The Madras High Court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to examine the ‘dying declaration’ video of the minor girl who ended her life after mentioning ‘forced religious conversion" (in an unverified video). The Tamil Nadu government informed the court that 14 of the 37 people added as witnesses, including classmates, students, and school staff, had been questioned in connection with the case.&nbsp;

In addition to a CD of the ‘dying declaration’ video of the victim being submitted, the court also granted permission for questioning of the person who shot this video and forensic examination of his phone.&nbsp;

The case pertains to a 17-year old girl from a poor background who studied at a Christian Missionary School in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district. According to police, the victim had consumed poisonous material on January 9th and succumbed ten days later.&nbsp;

In an unverified video, she is seen saying, "In front of me, they asked my parents about converting me to Christianity, so that she would make me study. She would also keep scolding me and not let me stay there". When asked who she was referring to, the victim is heard saying, "Sister Rachel Mary." When asked if she was tortured because she refused to convert to Christianity, the victim is heard saying, "it could be possible".

As per the Legal Rights Protection Forum's (LRPF) complaint to India’s National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the victim’s school had been illegally converting children into Christianity and was imposing corporal punishment on those who resisted. It added that this was causing mental agony to students and driving them to extremes.

"The victim was forced to convert to Christianity and when she refused the same, she was refused permission to return home from the hostel. "She was made to clean toilets and wash dishes," reads the complaint. It also adds that the child tried to end her life owing to the atrocities inflicted upon her (following which, she eventually succumbed).

During the hearing on Monday, the judge was presented with the sealed cover report based on the victim’s parents’ testimony, which they had submitted in-person before the District Magistrate, on Sunday. On the insistence of the government, Justice GR Swaminathan had ordered that the mobile phone in which the clip mentioning ‘forced conversion’ was shot, had to be submitted for Forensic Examination. It was also added that the man who shot the said video had to appear in person for questioning on Tuesday. Granting time until Thursday (27th Jan) for a report to be filed in the case, the Court adjourned the matter to Friday, 28th January.&nbsp;

Earlier, Ravali Priya IPS, Superintendent of Police ,Thanjavur, had said that the person who shot the video would also be made an accused in this case. Following this, in the first hearing of the case, the Court had instructed the Cops to not harass the victim’s parents or the person who shot the video. The judge had made it clear to the Cops that there shouldn’t be any complaints against the latter’s work. He had insisted that the cops focus on the contents and the statement made in the video and its veracity, rather than the person who shot it.&nbsp;

The matter came to Court after the victim’s parents sought a CB-CID probe in the case.&nbsp;

The Madras High Court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to examine the ‘dying declaration’ video of the minor girl who ended her life after mentioning ‘forced religious conversion" (in an unverified video).

The Madras High Court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to examine the ‘dying declaration’ video of the minor girl who ended her life after mentioning ‘forced religious conversion" (in an unverified video). The Tamil Nadu government informed the court that 14 of the 37 people added as witnesses, including classmates, students, and school staff, had been questioned in connection with the case. In addition to a CD of the ‘dying declaration’ video of the victim being submitted, the court also granted permission for questioning of the person who shot this video and forensic examination of his phone. The case pertains to a 17-year old girl from a poor background who studied at a Christian Missionary School in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district. According to police, the victim had consumed poisonous material on January 9th and succumbed ten days later. In an unverified video, she is seen saying, "In front of me, they asked my parents about converting me to Christianity, so that she would make me study. She would also keep scolding me and not let me stay there". When asked who she was referring to, the victim is heard saying, "Sister Rachel Mary." When asked if she was tortured because she refused to convert to Christianity, the victim is heard saying, "it could be possible". As per the Legal Rights Protection Forum's (LRPF) complaint to India’s National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the victim’s school had been illegally converting children into Christianity and was imposing corporal punishment on those who resisted. It added that this was causing mental agony to students and driving them to extremes. "The victim was forced to convert to Christianity and when she refused the same, she was refused permission to return home from the hostel. "She was made to clean toilets and wash dishes," reads the complaint. It also adds that the child tried to end her life owing to the atrocities inflicted upon her (following which, she eventually succumbed). During the hearing on Monday, the judge was presented with the sealed cover report based on the victim’s parents’ testimony, which they had submitted in-person before the District Magistrate, on Sunday. On the insistence of the government, Justice GR Swaminathan had ordered that the mobile phone in which the clip mentioning ‘forced conversion’ was shot, had to be submitted for Forensic Examination. It was also added that the man who shot the said video had to appear in person for questioning on Tuesday. Granting time until Thursday (27th Jan) for a report to be filed in the case, the Court adjourned the matter to Friday, 28th January. Earlier, Ravali Priya IPS, Superintendent of Police ,Thanjavur, had said that the person who shot the video would also be made an accused in this case. Following this, in the first hearing of the case, the Court had instructed the Cops to not harass the victim’s parents or the person who shot the video. The judge had made it clear to the Cops that there shouldn’t be any complaints against the latter’s work. He had insisted that the cops focus on the contents and the statement made in the video and its veracity, rather than the person who shot it. The matter came to Court after the victim’s parents sought a CB-CID probe in the case.

