Social kumbhs, Hindutva, and the politics of perpetuating caste privilege

On 20 May 2010, Compass Direct News issued an immensely important News Flash entitled: "Hindu Nationalists Plan 'Religious Cleansing' in Madhya Pradesh District".

As Compass Direct News (CDN) reports, the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh will host a social kumbh (pilgrimage / festival) on 10-12 February 2011. It will be held in the predominantly tribal Mandla district, in Mandla city which is situated on the banks of the Narmada River. Some "20 lakh" (i.e. 20,00,000 or 2 million) Hindu devotees are expected to attend this Maa Narmada Samajik Kumbh (Mother Narmada Social Kumbh).
See also:
Mahakumbha to be held from Feb. 10 to 12 in Mandla
Maha Media, 19 April 2010

Vanvasi Mahakumbh at Mandla from February 10 to 12 next year
15 April 2010 press release, Dept of Public Relations, Madhya Pradesh

The Social Kumbh

A "social kumbh" is not a traditional Kumbh Mela, but the recent invention of Hindutva (Hindu Nationalist) forces. It is a new tradition, built upon new mythologies.

The Hindu nationalists instigate social kumbhs for the purpose of:

• bringing the traditionally animist Adivasis (lit. first inhabitants) -- whom the Hindutva forces call Vanavasis (lit. forest dwellers) -- into the "mainstream": Hinduising them (effecting religious conversions that translate into political conversions) and communalising them so they can be recruited into sectarian militias;
  
• stirring up hatred against Christians whose welfare and education ministries threaten the Hindu elites' ability to enslave the tribals into the future; and
  
• shattering Adivasi minority solidarity by polarising the indigenous tribal communities along religious lines and setting them against each other.

Integral to the Hindutva strategy is the demonisation of Christians as evil and of Christianity as a foreign conspiracy and existential threat to Indian national security and sovereignty. Indian unity, under the banner of militant Hindu nationalism, is then presented as the only solution.

Shabari kumbh - Feb 2006

In February 2006, the Shabari Kumbh Mela -- a social kumbh organised around newly invented, purpose-built mythology -- seriously threatened the lives of some 8,000 tribal Christians living in Dangs, Gujarat.

For full background see:
India: The dictators of Hindutva aim for 'death blow' in Dangs
By Elizabeth Kendal, for WEA RLC, 26 January 2006

www.shabarikumbh.org 2006 (this site contains a number of articles that exemplify Hindutva rhetoric against Christianity and freedom of religion)

God intervened in Dangs in February 2006 in answer to the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:11) and despite unprecedented incitement, the planned "cleansing" -- the Hindu "kranti" (revolution) -- did not materialise. Regardless, after the event the Sangh Parivar (body of Hindu nationalist organisations) boasted of "great gains" in Dangs -- i.e. many tribals allegedly made the religious-political conversion to Hindutva.

Abhishek Kapoor reported for Ahmedabad Newsline (13 February 2006): "End of the three-day Shabari Kumbh here marked the beginning of a new experiment on mobilising Hindu forces. Led by the RSS, organisations have planned to use this new tool — more such kumbhs across the country in a semi-religious setting — to gather Hindus to counter Christian missionaries and conversions.

"According to plans, these congregations would be different from the regular Kumbh Melas held at Prayag, Hardwar, Ujjain and Nashik and focus on reform and social engineering within Hinduism to consolidate its followers as a single block."
See:
RSS wants more such kumbhs
Abhishek Kapoor, Express India, 13 Feb 2006

India: Hindutva advances while communal violence bill flounders.
By Elizabeth Kendal, for WEA RLC, 3 March 2006

India: Gujarat and Orissa prefigure Indian crisis
By Elizabeth Kendal, for WEA RLC, 1 Sept 2008

The Shabari Kumbh Mela held in Dangs, Gujarat, in February 2006, will doubtless be the prototype for the Maa Narmada Samajik Kumbh to be held in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, in February 2011.

As with the February 2006 kumbh in Dangs, the Mandla social kumbh will likewise be built on a foundation of lies and incitement. Sectarianism and violence against Christians is destined to escalate. According to the report by CDN, this is indeed the stated intent of the Sangh Parivar.

Mandla kumbh -- Feb 2011

On 22 April 2010, Hindu nationalists held a ceremony at the proposed site of the Mandla kumbh to break ground for the event.

Compass Direct News (CDN) reports: "More than 100 Hindu devotees from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra attended the ground-breaking ceremony in Mandla, reported Patrika newspaper. A source present disclosed that leaders announced a list of objectives to be achieved before the festival, with one prominent agenda item being to drive away Christian pastors, evangelists and foreign aid workers from the district.

