Sh Mukhtar Abbas Naqviji on observing August 21 as "SAVE KASHMIR DAY" across the country

The Bharatiya Janata Party would observe August 21 as "SAVE KASHMIR DAY" across the country.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's Vice President and Incharge, Central Programmes and Campaigns Sh Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stated that the party would stage protest programmes in all parts of the country against capitulating policy of the Congress-led UPA Govt. at the Centre before separatists and terrorists on Kashmir issue.

Shri Naqvi added that the situation in Kashmir continues to be out of control for quite some time now. The separatist organizations are virtually running a parallel government. These elements are getting cross-border support and assistance. In spite all these facts being evident, the UPA-Congress Govt. is not taking any concrete step to quell the untoward situation in Kashmir.

Shri Naqvi informed that BJP President Shri Nitin Gadkari and Vice-President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu would take part in ‘Save Kashmir’ programmes to be held in Maharashtra, Dr. M.M. Joshi in Uttar Pradesh, Shri Rajnath Singh in Assam, Smt. Sushma Swaraj in Madhya Pradesh, Shri Arun Jaitley in Delhi and Shri Ananth Kumar in Bihar.

He added that Shri Shanta Kumar and Shri Kalraj Mishra would attend ‘Save Kashmir’ Programmes in Himachal Pradesh, Shri Vinay Katiyar in Jammu, Shri Thawarchand Gehlot in Uttarakhand, Shri Narendra Singh Tomer in Uttar Pradesh, Shri Arjun Munda in Orissa, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad in Gujarat, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in Chhattisgarh, Smt. Arti Mehra in Goa, Shri Mulidhar Rao in Tamilnadu and Shri J.P. Nadda in Chandigarh. Further, Shri Vijay Goel, Shri Kirit Somaiya, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Shri Shahnawaz Hussain, Dr. Harshvardhan and Captain Abhimanyu singh etc. would also participate in ‘Save Kashmir’ Programmes in various states.

Shri Naqvi stated that the Central Govt. would be further cautioned against its weak-kneed and pusillanimous Kashmir policy by holding ‘Save Kashmir’ Programmes at all district and state headquarters.

Shri Arun Jaitley, on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir in Rajya Sabha

Sir, the Hon. Home Minister has made a Statement before this House on 4th August, 2010. The Statement broadly gives a list of events and some very serious developments which have taken place since the 11th June this year. It does not reflect the enormity of the seriousness of the situation and what roadmap the Government has in mind for resolving the current impasse that is taking place.

Sir, we get an impression that the situation is slowly slipping out of control. And, it is clear from the Home Minister's statement, as also various pieces of information that we are getting from media organisations, as also the citizens of the Valley, that in the last few months, particularly in the last two years, there has been a significant change in the strategy by both, the ISI, various agencies across the border, as also the separatist forces who act at their behest in the Valley itself. Sir, earlier, the strategy used to be to have illegal infiltration into the Valley and other parts of the country to indulge in acts of sabotage, acts of terrorism, blasts, killings, destruction of public property, etc. I think, somewhere, in the strategic thinkers amongst those who are the handlers across the border and their friends within, there seems to be a realisation now that the global acceptability for these kind of events does not exist. Even domestic support, when incidents of this kind take place, starts reducing and vanishing. Also, Sir, in the last 20 years, two decades, our own security forces, our own intelligence network has also been considerably strengthened and we have dealt with large number of these incidents, and, therefore, if I may, without meaning to be arrogant about India's potential, say that the potential of Indian State itself was increasingly becoming more powerful in tackling these incidents of sabotage. The changed strategy, therefore, appears to be that instead of these individual acts of terror and violence, instigate people for the purposes of mob violence and this entire strategy of mob violence, which has taken effect in the Valley since 11th of June, has its beginning earlier when some efforts were also made two years ago when they tried to create a controversy on the issue of pilgrim facilities in the Amarnath Yatra. So, gradually, it has been building up since then in the last two years. From young children to women, youth, elderly people, are all being trained in acts of sabotage by way of stone pelting and mob violence wherein large crowds collect. Sir, women are organised by several separatist groups. The name of Dukhtaran-e-Millat is being regularly mentioned. Regarding school children, there have been incidents which have been reported that when they go to their schools, besides textbooks, their bags are also filled up, by some vested interests, with stones and the target is public property, the target is security forces. The Home Minister, in his statement, has mentioned that more than 1200 security personnel have already been injured. Now, the entire strategy appears to be that somehow indulge in these acts of mob violence and provoke the security forces, damage public property. Now, after all, public property has to be protected, human life has to be protected. And, every time, a defensive action is taken by our security forces, obviously, in a confrontation of this kind, lives will be lost. Even innocent lives will be lost. The Home Minister has rightly said that we sympathise with all those who have lost their lives even if they were a part of the agitating crowd because we do not want even a misled citizen of India to meet his end in this manner. Now, the entire strategy appears to be that through these acts of mob violence, instigate violence, create tension and then use the emotive content of that confrontation in order to spread it further. Sir, today, we are faced with a situation where, as I said earlier, that our security forces, our local police, our CRPF, our other security forces, were actually, for the last two decades, tackling individual acts of terror and violence.