Examine victim’s video that mentions ‘forced-conversion’, Court tells Tamil Nadu Govt in student suicide case 

Haiti's already fragile government faces a serious new crisis after one of the island nation's increasingly brazen criminal gangs kidnapped a large US and Canadian missionary group.

Haiti: Criminal gang kidnap the U.S, Canadian missionaries group

KP Oli, the prime minister of Nepal has a penchant to land himself in controversies. This time it is because of his ‘association’ with the United Church of South Korea known for its proselytising zeal. That once Buddhist country has in recent years fast changed its religious complexion.&nbsp;

Nepal after the abolition of monarchy is a secular, democratic republic federal in structure but conversions remains a sensitive issue. Not only the opposition parties in Nepal but his own allies have criticised Oli’s latest faux pas. But there is no cause for India to gloat over. On the contrary, there should be a concern.&nbsp;

Recently, we have been informed that very soon India’s bilateral trade with South Korea is going to touch the figure of $ 50 billion. South Korean cars, televisions, cameras and computers have pushed out the once-dominant Japanese automobiles and electronic and optical products from the price sensitive market. The quality of South Korean products compares with the best. The ground is ripe for establishing production facilities-like Suzuki company-in India for export to neighbouring countries.&nbsp;

Conversions are a sensitive issue in India also. In the recent times, provocative and politically partisan statements by high functionaries of the church have not helped.

Nor can India easily overlook that many NGOs active in the field of Human Rights and Human Development are closely, if invisibly, linked with Christian Missionary organisations. Not very long ago a young American sadly lost his life with Bible in his hand trying to intrude in Sentinel Island flouting the laws of the land. After the fall of communism in its citadels not many talk of ‘Liberation Theology’ but it can’t be easily forgotten how secessionist alienation proliferated in the North Eastern States of India with activities of some American missionaries.&nbsp;

Our Constitution&nbsp;guarantees the fundamental right to follow any religion according to our faith and belief. It is imperative that even microscopic religious minorities don’t feel threatened or persecuted. At the same time, we can’t shut our eyes to evangelical activism in the proximate neighbourhood.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse's bid to come back to power through a ‘constitutional coup’ has been foiled but the deep divides in society and polity continue to tear at the heart of the country known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Like Nepal, Sri Lanka too is a sovereign nation state that for Indians is hard to treat as a foreign country.&nbsp;

As Lal Bahadur Shastri had once famous commented that the people who reside there are our flesh and blood. Shared bonds of religion and culture, not to forget the legacy of British Colonial rule, create an illusion of coinciding national interests in perpetuity.