"The newspaper quoted four Hindu leaders who have spoken out against foreign Christians and renewed their oath to obtain 'reconversions' from supposed Hindus who had become Christians. The leaders pledged to 'cleanse Mandla of Christians' and cleanse the Narmada River by means of the kumbh."

On Sunday 2 May 2010, only 10 days after the ground breaking ceremony, local pastor Bhag Chand Rujhiya (36), his family and his fellowship were attacked by a mob of around 40 armed, abusive and belligerent Hindu militants. Eventually Pastor Rujhiya was taken away by police to be interrogated, intimidated and harassed. He was released from detention after being forced to sign papers promising that he would cease evangelisation in the area, and would no longer lead worship or prayers.

Forced into hiding for a time, Pastor Rujhiya returned to his village on 7 May, though he said he was still fearful as threats from Hindu nationalists continued. "My wife and children say that we are ready to face whatever comes our way", he told CDN. "We will not renounce our faith."

Hindutva: the politics of perpetuating caste privilege

Because Hindutva forces target their activity to the religious sphere, it slips under the radar of most political analysts. But while the Hindutva forces target the religious sphere, it is all for political gain.

Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) is all about politics -- about securing Hindu power in a Hindu State for the sole purpose of perpetuating racist caste privilege. The social kumbhs merely provide Hindu elites with a religious platform upon which they can lie and deceive, whipping up fear and hatred for the sole purpose of dragnetting the tribal masses for exploitation as vote cattle.

What the tribals do not seem to realise, is that by believing the lies and being drawn into religious-political conversion, they are voting to perpetuate their own enslavement.

By Elizabeth Kendal

MORE BACKGROUND
an old but excellent and extremely helpful report:
Human Rights Watch
INDIA: POLITICS BY OTHER MEANS:
Attacks Against Christians in India
October 1999 Vol. 11, No. 6 (C)

ERITREA: RELENTLESS PERSECUTION

Christianity came to Ethiopia-Eritrea in the early 4th Century, brought into the court of King Ezana by two Syrian merchants, Frumentius and Aedesius.[1] Today Eritrea is around 50 percent Christian, with more than 90 percent of all Eritrean Christians belonging to the Eritrean Orthodox Church (EOC). In recent decades a Biblical revival movement known as 'Medhane Alam' (lit. Saviour of the World) has grown within the EOC. While some priests and churches have been accommodating, even open, others have resisted, some aggressively, forcing those seeking a more evangelical Christianity to leave the EOC for Protestant fellowships. The exodus has caused great angst in the hierarchy of the EOC.

Following a second war with Ethiopia (1998-2000), the government cracked down hard in 2001 on anything it viewed as a potential threat to national unity. They cancelled elections, closed down all independent media, rounded up and imprisoned their political opponents and repressed all civil opposition. In May 2002, reportedly at the behest of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the government also cracked down on 'foreign' and 'non-traditional' religion, banning all churches other than the state-sanctioned Muslim, Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Mekane Yesus (Evangelical Lutheran) denominations.

If the EOC thought it could support a cruel, totalitarian regime's religious repression and then trust that regime to protect it, then it was naive indeed.
". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a)
By 2005 the regime was repressing the EOC, sending its priests into military service, and removing and detaining 'dissident' priests who objected to the persecution of Medhane Alam. When EOC Patriarch Abune Antonios protested the attacks on his own church, he was removed from office (defrocked). He was placed under house arrest in January 2006 and replaced with a government political appointee, Mr Yoftahe Dimetros. Today the EOC -- its priests, properties, funds and historic manuscripts -- is under the control of the regime.

Eritrea is now one of the most repressive, human-rights-abusing states in the world. The repression has created a refugee crisis, and many of them are Christians. The Army has orders to shoot to kill anyone who tries to flee across the border. An estimated 3000 Christians, mostly Protestants, are in prison for their faith. Some are in military prisons and some have been 'disappeared' into the State's network of secret underground prisons. Prison conditions are inhumane and torture is routine. A number of Christians have died in custody and many others have been crippled and scarred for life. Eritrean authorities arrested eleven more Christians on 9 May. International Christian Concern reports that Pastor Mesfin, Pastor Tekie and Mr Isaac and his four children were arrested, as well as four women while conducting a prayer meeting in a private home in the capital, Asmara. They are all members of Faith Church of Christ which has existed in Eritrea since 1950 but was banned in 2002.

Eritrea's President Isayas Afewerki denies there is any religious persecution in Eritrea. Because there is no free media, Eritrean Christians have to risk their life and liberty to leak information of their plight to the outside world.

For more information see:

Amnesty International
Eritrea: 'You have no right to ask' - Government resists scrutiny on human rights
Index Number: AFR 64/003/2004
Date Published: 18 May 2004
This document reports on the human rights record of the Eritrean government. It covers such issues as torture, arbitrary detention, "disappearances", religious persecution, abuses of national military service conscripts, refugees and returnees, constitutional rights and international treaties and political imprisonment.


