Orissa

Dr. Ram Puniyani

Article by Dr. Ram Puniyani: Conversions and Anti-Christian Violence in India

Mr. Satyapal Singh, the BJP MP, while speaking in Lok Sabha on amendments to FCRA went on to support the forthcoming restrictions to the foreign contributions. While making his arguments, to buttress his point, he put forward the case of Pastor Graham Stewart Stains. In the process, he poured venom on the late Pastor by saying that the Pastor had raped 30 Tribal women and was involved in the work of conversion to Christianity with the help of funds from abroad! This blatant lie should have been countered in the Parliament. The brutal murder of Pastor Stains was described by the then President of India, Dr. K.R. Narayanan by saying “it belonged to the world’s inventory of black deeds”. Who was Pastor Graham Staines The pastor, who came from Australia to work among the Leprosy patients in Orissa, was sleeping in an open jeep in the village on the night of 22-23 January 1999. He was working in Keonjhar, Manoharpur, in Orissa. On that fateful night, he was burnt alive with his two minor sons, Timothy and Philip. The Whole Country was aghast with the brutal nature of the crime. The brutality was committed by Rajendra Singh Pal aka Dara Singh, a worker of Bajrang Dal. Mr. Advani was the home minister at that time. He stated that Bajrang Dal has nothing to do with this act; he knows this organization too well. As the immediate measure, he sent three-member ministerial team, Murli Manohar Joshi, Navin Patnayak and George Fernandez to Orissa. In a single day, the team concluded that this grave crime is an international conspiracy to destabilize the ruling NDA government. Then Wadhava Commission was appointed. The Wadhwa Commission said in its report that the pastors were not doing the work of conversion but instead served the leprosy patients. The Wadhava commission concluded that Dara Singh, who was working with Bajrang Dal with the help of organizations like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, VHP etc. propagated that Pastor is doing the work of conversion and is a threat to Hinduism. He did mobilize people, poured Kerosene on the vehicle and…