Ever since Independence India and Sri Lanka have frequently followed divergent paths of economic development and conflicting strategic visions. The ethnic civil war that raged for decades has ravaged bilateral relations. Dravidian identity politics in Tamil Nadu continues to aggravate the already complex diplomatic challenges. Here too, we have to tread with extreme care.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

KP Oli, the prime minister of Nepal has a penchant to land himself in controversies. This time it is because of his ‘association’ with the United Church of South Korea known for its proselytising zeal.

KP Oli, the prime minister of Nepal has a penchant to land himself in controversies. This time it is because of his ‘association’ with the United Church of South Korea known for its proselytising zeal. That once Buddhist country has in recent years fast changed its religious complexion. Nepal after the abolition of monarchy is a secular, democratic republic federal in structure but conversions remains a sensitive issue. Not only the opposition parties in Nepal but his own allies have criticised Oli’s latest faux pas. But there is no cause for India to gloat over. On the contrary, there should be a concern. Recently, we have been informed that very soon India’s bilateral trade with South Korea is going to touch the figure of $ 50 billion. South Korean cars, televisions, cameras and computers have pushed out the once-dominant Japanese automobiles and electronic and optical products from the price sensitive market. The quality of South Korean products compares with the best. The ground is ripe for establishing production facilities-like Suzuki company-in India for export to neighbouring countries. Conversions are a sensitive issue in India also. In the recent times, provocative and politically partisan statements by high functionaries of the church have not helped. Nor can India easily overlook that many NGOs active in the field of Human Rights and Human Development are closely, if invisibly, linked with Christian Missionary organisations. Not very long ago a young American sadly lost his life with Bible in his hand trying to intrude in Sentinel Island flouting the laws of the land. After the fall of communism in its citadels not many talk of ‘Liberation Theology’ but it can’t be easily forgotten how secessionist alienation proliferated in the North Eastern States of India with activities of some American missionaries. Our Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to follow any religion according to our faith and belief. It is imperative that even microscopic religious minorities don’t feel threatened or persecuted. At the same time, we can’t shut our eyes to evangelical activism in the proximate neighbourhood. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse's bid to come back to power through a ‘constitutional coup’ has been foiled but the deep divides in society and polity continue to tear at the heart of the country known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Like Nepal, Sri Lanka too is a sovereign nation state that for Indians is hard to treat as a foreign country. As Lal Bahadur Shastri had once famous commented that the people who reside there are our flesh and blood. Shared bonds of religion and culture, not to forget the legacy of British Colonial rule, create an illusion of coinciding national interests in perpetuity. Ever since Independence India and Sri Lanka have frequently followed divergent paths of economic development and conflicting strategic visions. The ethnic civil war that raged for decades has ravaged bilateral relations. Dravidian identity politics in Tamil Nadu continues to aggravate the already complex diplomatic challenges. Here too, we have to tread with extreme care. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Conversions remain a sensitive issue in Nepal and India

The North Sentinel Island episode has been presented by the Evangelists and those supporting them mainly as another tragic case of missionary martyrdom at the hands of violent non-believers. There have been other such cases – for example, in China, Ecuador, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Cameroons – and all have been presented as the deaths of innocents driven by love and peaceful intent.

But there is another perspective on such events. The martyred were not hapless do-gooders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were knowing, willful, well-funded, and well-tutored agents of one of the biggest, richest, and most successful global industries to spring out of the Western world – the modern evangelical movement. The modern evangelical movement has about half a million full-time workers, that sends out around three million short-term workers out every year. It has over 4,000 subsidiary agencies, an elaborate, highly developed, and tightly-integrated global management structure, a close partnership with the West’s most powerful governments, and the backing of the world’s largest corporations; and it has at its disposal at least $400 billion in liquid assets, a fleet of 200 aircraft, and over 300 million computers worldwide. It has a computer intelligence system that has data-banked information on every community on earth down to the smallest village, and with this information – and all its associated resources – it targets every culture and every cultural sub-group on earth for conversion to evangelical Christianity. Much of its work is camouflaged, and to enable work within non-Western cultures most of its mission workers are now-white.

It is this enormous organisation, and not John Allen Chau, that targeted the Sentinel Islands for special attention.