US Commission on International Religious Freedom
Annual Report 2010
Chapter on Eritrea


Christian Persecution in Eritrea
29 November 2007
This site contains a short video on religious persecution in Eritrea, featuring Eritrean gospel singer Helen Berhane, a victim of this persecution who now has asylum in Denmark.

(This post is a slightly extended version of Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 056 | Wed 19 May 2010)

[1] A World History of Christianity. Edited by Adrian Hastings. Cassell 1999, p197

Sacrificed on the altar of "quiet diplomacy"?

". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a ESV)

VIETNAM: Archbishop of Hanoi, Msgr. Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet (57), replaced.

Those who have followed the dramatic developments in Vietnam over the recent years will know the significance of Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, Archbishop of Hanoi. Msgr. Kiet has risked his own life and liberty seeking justice and religious freedom for the church in Vietnam. In the process he inspired many hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics, as well as local Protestants and global religious liberty advocates. Consequently, Kiet became a thorn in the flesh of the repressive Communist Party dictatorship that rules Vietnam -- a regime that has spent recent years escalating repression.

BACKGROUND

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels stated in their 1848 Communist Manifesto: 'The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.' Consequently, when the Communists came to power in northern Vietnam in 1945 and in the south in 1975, they confiscated private properties, including those owned by the Church.

Vietnamese Catholics and Protestants have long sought the return of their confiscated properties. For decades the Church and State have been stuck in a cycle of political and diplomatic jostling: church petitions -- government rejections -- church petitions with international support -- minimalist government appeasement followed by more land seizures and demolitions -- more church petitions followed by frustration and discouragement.

In December 2007, as Msgr Kiet petitioned the government for the return of Hanoi nunciature (the Vatican Embassy -- a large and beautiful historic house built next to St Joseph's Cathedral -- confiscated in 1959), he decided to try a new strategy. Frustrated by years of futile political activism, Archbishop Kiet simply asked the faithful to pray. And pray they did. On 18 December 2007, as a Spirit of prayer gripped the church, the Catholic faithful poured out onto the streets of Hanoi.

The public prayer vigils initially focused on the Hanoi nunciature. Crowds grew daily until, on Christmas Eve of 2007, some 5,000 Catholic faithful sang, worshipped and prayed in the open air outside the Hanoi nunciature.

And that was merely the beginning. The prayer vigils spread to other sites across the city as Catholics came out to show solidarity and pray for justice and religious liberty. The prayer vigils in Hanoi's Thai Ha Redemptorist parish were particular large. Those participating in the prayer vigils held flowers and crosses, and candles on dark nights and umbrellas on rainy days.

By August 2008, the government was clearly stressed. Responding as dictator regimes do, they sent in riot police to break up prayer vigils; they started beating and arresting participants and journalists; they started beating and arresting their lawyers; they started sending in Communist vigilantes to do government dirty-work; and they accused Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of inciting protests.

The Catholics, however, were not bowed -- the prayer vigils continued.

Eventually the authorities agreed to return Hanoi's apostolic nunciature to church ownership if only the Catholics would end the prayer vigils.

The Catholics ended their vigils, and then, on 19 September 2008, the Communists bulldozed the Hanoi nunciature to the ground and turned the site into a public park.

". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a)

Despite the loss of the Hanoi nunciature the prayer vigils continued. On Sunday 21 September 2008, some 10,000 Catholics turned out in the street to sing, worship and pray for justice and religious liberty. It was the largest public demonstration seen in Vietnam since the Communists seized power.

The Communist Party responded with a virulent media campaign targeting Msgr Kiet and calling for his removal. The Catholic faithful responded with yet more prayer vigils, this time in support of Archbishop Kiet.

See:
Vietnam: Prayer vigils push government to breaking point.
Religious Liberty News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal, 16 September 2008

VIETNAM: PRAYER VIGILS CONFRONT GOVERNMENT
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLP) 496, Wed 17 Sep 2008

Vietnam: Govt belligerence escalates against Hanoi Catholics.
Religious Liberty News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal, 26 September 2008

Vietnamese Catholics Under Communist Iron Grip.
VietCatholic News 29 Sept 2008 (includes pictures)

Biggest protest since 1954 over Hanoi old nunciature demolition
CathNews 22 Sept 2010

State media launch campaign for Hanoi’s archbishop removal
VietCatholic News, 17 Oct 2008 (with photos)


The struggle continued through 2009, with more prayer vigils and more property destruction.

See:
VIETNAM: GREATER DESTRUCTION AS PERSECUTION ESCALATES
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 009, Wed 17 Jun 2009

VIETNAM: BRUTALITY CONFRONTED THROUGH PRAYER
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 017, Wed 12 Aug 2009


. . . and into 2010 . . .