This is a new situation which has emerged today. Unfortunately, and I say this with a sense of deep regret, even when efforts are being made by separatist groups to escalate the situation, and we had evidence of it which was broadcast by national television where handlers across the border are informing the so-called organizers of this mob violence, as to what the start point of the protest would be, as to what actions they are to take, they were even measuring the size of the crowd which was collecting for these particular purposes. Therefore, how do we handle a situation of this kind? What has, unfortunately, happened is that the political parties, which operate in the Valley within the political framework of India's democratic polity, have, unfortunately, taken a back seat. Their ability to reach out to the people in a situation of this kind has somehow suddenly got diluted. Also, Sir, there is a reasonable sense of worry that we have, as to what is the preparedness of both our intelligence agencies and our security agencies to deal with this new situation which is now emerging where mob violence as a substitute to the isolated terrorist attacks is now the strategy of the separatist groups. The biggest worry, Sir, is that today, the State Government within the Valley, and this is the information which we are getting, has increasingly got alienated from the people. In the two other parts of the State, that is, Leh Ladakh and Jammu, there is a huge amount of anger as these two regions have a feeling that they suffer from having been discriminated against historically. And, today, these two are feeling helpless as the entire concentration of the State and the country is on the Valley, and within the Valley, where large parts of our national resources are spent, and this kind of a situation has taken place. I mean no personal disrespect to any individual, but I am given to understand that forget the State, the Home Minister has to ask his own party, the Chief Minister is getting alienated even from his own party and even from his own alliance partners, and that is one of the reasons that the activity of the mainstream political parties within the Valley, I can understand his opponents in the PDP, who at times are making contradictory statements, probably want the State Government to go. But, today, even within the ruling alliance, the activity of all these parties which function within the framework of India's democratic polity in reaching out to the people has somehow got diluted and they are not making conscious efforts to do that. Whereas we have to prepare our intelligence and our security network to face a situation of this kind, we have also to be prepared to get together all the nationalist forces within the Valley for their politics so that they don’t themselves get alienated from the people and are able to reach out to the people directly. When all this was happening, and as I said, this has been gradually building up, there is a deep sense of disappointment also. What have we done, as far as the Government of India is concerned? We experimented with new ideas every time without realizing whether those experiments will bring any return home or not. You had a political alliance with one group for six years. Then you switched over to a political alliance with a rival group. This kind of alliance hopping by a national party itself we thought perhaps is the political situation. But it has paid no dividends. The Prime Minister went there around three years ago. He went recently also, just before the violence started. And, without considering the consequences of what he was going to do -- there is no difficulty if you say that we stand for economic development, we stand for jobs, we stand for human rights -- he thought that a round table conference and some working groups were a solution. Just consider what happened. You constituted a Working Group to again work out a constitutional relationship between India and the State; the rest of the country and the State. The manner it went on was a complete farce. We got a retired judge of the Supreme Court for this. I say it with utmost respect for him. The Group hardly met. For twenty-two months, it did not meet. And suddenly without discussing it with the Group, without discussing it with the mainstream political parties, he produced a report. Who wrote the report nobody knows. Were these farcical experiments to be done with India's most sensitive area? Then we were told that this was a kind of autonomy document.