The North Sentinel affair raises a number of vital issues concerning human rights. Perhaps the most important is this: why is the Christian proselytisation of marginal communities still promoted, still possible, still indulged?

There are three answers - one political, one cultural, one religious. Politically, many marginal communities (especially remote tribal communities) live in strategically important areas – border regions, mineral-rich areas, timberlands, militarily significant zones, etc. Historically, Christian missions have been used to neutralize local opposition to imperial penetration.

Culturally, “civilization” abhors the survival of the “pre-civilized”– the nomadic, the pastoral, the Neolithic small tribe, etc. Civilized man is also an imperial man – subsistence alternatives must be co-opted, incorporated, controlled, and at the very least patronized. Part of the problem with complex industrial societies an intolerance of self-sufficient simplicity.

Religiously, the animism of such marginal communities poses a threat to theistic beliefs. This is a particular problem with evangelical Christianity, which has evolved a determined and doctrinaire response to “the other” – whether it be animist, secular, Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist, “the other” must be converted. It is a tenet of evangelicalism that the Christian must spread the word: modern evangelicals have taken this a step further by creating a vast purpose-built industry for evangelizing each and every “unreached people group” on earth.

TheNorth Sentinel Island residents are a particularly resistant example of such groups. As such, they challenge the certainty and the righteousness of the proselytizers.

There are many other resistant communities, large and small – from the major non-Christian religions to small tribes in the Amazon, theNew Guinea uplands, or various Asian borderlands. The evangelical movement identifies over 3,000 cultural groups to be targeted for proselytization. Eventually, most of these will be penetrated and undermined – by a multitude of tactics, both overt and covert. And they will be transformed for a very simple reason. Because the dominant global imperialism is still white and Christian – and because religious imperialism is always the handmaiden of secular imperialism.

And why the silence from the “Human Rights” industry? Because by and large, it is in cahoots with the proselytisers. Of course, there are local and independent activists fighting injustice in every country, but their voices are not widely broadcast or amplified. The loudest voices are those of the West’s “Human Rights” industry, which is closely embraced by a vast and complex machinery for shaping global and local activism to the West’s secular and religious agenda.

The two largest cogs in this machinery are WorldVision and Youth With a Mission: both are deeply entrenched in the highest echelons of US politics (World Vision is effectively a branch of the US State Department, especially under the Democrats, and both groups are close to the Washington power-broking clique known as “TheFamily”); combined, the two agencies have almost 20,000 full-time workers working in over 170 countries in over 1,000 bases;both are extremely well funded (for years, World Vision’s budget exceeded the routine budget of the United Nations); and both have complex, diverse, and tightly-integrated corporate structures more powerful and more successful than many large global corporations.

Such agencies help define much of the “human rights” agenda through their close political connections, through their own “human rights” subsidiaries (such as World Vision’s International justice mission and Youth With A Mission’s Template Institute and International Reconciliation Coalition), and through a firm integration with the global corporate world.

In the case of the North Sentinel affair, these two agencies are organically linked to the main culprits in the field. The All Nations International ministry (of which John Allen Chau was an agent) was founded by Floyd Mcclung, one-time InternationalDirector of Youth with a Mission, and is now run by Mary Ho, who for many years was a World Vision manager in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

And the West has always been reluctant to enquire too deeply into the affairs of organised Christianity — both at home and overseas. Western culture is a deeply, subliminally Christian, and even committed secularists have trouble avoiding Christian parameters in their arguments, and often gloss over the Christian capacity for wrong-doing. Among other things, this leads to a rather benign view of the behaviour of missionaries overseas — fed partly by ignorance, and partly by a sense that the Christian mission must be equated with civilisation. Such myopia has increased dramatically over the past 40 years, as the secular West has managed to define a global order largely in its own terms, with decisive help from its Christian missionaries. By contrast, of course, the behaviour of non-Christians (even other Abrahamic faiths like Islam) is scrutinised ruthlessly, misunderstood, and demonised.

