Reuters, March 19, 2015
NEW DELHI (Reuters) The head of India’s Catholic bishops, speaking out after a nun was raped in the east of the country last week, has said the country should be as concerned about the welfare of its people as it is about its cows.
The comments appeared directed against hardline Hindu nationalists who have stirred up animosity against India’s Christian and Muslim minorities, while successfully lobbying for tougher laws against killing cows.
Cows are considered sacred by many Indians, but beef is eaten by some poor and lower-caste Hindus as well as by Christians and Muslims. Campaigns to protect cattle are often used to vilify religious minorities.
“The country has a responsibility towards all of us—every human being—and not just cows,” Cardinal Baselios Cleemis told journalists. The comments, reported in newspapers on Wednesday, were confirmed by his office.
Cleemis spoke before visiting the hospitalized nun who was raped at a convent school in West Bengal, an attack which has triggered protests on city streets and in parliament.
The attack was the most serious in a series of incidents that have spread fear among Christians since activists, emboldened by Modi’s election victory last year, began their “ghar wapsi” (homecoming) campaign to convert followers of “foreign religions” to Hinduism.
Indian Christians emphasize their religion’s long history in India and say it is an integral part of the country. Some Hindu hardliners, however, are seeking to define the country as primarily a Hindu nation, in which other religions are guests.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) The head of India’s Catholic bishops, speaking out after a nun was raped in the east of the country last week, has said the country should be as concerned about the welfare of its people as it is about its cows.
The comments appeared directed against hardline Hindu nationalists who have stirred up animosity against India’s Christian and Muslim minorities, while successfully lobbying for tougher laws against killing cows.
Cows are considered sacred by many Indians, but beef is eaten by some poor and lower-caste Hindus as well as by Christians and Muslims. Campaigns to protect cattle are often used to vilify religious minorities.
“The country has a responsibility towards all of us—every human being—and not just cows,” Cardinal Baselios Cleemis told journalists. The comments, reported in newspapers on Wednesday, were confirmed by his office.
Cleemis spoke before visiting the hospitalized nun who was raped at a convent school in West Bengal, an attack which has triggered protests on city streets and in parliament.
The attack was the most serious in a series of incidents that have spread fear among Christians since activists, emboldened by Modi’s election victory last year, began their “ghar wapsi” (homecoming) campaign to convert followers of “foreign religions” to Hinduism.
Indian Christians emphasize their religion’s long history in India and say it is an integral part of the country. Some Hindu hardliners, however, are seeking to define the country as primarily a Hindu nation, in which other religions are guests.
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