You then had a situation where the Home Minister has been maintaining what we have 'silent diplomacy,' which is on, for the last few months. What has the 'silent diplomacy' produced? Who are we talking to? I presume the kind of people we are talking to as a part of 'silent diplomacy' or 'quiet diplomacy.' The 'quiet diplomacy' has been going on for over a last few months. Because we are not finding the persons who are partners across the table in the quiet diplomacy. You are even going amongst the people in a situation of this kind which exists today.

Sir, before I come to the immediate issues involved in it, there are a few worrisome things. I would urge the Home Minister that while dealing with a situation of this kind, the Government of India certainly must not have a knee-jerk or panic reaction. We must realise this -- my party has always believed it, and I have no hesitation in reasserting it even if many other parties don't agree -- that our historical vision, or how the State's problems were to be resolved, was at fault. We started with a situation where we felt that, ' let us give them a separate status, it will please the people.' Please, stand up and honestly analyse this. Sixty-three years after independence, is the separate status journey moving towards separatism? Or is it moving towards integration? Has your vision been historically proved right or wrong? Therefore, every time there is a problem of this kind, the solution which is suggested is that let us make a few more concessions; as it is you have authority over security, defence, external affairs, telecommunications, currency, and four or five areas of this kind.

Political parties within the valley may have their own compulsions. They speak in terms of pre-1953 status; they speak in terms of self-rule; and they speak in terms of autonomy. They have the freedom to advocate what they honestly believe in. But at the end of the day, are we going to go back to a situation where the Supreme Court of India has no jurisdiction or where the Election Commission has no jurisdiction? Therefore, when you decide how to deal with this, let there be no knee-jerk reactions, because you have to find a long-term solution. What did the President Musharraf, the former head of Pakistan, say after he went to London? This was a worrisome statement. We want somebody in the Government of India to clarify that this was not correct. In London, he said on Track-II we had almost come to a settlement on Kashmir. Now Track-II can be a step away from Track-I, but it cannot be diametrically opposite to Track-I. Track-I has visible diplomacy. What was the settlement that he was talking about. I only hope what he said was not an accurate version of what transpired.

Therefore, Sir, in a situation of this kind my queries to the hon. Home Minister or clarifications on the statement are: Does the Government of India have specific information that this entire change of strategy is being engineered from across the border and the handlers of this changed strategy of the separatist are across the border?

Secondly, there also seems to be some churning out of leaders within the separatist groups. Therefore, as a part of this churning out within the separatist groups, you have new leaders, who have suddenly emerged, who are leading the current agitation. And, therefore, if some of them, who have been traditionally involved in pro-Pakistan and separatist activities in the Valley, suddenly start giving statements one day which seem to be more conciliatory, is it a case of change of heart? I am particularly referring to Ali Shah Gilani's statement made yesterday. Is it a change of heart or is it part of a concerted strategy that these statements have been made?

Thirdly, Sir, would the Home Minister acquaint us with the extent to which violence has speared across the State and what steps the Government of India and our security forces are going to take to make sure that this mob violence comes to an end?

