American Missionary Attacked by Hindu Right-Wing (merged)

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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That mantra of secularism just keeps on being sounded…

An American missionary has been attacked in India by right-wing Hindus belonging to a group close to the ruling party.
Joseph W Cooper, 68, who is from Pennsylvania, received knife wounds in the assault in which five others were also hurt.

Two activists of the hardline Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala where the attack took place.

But the local unit of the RSS has denied that it had anything to do with the attack.

The RSS is a group with close ties to the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party that heads the federal coalition government.

Police said Mr Cooper was surrounded by an armed gang of 10 people near a convention site in the town of Kilimanoor in Kerala.

“We were approaching our car when the unexpected attack took place,” an eyewitness, Pastor Benson Sam, told the BBC.

“The gang attacked Cooper and others with swords, sticks and iron bars. Cooper sustained a deep cut in his right palm,” a police spokesman said.

“As other church members rushed to the scene the attackers fled,” he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

A local pastor, his wife and two children and one other person was also injured.

The victims were all taken to a local hospital but eyewitnesses said this was delayed by an hour until the police arrived on the scene.

Mr Cooper was attending a Protestant convention in the area organised by a local church.

In recent years, there has been an increase in violence against Christians in India, who make up about 2% of the population.

In 1999, an Australian missionary working in India and his two little sons were burned to death by a mob in the eastern state of Orissa.

That attack was blamed on hardline Hindu groups who accuse the missionaries of forcibly proselytising low-caste Hindus and tribal groups.

Last month, the southern state of Tamil Nadu passed a controversial new law banning religious conversion through coercion or material inducement.

Many Christian groups in the state protested against the move which they argued was unconstitutional.

India is a secular state which permits freedom to practice any religion.

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Re: American Missionary Attacked by Hindu Right-Wing

WOW! They even allow people to practice religions in India??? This must be a country out of this world! I didn’t know any other country in the world allowed people living there to practice any religion.

:rolleyes:

So whatever is the meaning of that statement by the BBC?? Isn’t almost every country in the world the same in this regard? Doesn’t mean they are all secular.

But in India’s case they should have written,

India is a secular state which permits freedom to practice any religion, at the practitioner’s own risk!" *

Because if you are practicing any other religion than hindu-ism in India you are likely to be burnt, knifed, shot, tortured etc. etc. etc.

And you can’t expect the government to help you. It’s the world’s largest democracy. If the majority wants to burn you, far be it from the government to stop the peole from expressing their will!

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Re: Re: American Missionary Attacked by Hindu Right-Wing

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ahmed: *

*
India is a secular state which permits freedom to practice any religion, at the practitioner's own risk!" *

[/QUOTE]

How very true.....

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US missionary attacked in India

Police says they have arrested 5 members of RSS. Local leaders denied assualt.

SOURCE - BBC

An American missionary has been attacked in southern India by right-wing Hindus allegedly belonging to a group close to the ruling party.

**Joseph W Cooper, 68, who is from Pennsylvania, received knife wounds in the assault in Kerala state in which five others were also hurt.

Police say they have arrested five activists of the hardline Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). **

But local RSS leaders deny the movement had anything to do with the attack.

The RSS is a group with close ties to the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party that heads the federal coalition government.

Christian groups have condemned the attack, which took place on the outskirts of the state capital, Trivandrum, on Monday night.

  • **Armed gang **

Eyewitnesses say Mr Cooper, a visiting preacher, was surrounded by an armed gang of 10 people as he was returning from a prayer meeting.

“We were approaching our car when the unexpected attack took place,” Pastor Benson Sam told the BBC.

A police spokesman said Mr Cooper had sustained a deep cut in his right palm.

The gang attacked Cooper and others with swords, sticks and iron bars.

“As other church members rushed to the scene the attackers fled,” he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

A local pastor, his wife and two children and one other person were also injured.

The victims were all taken to a local hospital but eyewitnesses said this was delayed by an hour until the police arrived on the scene.

Mr Cooper was attending a Protestant convention in the area organised by a local church.

About one third of the population of Kerala is Christian and attacks of this kind are rare.

But local people told the BBC that in recent months some right-wing Hindu organisations had been protesting against religious minorities.

  • **Attacks **

In recent years, there has been an increase in violence against Christians in India, who make up about 2% of the population.