India owes it to itself to go beyond the purely religious objection to Christian missionising, and examine the global forces which define it. These forces are subverting countries like India in a far more comprehensive and profound way than most people realise.

Most Western leaders (not just George W Bush and Tony Blair) have claimed in the past that they are inspired by their Christian beliefs. Sometimes, as with both Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush and even Trump they quote chapter and verse in support of their policy. Certainly, deep in Washington, self-professedly Christian pressure groups (like the Fellowship Foundation and the Council for National Policy) have a highly influential membership and a powerful grip on policy. Of course, one can debate whether US strategy is manifestly Christian in inspiration — few Americans would say it is not, although most would probably insist that such strategy is guided primarily by secular concerns.

But there is no doubt at all that US strategy makes deliberate (and somewhat cynical) use of Christian agencies in pursuit of foreign policy — and that the distinction between the religious and the secular is deliberately blurred in the process. There are over 600 US-based evangelical groups, some as big as large corporations. Between them they constitute a vast and highly organised network of global influence, purposefully targeting non-Christians, and connecting and subverting every sector of life in the process.

Most of the major evangelical corporations (like World Vision, Campus Crusade, Youth With A Mission, and Samaritan’s Purse) operate in partnership with the US government in its pursuit of foreign policy goals. World Vision, which is effectively an arm of the State Department, is perhaps the most notable example of this. There is also the benefit of a custom-built legislation, with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 providing necessary sanction to bring errant nations into line.

This means that evangelisation is an intensely secular pursuit, as well as a religious one. In turn, of course, the secular powers, whether they be departments of state or corporate businesses, find such evangelicals to be very effective partners.

Indeed, most missionaries are not obviously religious. A case in point is the Success Motivation industry. Many of the most popular ‘leadership gurus’ — Zig Ziglar, Paul Meyer, Os Hillman, Richard DeVos, John C. Maxwell, and Ken Blanchard, for example — are not just management experts, they are also evangelical Christians and conscious agents of US-style evangelisation. Conversely, groups which, on the face of it, are primarily religious, may also serve a powerful secular agenda, such as the collection of intelligence, the grooming of political or commercial elites, or the manipulation of local conflicts.

So pity the poor Sentinelese. Like the Huaorani of Ecuador, or the Yanomami of Brazil, or the Hewa of New Guinea, or the Akha of Thailand or the Pashto of Afghanistan, they are now in the front lines of a war for the last few remnant souls of the unreached – and the “uncivilized.”

(This article was originally published on DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-the-north-sentinelese-question-2692916">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The North Sentinel Island episode has been presented by the Evangelists and those supporting them mainly as another tragic case of missionary martyrdom at the hands of violent non-believers.