Finally, Sir, I hope, his answer is in the negative. When the situation is at such a sensitive point, no kind of political packages -- and the kind of things which are mentioned in those political packages -- be envisaged at this stage by the Government of India because packages of this kind will only indicate the weakness of the Indian State. Suggestions which are made are like , dilute the border across the PoK which may become an option of legitimate infiltration; dilute the provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which will cripple the Armed Forces who are trying to save the sovereignty and integrity of India; take away the land meant for army cantonments. Your former partner, PDP, even goes to the extent of suggesting that allow both the currencies of both the States. And then, of course, there is the famous President Musharraf's suggestion that the Government of India has never accepted, irrespective of the party in power, to lose control of an area and go in for some kind of joint administration and control. Sir, I hope that there is no such proposal to make any concession of this kind because any concession made at this stage will further dilute the sovereignty and further make the separatists realise that their dreams are, at some point of time, realisable. Unless you give a clear strong signal from India that forget this being crystal-gazing or forget this being a distant dream, it's an impossibility. India will never compromise or bargain on its sovereign territory. It's only in that situation that you can go and negotiate from a position of strength rather than from a position of weakness. Thank you.

Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha) on Price Rise

Moving the Motion on ‘Price Rise’ in the Lok Sabha today (3 August, 2010), Smt. Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha effectively raised the concerns and hardships faced by common people and the housewives on account of unprecedented rise in prices.

She said that after the debate in Lok Sabha on 25th February, 2010 on the issue of price rise, all of us had thought that the Government will take some concrete and effective steps to curb prices. On the contrary, the prices of petrol and diesel were increased on the very next day i.e. on 26 February, 2010.

The Opposition parties brought a Cut Motion on this issue and a Division was called in the House. If the support extended by members belonging to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to the Government is not taken into account, then the Government was clearly in a minority. This was a technical victory not an emphatic or a credible one.

However, in spite of this, the Government did not do any introspection and exactly four months later i.e. on 26th June, 2010, the prices of kerosene and cooking gas were also increased in addition to the already hiked prices of petrol and diesel. This was like adding insult to injury and further adding to the misery of the already burdened common people.

The UPA Government stands exposed as totally insensitive on this issue and its conduct is nothing short of a betrayal. It is a betrayal as it had won the elections on the plank of common people and it burdened the same common man with unabated price rise.

She said that in June, 2008, the prices of petrol in international market was 134USD per barrel and the prices were not increased at that time. However, now the prices of petrol are 74USD per barrel and the prices are being increased. It is obvious that 2008 was a pre-election year as a result the increase in prices was not announced. But after winning the election in the name of the common man, the prices were increased. This is nothing short of a betrayal of the trust of people.

She also said that we have no control over the international prices but we can provide some relief to the common man by reducing the customs and excise duty. In this context, the suggestion of moving towards a ‘Revenue Neutral Regime’ was also given to the Finance Minister. He said that before advising the State Governments to reduce the Sales Tax on petroleum products, the Finance Minister should announce some reduction in customs duty.

She also said that by increasing the prices of cooking gas, the UPA Government has forced the housewives to go back to using the wooden logs for cooking purposes.

Taking a swipe at the UPA government, she said that while the NDA Government had to pay a heavy price for accepting the recommendations of the Kelkar Committee, the UPA government has set-up three committees viz. Ranganath Committee, Chaturvedi Committee and Kirit Parekh Committee and will have to pay a heavy price for the same.

Referring to the recommendations of the Kirit Parekh Committee, she said that these pertain to increasing the price of kerosene by six rupees and of cooking gas by rupees one hundred with immediate effect and to keep on increasing it steadily and also suggest removal of subsidy on LPG completely. She quoted from the replies given by the Minister of Petroleum in the Parliament and alleged that the intention of the Government is to keep on increasing these prices which will impose an unbearable burden on the common man.

Smt. Swaraj referred to the article written by Smt. Sonia Gandhi in the Congress Party magazine and said that even she has also justified this increase on the ground that the additional money generated will be utilized through the welfare schemes for the common people. This is like the saying that we will get to see the morning if we manage to survive the night.