In 1999, an Australian missionary working in India and his two little sons were burned to death by a mob in the eastern state of Orissa.

That attack was blamed on hardline Hindu groups who accuse the missionaries of forcibly proselytising low-caste Hindus and tribal groups - a charge the Christian groups deny.

Last month, the southern state of Tamil Nadu passed a controversial new law banning religious conversion through coercion or material inducement.

Many Christian groups in the state protested against the move, which they argued was unconstitutional.

India is a secular state which permits freedom to practice any religion.

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oh boy.

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Secularism my foot. Its a Hindu Taleban there. A "Haleban".

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Goes to show the nature of gov. in India. I thought it was just the Muslims being slaughtered, but they've even taken it to the Christians. And these guys refer to themselves as the champions of democracy and secularism. In religious intolerance & violence promotion, they're second to only Israel it seems. Forget the "Haleban", they're the "Hazis"!

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Heck …

i am living in the same state and it is well renowned for its communal harmony unlike other indian states and the whole of pakistan …

those missionaries were allegedly carrying leaflets bullying hinduism and islam and were engaged in religious blasphemy.it is also said that local people who flocked to see the spot had found and recovered lethal weapons from the car…

IF ANYBODY FOLLOWS THE LOCAL LANGUAGE .PLS CHECK THIS

LATEST NEWS:- TWO MUSLIM ACTIVISTS WERE ALSO INVOLVED INTHE IN THE INCIDENT.I WILL COME UP WITH MORE LINKS ..

thank u

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"Hazis" thats some funny ish.

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did any american outlet carry this news???

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India to Expel US missionary

An American missionary attacked in southern India last week by right-wing Hindus has been told to leave the country in the next seven days.
Kerala state police said Joseph Cooper had violated his tourist visa by indulging in missionary activity.

Mr Cooper, 68, is still in a private hospital with stab wounds.

Police said Hindu nationalists had been planning to bring a court case based on visa rules

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For your kind information

Cheif minister of said state Kerala is A K Antony who is a christian.
BJP or any Hindu parties do not even have a single seat from that state. Almost 100% population is (or 98+) literate. The american guy was doing illegal thing. However if any Goonda beats him up he should be punished severly.

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What the guy gets attacked by Hindu fanatics, and then is told to leave the country by the authorities? Have these authorities dared arrest his attackers?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mo_best: *
Secularism my foot. Its a Hindu Taleban there. A "Haleban".
[/QUOTE]

LOL.. wait for this the "Turbanators"

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i have heard "misery loves company" and after seeing how you guys react to this, guess it is true! why do you want to brand others fundamentalist religious extremists so badly? don't you have enough of those right there in pakistan?

does it shock you what someone wrote about how much support BJP has in that state? guess you just can't understand more than one religion co-existing!

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[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Jagjeevan:

why do you want to brand others fundamentalist religious extremists so badly?

[/QUOTE]

Jagi, maybe because the Indian people keep on electing fundementalists back into power, even when they have committed a genocide like in Gujrat. Don't blame us, its the Indian electorate at fault here.

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listen to this audio report - Police has arrested five people in this regard.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/audio/38696000/rm/_38696299_india08_mcgivering.ram

Needless to say that Hindu fanatism is on rise in India which is very sad and unfortunate.

Jagi yaar - your posts done make any sense here - When you come here and criticise pakistan and Islamic fundoos why cant others say the same about India and Fundoos in India.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *

Jagi, maybe because the Indian people keep on electing fundementalists back into power, even when they have committed a genocide like in Gujrat. Don't blame us, its the Indian electorate at fault here.
[/QUOTE]

Out of 29 states in India only one major state Gujarat is directly ruled by BJP.

There also they could have lost miserably (in fact they were loosing every bi-election from there) but for some muslims in Godhra decided to revive it by burning some hindu women and children. Some mullahs mobilised hindus by issuing fatwas to muslims in their areas to vote against BJP.

Indian federal governement is ruled by NDA which is a coalation of 13 parties and independents. It is NOT BJP Government. Get your facts right.

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you should read what indian muslims say.

Despite Violence and Communal Polarization, BJP has Secured Support of only
31% of Electorate
BJP has won Blood-stained Seats in Central Region and Lost other Three Regions
Soft Saffron has lost to Hard Saffron, not Secularism
Secular Parties Must Build National Secular Alliance for the Battles Ahead