/10/11/n13.shtml =20
=20
India, Pakistan have begun weaponising=92 nuclear devices: Newsweek

New York, October 11: India and Pakistan have begun weaponising=92 the
nuclear devices they tested in May last year, unidentified senior aides of
US President Bill Clinton have been quoted by the Newsweek as saying.
Pakistan has already put nuclear warheads on some missiles and India is
following suit, the American magazine has quoted the officials in its
upcoming issue.

The officials voiced their concern, it says, after the United States senate
slated a vote on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on Tuesday.
However, diplomats say the comments to Newsweek could be part of the
administration's strategy to pressurise the senate into not killing the
treaty. The administration has no sufficient support to get it ratified and
now wants the vote to be postponed.

Newsweek said, India's External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had recently
hinted that New Delhi would sign CTBT which is likely to bring Pakistan
aboard. But Clinton's aides say the race might speed up if CTBT fails in
the senate.

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#2. (Thanks to FN for sending this)

3 Christians held for alleged conversions in Gujarat
from India Abroad News Service

New Delhi, Oct 11 - The Christian conversion issue has reared its ugly
head in the western Indian state of Gujarat once again with local
authorities arresting three Christians for alleged forcible conversion of
tribals, press reports said.

The three were arrested on a complaint by a Hindu activist who claimed
they were "trying to forcibly convert the tribal population of Dahod town
by spreading false propaganda against a particular religion," The Indian
Express reported. They were later produced in court and released on bail.

According to District Superintendent of Police K.L.N. Rao, the three men
-- Rahul Christi, Thomas Christi and Sanjeev Hiralal -- had allegedly
organised a preaching session in a tribal-dominated area in Dahod and some
residents had objected to it. The three, however, told the police the
preaching was of a purely religious nature and no other religion had been
demeaned by them. They alleged that some Hindu organisations were trying to
politicise the issue.

The Philadelphia Fellowship Church of India, which has its regional office
in Dahod, has written a letter to state authorites, complaining about the
arrests and seeking protection for the Christian community in the area
against alleged persecution by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
and Bajrang Dal, right-wing affiliates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
ruling Gujarat.

In their letter, Pastor Joy Punnoose and other members said they were
holding a peaceful meeting where only Christians were allowed when some
activists barged in shouting provocative slogans. They alleged police
collusion with the VHP-Bajrang Dal in the arrests without a warrant.

Meanwhile, Christian prayer meetings held in the northern state of Punjab
have also evoked protests from the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, with their
members writing to the state authorities complaining of "the undesirable
and anti-national activities of Christian missionaries in the country".

They claimed prayer meetings held in Jalandhar last week were "part of a
great movement at the world level" and alleged "funds were pouring into
India beyond imagination" to convert Hindus to Christianity. The letter
reportedly quotes information acquired from the Internet to substantiate
these claims.

According to Reverend Sam George, chairman of the Punjab Christian
Religious Functions Council in Jalandhar, there was no truth in any of
these allegations and prayer meetings had been held in the state for the
last 30 years.

Christians, constituting 23 million of India's population of nearly a
billion, are known for their contributions in the fileds of education and
humanitarian services even in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the
country. Hindu hardliners allege these services are aimed at winning people
over and then converting them to Christianity, a charge denied by Christian
leaders.

Christians were the targets of attacks by Hindu fanatics last year with
almost 100 incidents of atrocities on priests, nuns, religious personnel
and torching of churches and other institutions reported in some pockets of
the country, particularly Gujarat, which accounted for 38 of these.

The spate of attacks had dealt a serious blow to the BJP's claims of
providing a secular regime where the minorities felt secure. India's image
as a secular democracy took a further beating following the brutal killing
of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two minor sons in
January in the eastern state of Orissa.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's government is hoping for a good
visit to India of Pope John Paul II next month. The Pope's second visit to
India -- he was here last in 1986 -- is part of the Roman Catholic Church's
build-up for the millennium celebrations marking the 2000th anniversary of
the birth of Jesus Christ. (Courtesy: India Abroad News Service)
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