She raised the difficulties being faced by traders of Agra due to the 60% increase in prices of APM gas. The BJP MP from Agra had met the Prime Minister with a delegation to apprise him of their difficulties and he had assured that the matter will be looked into. But so far nothing has happened. She said that nearly two lakh people earn their livelihood through this trade and it is essential to provide succor to them.

She put the Government in the dock over its argument that the PSUs are incurring huge losses due to non-increase of prices of petroleum products. Referring to the replies given by the Minister for Petroleum in the Parliament and the Annual Report of the Ministry, she said that these companies are earning a profit of thousands of crores.

Smt. Swaraj also criticized the Public Distribution System of the Government and said that on one hand crores of people are getting anything to eat and on the other lakhs of tonnes of grain is being allowed to rot in Government godowns and warehouses. She referred to Shahjahanpur in UP and said that nearly 3 lakh 97 thousand tonnes of grain is lying in the open.

Talking about Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, she said that adequate quantities of food grains are not being supplied to these states for PDS while the Chief Ministers of these states have been urging the Agriculture Minister repeatedly in this regard. It is extremely surprising that if any State requests for additional allocation of food grains under APL, it is made to pay extra charges for the same.

In the end, she said that all political parties are worried about the situation due to rise in prices. The Opposition parties have been raising this issue with full earnestness for quite some time now while the parties supporting the Government have been talking about it in muted tones. Even the Members of Parliament belonging to the Treasury Benches are keeping quiet on the issue due to party considerations and compulsions.

Smt. Sushma Swaraj said that as an Opposition party, BJP stands to gain from the unpopularity of the Government. But gain and loss is a language of the business and not of a responsible political party like the BJP which does not behave like a trader but rather like an alert custodian of people’s hopes and aspirations. It is our moral duty to ensure that the unabated rise in prices is checked and the common people are provided some relief. She called upon all political parties that they should work to make this Government take some concrete steps to provide relief to the common people.

BJP National General Secretary, Shri Vijay Goel on Common Wealth Game

Shri Vijay Goel BJP All India General Secretary and former Sports Minister said that the Report of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), indicting the Central and Delhi Government and its agencies for their rampant corruption in executing the Commonwealth Games works, has shocked, disappointed and startled every patriotic citizen of the country. Mr. Goel said that substandard materials have been used in the construction all over. The mandatory quality tests conducted on the materials have been forged and fudged to hype up the result. The electrical installations at the venues have not been checked and tested at all. The safety norms at the venues have not been ascertained and confirmed.

The expenditure which in 2007 was approved for 3390 crores has now gone to 80,000 crores. He also pointed out that there was a deliberate delay of four years in commencing the work for the Commonwealth Games which was done with a view to inflate the expenditure on the Games. This, Mr. Goel pointed out, was stated by Mr. M.S. Gill, Union Minister for Sports himself.

Mr. Goel said that he had earlier warned the Government in December 2009 that the Government should get down very seriously to the Organisation of the Games and that rampant corruption was conspicuous in awarding the contracts, but no heed was paid to his suggestions. Mr. Goel said that the work was being done on three times higher rates than the actual rates and even then the quality of work is very poor. It was apparently being done for the benefit and undue favour to the interested parties.

Mr. Goel said that the Opening and Closing ceremony was to cost Rs. 375 crores, stadiums maintenance 238 crores but same has now cost 3390 crores. The Opening ceremony tickets are costing Rs. 1000 to Rs. 50,000 and the balloon display will cost 50 crores and the Queens Baton Ceremony cost 11 crores and Stadium consultancy charges have cost 42 crores, these are very high and unjustifiable expenditure.

In Mr. Goel’s assessment the scam in the CWG will be to the tone of Rs. 30,000 crores. The forging and fudging of various quality and safety checks has widely thrown open the possibility of mishaps, black out and accidents.

Mr. Goel pointed out that all organisations considered “inadmissible factors” to check up the project cost to justify the award of contract sitting URGENT CIRCUMSTANCES. 15 such projects have been awarded much higher rates and 30 items which were not part of the original documents have been incorporated in contract at much higher rates after receipt of tenders. The tenders themselves were rigged to favour ‘Four’ companies, which are Australia based.