The North Sentinel Island episode has been presented by the Evangelists and those supporting them mainly as another tragic case of missionary martyrdom at the hands of violent non-believers. There have been other such cases – for example, in China, Ecuador, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Cameroons – and all have been presented as the deaths of innocents driven by love and peaceful intent. But there is another perspective on such events. The martyred were not hapless do-gooders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were knowing, willful, well-funded, and well-tutored agents of one of the biggest, richest, and most successful global industries to spring out of the Western world – the modern evangelical movement. The modern evangelical movement has about half a million full-time workers, that sends out around three million short-term workers out every year. It has over 4,000 subsidiary agencies, an elaborate, highly developed, and tightly-integrated global management structure, a close partnership with the West’s most powerful governments, and the backing of the world’s largest corporations; and it has at its disposal at least $400 billion in liquid assets, a fleet of 200 aircraft, and over 300 million computers worldwide. It has a computer intelligence system that has data-banked information on every community on earth down to the smallest village, and with this information – and all its associated resources – it targets every culture and every cultural sub-group on earth for conversion to evangelical Christianity. Much of its work is camouflaged, and to enable work within non-Western cultures most of its mission workers are now-white. It is this enormous organisation, and not John Allen Chau, that targeted the Sentinel Islands for special attention. The North Sentinel affair raises a number of vital issues concerning human rights. Perhaps the most important is this: why is the Christian proselytisation of marginal communities still promoted, still possible, still indulged? There are three answers - one political, one cultural, one religious. Politically, many marginal communities (especially remote tribal communities) live in strategically important areas – border regions, mineral-rich areas, timberlands, militarily significant zones, etc. Historically, Christian missions have been used to neutralize local opposition to imperial penetration. Culturally, “civilization” abhors the survival of the “pre-civilized”– the nomadic, the pastoral, the Neolithic small tribe, etc. Civilized man is also an imperial man – subsistence alternatives must be co-opted, incorporated, controlled, and at the very least patronized. Part of the problem with complex industrial societies an intolerance of self-sufficient simplicity. Religiously, the animism of such marginal communities poses a threat to theistic beliefs. This is a particular problem with evangelical Christianity, which has evolved a determined and doctrinaire response to “the other” – whether it be animist, secular, Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist, “the other” must be converted. It is a tenet of evangelicalism that the Christian must spread the word: modern evangelicals have taken this a step further by creating a vast purpose-built industry for evangelizing each and every “unreached people group” on earth. TheNorth Sentinel Island residents are a particularly resistant example of such groups. As such, they challenge the certainty and the righteousness of the proselytizers. There are many other resistant communities, large and small – from the major non-Christian religions to small tribes in the Amazon, theNew Guinea uplands, or various Asian borderlands. The evangelical movement identifies over 3,000 cultural groups to be targeted for proselytization. Eventually, most of these will be penetrated and undermined – by a multitude of tactics, both overt and covert. And they will be transformed for a very simple reason. Because the dominant global imperialism is still white and Christian – and because religious imperialism is always the handmaiden of secular imperialism. And why the silence from the “Human Rights” industry? Because by and large, it is in cahoots with the proselytisers. Of course, there are local and independent activists fighting injustice in every country, but their voices are not widely broadcast or amplified. The loudest voices are those of the West’s “Human Rights” industry, which is closely embraced by a vast and complex machinery for shaping global and local activism to the West’s secular and religious agenda. The two largest cogs in this machinery are WorldVision and Youth With a Mission: both are deeply entrenched in the highest echelons of US politics (World Vision is effectively a branch of the US State Department, especially under the Democrats, and both groups are close to the Washington power-broking clique known as “TheFamily”); combined, the two agencies have almost 20,000 full-time workers working in over 170 countries in over 1,000 bases;both are extremely well funded (for years, World Vision’s budget exceeded the