See:
Redemptorist Superior General urges prayer for persecuted Vietnamese Catholics.
Catholic News Agency, 26 Jan 2010 (with picture)

KIET "RETIRES"

In April 2010, Msgr. Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet (57), Archbishop of Hanoi, announced that he would "retire" for health reason. He would be replaced by Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon (72), a bishop who has the approval of the Communist Party.

Msgr. Kiet reports that his chronic insomnia and asthenia (weakness) is preventing him from fulfilling his duties as Archbishop and so he sought leave from the Vatican to retire. According to Kiet, neither the Bishop's Conference nor the Holy See wanted to accept his resignation. Eventually however, he managed to convince them. Msgr. Kiet is appealing to Vietnamese Catholics to embrace their new Archbishop and stay united.
See:
Archbishop Kiet: They did not want me to retire, I had to ask the Pope myself
by J.B. An Dang, Hanoi, AsiaNews 14 May 2010.

The Communist Party however, is singing a different tune. According to official State media reports, the Communist Party is treating the removal of Kiet as a significant victory on their "road map" to removing stubborn, dissident, religious liberty activist priests. According to State media, the Vatican agreed to remove Kiet and replace him with government-approved Bishop Nguyen Van Nhon, in exchange for a Papal visit to Vietnam and talks on normalisation of diplomatic ties.
See: Hanoi launches a press campaign, using Msgr. Kiet to discredit the Vatican
by Emily Nguyen, Hanoi, AsiaNews, 13 May 2010

The drama is dividing the church. Catholics who believe Kiet is telling the whole and absolute truth, suspect there is a government conspiracy afoot to hurt the Vatican. Others sense a government conspiracy to silence Kiet and decapitate the prayer movement, and that they secured Kiet's removal in a deal struck with the Vatican.

The division is such that the government is scoring a victory no matter what the truth of the matter. However, if Kiet is telling the whole truth, then the Pope needs to confirm his story with a public statement that will end speculation and division. The fact that the Pope has not done so only fuels suspicion that the Communist Party's version is the correct one. Clearly the Communist Party is using its media channels to stoke division -- and doubtless it is loving every minute of it.

". . .the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys." (Isaiah 21:2a )

Asia Times Online is unambiguous in its assessment, publishing its report under the title: Vatican, Vietnam sacrifice a holy man (Asia Times Online, 7 May 2010).

The author writes, "Against this backdrop [the continuing prayer vigils and years of persistent government slander and threats against Msgr. Kiet], President Nguyen Minh Triet paid a visit to Pope Benedict XVI in December 2009, following Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's historic Vatican trip in 2007. The two sides are reported to be discussing normalization of diplomatic ties.

"Following Triet's meeting with the pope, Kiet went on medical leave and traveled to Rome for treatment. Vietnamese Catholic websites report that Triet insisted that the Vatican remove Kiet as a condition for establishing closer ties. This request, if true, would be consistent with the tone of government-controlled newspapers.

"On returning to Vietnam in April [2010], Kiet announced that he was retiring, for 'health reasons'. His stepping down, though not unexpected, was a disappointment for many Vietnamese, Catholic and non-Catholic, who admired his courageous leadership. Several online petitions have been organized calling on Pope Benedict to keep Kiet as archbishop of Hanoi."

See also :
Vietnam: Catholics shaken by new Hanoi coadjutor's appointment
VietCatholic News, 23 Apr 2010

A ceremony to install Bishop Nguyen Van Nhon of Dalat, President of Vietnam Episcopal Council, as coadjutor archbishop of Hanoi, was held on 7 May. It was however, met with angry protests.
See:
Repercussion of Hanoi coadjutor installation ceremony
VietCatholic News (09 May 2010) (includes photos)

Hanoi Catholic journalist JB Nguyen Huu Vinh, who was beaten by police in February as he was reporting religious repression, told VietCatholic News that he fears the controversy will hurt the good standing the Catholic hierarchy has had in the eyes of Catholic faithful.

Reporting on the installation ceremony he wrote: "In a strategy obviously planned to avoid a direct confrontation with protestors, the procession of bishops and clergy had to enter through a side door, not the main entrance of the cathedral as in other previous solemn ceremony.

"Likewise, at the end of the ceremony, the bishops returned to the archbishopric office by a backdoor where they could escape the sea of protestors." Further to this, reports Huu Vinh, the new coadjutor bishop of Hanoi, Mgr. Peter Nguyen Van Nhon did not give the traditional blessings to the faithful.

And so it appears likely that Archbishop Kiet has met the fate of other problematic front-line religious liberty and justice advocates and been sacrificed on the altar of "quiet diplomacy" by Church leaders who, for some reason and despite the evidence of history, continue to invest their hopes and trust in human beings and human institutions, even in traitors and destroyers whose ultimate ambition is to silence the song of God's people.