The worst thing which nobody expected to happen is the ‘passing of the buck’ and blame shifting game between the Chairman of the Organising Committee Shri Suresh Kalmadi and the Delhi Government and its CWG organizers. It is matter of great concern that the large money which are to be spent, nobody seems to be responsible for its proper accounting and expenditure.

Mr. Vijay Goel said that in the interest of the nation, everyday he is wishing and praying that the CWG should meet the dead line be conducted properly but this seems to be, as the things stand today, a near impossibility. He demanded that a high level judicial enquiry. In this matter which may be conducted even after the Games.

Missionaries: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Q: Is there a problem with proselytism overseas by U.S. religious groups? Isn't sharing one's faith part of religious freedom? When does it cross the line into manipulation and coercion?

Missionary proselytization has been an integral part of the two main prophetic religions, Christianity and Islam, since early on in the formation of each. It is precisely the reason they are the two largest religions in the world. It is also one of the darkest and most sinister aspects of religion and one of the main reasons so many people have a negative view of anything to do with religion. The basis and justification for proselytization is an extremely narrow minded and arrogant assumption: "My religion is the only right one, I have the only truth, all other religions are wrong, and it is my duty to get others to think and believe like me." This belief has been used by Christians and Muslims for more than a millennium to justify the seduction, coercion, torture, and even murder of countless individuals in trying to get them to convert.

This does not mean that missionaries as a group have not done many good things for people over the millennia, and some continue to have positive impacts in the lives of the poor and needy. Examples of this can be seen currently in both Haiti and Chile. However, the negative actions of those who focus is proselytization far outweigh the positive.

Religion is simultaneously one of the best as well as one of the most destructive of human creations. Religions have inspired people like Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King to selflessly serve others and work to make the world a better place. Religions have also given rise to an ideology of hatred and have provided justification for the kinds of evils perpetuated by the likes of Aurangzeb, Hitler, and bin Laden.

Proselytizers are fundamentalists whose ideology divides the world into "believers" and "non-believers." The latter comprise all those who are different, those perceived as the "other." One of the biggest difficulties that we face in this world is our distrust of others, a feeling that leads to fear, hate, and violence. In his 1991 documentary entitled "Beyond Hate," Bill Moyers addresses concepts such as "insider and outsider," "us and other," etc. and the pivotal role this bifurcated view plays in justifying hatred and violence. Proselytizers thrive on these distinctions, these divisions, drawing sharp lines between their own beliefs and those of everyone else. Non-believers are seen as lesser, sometimes even as evil, and clearly in need to either being changed or, in the extreme, annihilated.

More wars have been fought because of narrow religious doctrine and beliefs than for any other reason, and Christians and Muslims have been at the forefront. Both their histories are punctuated with wars against people of other religions, and the paths they have followed are riddled with the bodies of millions of innocent victims. One of the more extreme examples is the case of Timur, the 14th-century Muslim conqueror. In December, 1398, he overthrow the reigning Muslim ruler in Delhi. His justification was that the ruling dynasty was too tolerant of Hindus and did not convert them. Timur happily recounts in his memoirs that in the process of taking over, his army slaughtered 100,000 Hindus in a single day.

Forced conversions continue, as is evident by events in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Egypt. Even in the Gaza strip, two western newsman were recently forced to convert at gunpoint. Just last week, two young Sikh men were kidnapped and beheaded by members of the Taliban in Pakistan for refusing to convert to Islam. While such actions clearly do not represent the vast majority of Muslims, they have been condoned and even justified by fundamentalist Muslim leaders, and very few Muslims speak out in opposition, often out of fear. A recent and welcome exception is Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, an influential Pakistani Muslim scholar, who just released a 600-page fatwa (religious edict) condemning Muslim terrorism and suicide bombings. Although it is a powerful and needed statement, it is a rarity, and Dr. ul-Qadri has unfortunately put his own life in danger in the process. Fundamentalists, irrespective of their chosen ideology, find disagreement difficult to allow, and violence has increasingly become a common reaction.