routine budget of the United Nations); and both have complex, diverse, and tightly-integrated corporate structures more powerful and more successful than many large global corporations. Such agencies help define much of the “human rights” agenda through their close political connections, through their own “human rights” subsidiaries (such as World Vision’s International justice mission and Youth With A Mission’s Template Institute and International Reconciliation Coalition), and through a firm integration with the global corporate world. In the case of the North Sentinel affair, these two agencies are organically linked to the main culprits in the field. The All Nations International ministry (of which John Allen Chau was an agent) was founded by Floyd Mcclung, one-time InternationalDirector of Youth with a Mission, and is now run by Mary Ho, who for many years was a World Vision manager in Hong Kong and Taiwan. And the West has always been reluctant to enquire too deeply into the affairs of organised Christianity — both at home and overseas. Western culture is a deeply, subliminally Christian, and even committed secularists have trouble avoiding Christian parameters in their arguments, and often gloss over the Christian capacity for wrong-doing. Among other things, this leads to a rather benign view of the behaviour of missionaries overseas — fed partly by ignorance, and partly by a sense that the Christian mission must be equated with civilisation. Such myopia has increased dramatically over the past 40 years, as the secular West has managed to define a global order largely in its own terms, with decisive help from its Christian missionaries. By contrast, of course, the behaviour of non-Christians (even other Abrahamic faiths like Islam) is scrutinised ruthlessly, misunderstood, and demonised. India owes it to itself to go beyond the purely religious objection to Christian missionising, and examine the global forces which define it. These forces are subverting countries like India in a far more comprehensive and profound way than most people realise. Most Western leaders (not just George W Bush and Tony Blair) have claimed in the past that they are inspired by their Christian beliefs. Sometimes, as with both Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush and even Trump they quote chapter and verse in support of their policy. Certainly, deep in Washington, self-professedly Christian pressure groups (like the Fellowship Foundation and the Council for National Policy) have a highly influential membership and a powerful grip on policy. Of course, one can debate whether US strategy is manifestly Christian in inspiration — few Americans would say it is not, although most would probably insist that such strategy is guided primarily by secular concerns. But there is no doubt at all that US strategy makes deliberate (and somewhat cynical) use of Christian agencies in pursuit of foreign policy — and that the distinction between the religious and the secular is deliberately blurred in the process. There are over 600 US-based evangelical groups, some as big as large corporations. Between them they constitute a vast and highly organised network of global influence, purposefully targeting non-Christians, and connecting and subverting every sector of life in the process. Most of the major evangelical corporations (like World Vision, Campus Crusade, Youth With A Mission, and Samaritan’s Purse) operate in partnership with the US government in its pursuit of foreign policy goals. World Vision, which is effectively an arm of the State Department, is perhaps the most notable example of this. There is also the benefit of a custom-built legislation, with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 providing necessary sanction to bring errant nations into line. This means that evangelisation is an intensely secular pursuit, as well as a religious one. In turn, of course, the secular powers, whether they be departments of state or corporate businesses, find such evangelicals to be very effective partners. Indeed, most missionaries are not obviously religious. A case in point is the Success Motivation industry. Many of the most popular ‘leadership gurus’ — Zig Ziglar, Paul Meyer, Os Hillman, Richard DeVos, John C. Maxwell, and Ken Blanchard, for example — are not just management experts, they are also evangelical Christians and conscious agents of US-style evangelisation. Conversely, groups which, on the face of it, are primarily religious, may also serve a powerful secular agenda, such as the collection of intelligence, the grooming of political or commercial elites, or the manipulation of local conflicts. So pity the poor Sentinelese. Like the Huaorani of Ecuador, or the Yanomami of Brazil, or the Hewa of New Guinea, or the Akha of Thailand or the Pashto of Afghanistan, they are now in the front lines of a war for the last few remnant souls of the unreached – and the “uncivilized.” (This article was originally published on DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Why is Christian proselytisation of marginal communities still promoted?

