Jessica Rogers
March 20, 2009
4:38 pm
Early Thursday, a Hindu hard-liner was shot and killed by suspected Maoist rebels. But so far, no one has taken responsibility for the murder. Prabhat Pangrahi was released on bail five days ago, after having been in jail for a years time. He was put in jail after rioting during battles between Hindus and Christians after the slaying of a hard-line Hindu leader that was undertaken by Maoists. But he was attacked yesterday by over a dozen assailants while sleeping at a friends house. Militant Hindus also complain that their countries (India) main religion is being undermined by the Christian missionaries that are accussed of bribery, pressure and murder to attract followers.
I realize that most of what has been in my past blog posts are ramblings about religious tolerance and whatnot. But this article addresses many issues that trouble me. The first is the fact that people are still killing in the name of their religious beliefs. Isn't the point of religion so that people have something to believe and have faith in? Not a reason to go kill anyone that is different than they are. This isn't just an issue in India, either, it is everywhere. The second issue is that I feel that while it is wrong for Christian missionaries to pressure, bribe and murder to gather followers, it is almost as if the Hindus and the Christians are just looking for something to fight about. If the attack was undertaken by a Maoist, a completely different religion all its own, why attack a different religious group? In my perfect world there would be no fighting what so ever. But since this is such a long running conflict I realize that that is a rather impossible dream as of late, I just find it odd and counterproductive to blame things on others that have, really, nothing to do with the situation.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/19/asia/AS-India-Killing.php
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