Christian missionaries in the past were not much better. In addition to the violence in the name of Christianity that was perpetuated during the Crusades and the Inquisitions, a look at the early proselytization efforts in India, the Americas, and the Pacific makes it clear that many missionaries found relatively easy justification for the torture and execution of those who refused to become Christian or who challenged their beliefs. Although nowadays most Christian proselytizers have renounced such violence, groups like the Manmasi National Christian Army in Assam, India, continue to use threats to force conversion.

Most European and American Christian missionaries during the last two centuries in Asia have found offers of food, work, education, and health care to be better methods for gaining converts. In the late 1700s, missionaries followed on the heels of the British East India Company and began a concerted effort to take over the Indian soul. Once the British government took control the country, proselytizers had a relatively free reign to pursue their objectives. Again, some missionaries did good works, but those focused on proselytization showed little actual concern for the well being of those they sought to convert.

Many Hindus had hoped that Indian Independence would help curtail the more underhanded activities of the missionaries, but this did not happen. Less than a decade after Independence, a government study conducted in central India known as the Niyogi Report brought to light many of the underhanded and cynical methods that Christian missionaries were continuing to use. The Indian government did little about it, and as a consequence, many of the same tactics remain prevalent.

Currently, Americans donate millions of dollars annually to Christian organizations that advertise charity work they do around the world. While it is true that some organizations do help many people, the assistance of many such groups comes with a price for the people being helped. That is because the real focus of most missionaries is on their proselytization efforts, for which a significant portion of the money is used. Far too often, their activities have absolutely nothing to do with spirituality or real charity, and everything to do with getting names and numbers of converts, so the missionaries can go back to their funding agencies and supporters and ask for continued finances for their claimed "successes."

In India, missionaries tell their supporters in the U.S. that they provide free or inexpensive services to the needy. However, once initial assistance is given, then conditions are often added for subsequent help. If free education is provided, conversion may then be a requirement for its continuance past a certain point. If aid is in the form of health care, then the quality of care or type of medicine and treatment available may be determined by one's willingness to convert. This becomes a serious and difficult issue for parents who bring a sick or injured child to a missionary hospital. They may be told that the necessary care is only given to Christians, or that the required medicines "will only work" on Christians. For those who do convert in order to receive needed care, they may well be pressured to then convert other family members or else lose whatever aid they are receiving. I have seen families torn apart by such missionary activities in Central India where I conduct research. Again, this is not what all missionaries do, but these are fairly common occurrences.

In early 2009, Pope Benedict XVI met the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and agreed to stop all conversion attempts directed at Jews. A month later, Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of Vatican's Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, visited India and was asked while there if he would offer Hindus the same respect. He refused. There is a degree to narrow mindedness in every religious tradition, but when that is coupled with fundamentalist arrogance and powerful backing, nothing good can come from it.

In his "Seeds of Contemplation," the late Catholic Trappist monk and mystic Thomas Merton warns about those with spiritual pride who think of themselves as having the truth and humility while others do not, who think they are suffering for God's sake but deep inside are becoming full of pride in their supposed sanctity, who think that everyone else must adhere to their truth. Merton writes that when such an individual thinks that "he is messenger of God or a man with a mission to reform the world. . . He is capable of destroying religion and making the name of God odious to men."

I am a strong supporter of freedom of religion. Most proselytizers are not. They want the freedom to coerce vulnerable and gullible individuals into converting, and they can justify many nefarious methods to accomplish their goal. No matter how well intentioned, any attempts to push a religious belief or denomination on someone ultimately benefits no one and demeans the religion in the process. If missionaries actually have something of genuine worth and value, why do they need to seduce, coerce, or threaten people to get them to accept it? Maybe their methods suggest that what they have to offer is not that worthwhile

RAMDAS LAMB