BJP MP Bharat Singh on Saturday accused the Congress party of working on their directives Christian missionaries who, he said, are a threat to the unity and integrity of the country.&nbsp

"Christian missionaries control the Congress. Sonia Gandhi, the mother of Congress president Rahul Gandhi works on the directions of these missionaries. These missionaries are a threat for the unity of the country," news agency PTI quoted Singh as saying while talking to reporters.&nbsp

Singh also alleged that the democracy in the northeastern states of the country has "weakened" due to "conversion of people there into Christianity."&nbsp

"The North-East is under the influence of Christian missionaries. Democracy has weakened due to the conversion of people to Christianity there. The conspiracies hatched by these missionaries are a threat for the country," he added.

The Ballia MP, incidentally, had also alleged recently that the Christian missionaries were behind the vandalisation of the statues of the Dalit icon and key architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

Singh further said after the Supreme Court's decision on Justice BH Loya case, Rahul Gandhi should regret his stand.

"Congress does not believe in democracy. After Loya case ruling by the SC, the Congress, which tried to put BJP president Amit Shah in the dock stands exposed," he added.&nbsp

Singh also alleged that the democracy in the northeastern states of the country has "weakened" due to "conversion of people there into Christianity."

BJP MP Bharat Singh on Saturday accused the Congress party of working on their directives Christian missionaries who, he said, are a threat to the unity and integrity of the country. "Christian missionaries control the Congress. Sonia Gandhi, the mother of Congress president Rahul Gandhi works on the directions of these missionaries. These missionaries are a threat for the unity of the country," news agency PTI quoted Singh as saying while talking to reporters. Singh also alleged that the democracy in the northeastern states of the country has "weakened" due to "conversion of people there into Christianity." "The North-East is under the influence of Christian missionaries. Democracy has weakened due to the conversion of people to Christianity there. The conspiracies hatched by these missionaries are a threat for the country," he added. The Ballia MP, incidentally, had also alleged recently that the Christian missionaries were behind the vandalisation of the statues of the Dalit icon and key architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Singh further said after the Supreme Court's decision on Justice BH Loya case, Rahul Gandhi should regret his stand. "Congress does not believe in democracy. After Loya case ruling by the SC, the Congress, which tried to put BJP president Amit Shah in the dock stands exposed," he added.

Congress is working on the directives of Christian missionaries: BJP's Ballia MP

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis&#39; wife Amruta Fadnavis found herself at the receiving end of heavy criticism on Twitter, for promoting a Christmas-themed charitable event in Mumbai.

It all started after Amruta shared some photographs from the event, aimed at bringing a smile on the face of poor children ahead of Christmas festival.

<div class="ui-state-default">
<div class="twitter-block">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
launched-Be Santa-campaign, as Ambassador for <a href="https://twitter.com/927BIGFM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@927BIGFM</a> - to collect gifts from people -for poor children ,to bring smiles to their faces during this Christmas.Drop ur gifts at nearest <a href="https://twitter.com/927BIGFM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@927BIGFM</a> &amp; Feel the joy -as best way to multiply your happiness is by sharing it with others?? <a href="https://t.co/r5UTAi3nDY">pic.twitter.com/r5UTAi3nDY</a>
&mdash; AMRUTA FADNAVIS (@fadnavis_amruta) <a href="https://twitter.com/fadnavis_amruta/status/940412986849558528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Soon after the tweet was posted, Amruta was accused of encouraging Christian missionaries and luring Hindus into the fold of Christianity.

In some of the tweets, the social worker&nbsp;was asked if she was a Hindu before marriage, while many others said this might not fare well for the chief minister&#39;s career. 
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<a href="https://twitter.com/CMOMaharashtra?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CMOMaharashtra</a> why <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Maharashtra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Maharashtra</a> state sponsoring Christian superstitious events to convert Hindus students while you promote crackerless Diwali? 
Why no sharing caring celebration on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Shivaji?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Shivaji</a> jayanti?<a href="https://twitter.com/BJP4India?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BJP4India</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ShivSena?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShivSena</a>
&mdash; SankaPadma (@SankaPadma) <a href="https://twitter.com/SankaPadma/status/940470597062144000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Where were you on Diwali Ganesh Puja or when Chennai &amp; Mumbai were flooded &quot;Santa&quot; feeling are exclusive to &quot;Christmas&quot;? this is an abuse of your position and status
&mdash; No Conversion (@noconversion) <a href="https://twitter.com/noconversion/status/940676078410006530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Done with the shaming tweets, Amruta came to her own rescue with a tweet which read &#39;love sharing &amp; empathy have no religion&#39;.

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Love , sharing &amp; empathy have no religion - let&rsquo;s accept all positivity around us &amp; stay away from negative thoughts &amp; demotivating energies !
&mdash; AMRUTA FADNAVIS (@fadnavis_amruta) <a href="https://twitter.com/fadnavis_amruta/status/940439082290651138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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This isn&#39;t the first time when Amruta has been slammed this harshly on the social media. &nbsp;

Amruta was accused of encouraging Christian missionaries and luring Hindus into the fold of Christianity.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' wife Amruta Fadnavis found herself at the receiving end of heavy criticism on Twitter, for promoting a Christmas-themed charitable event in Mumbai. It all started after Amruta shared some photographs from the event, aimed at bringing a smile on the face of poor children ahead of Christmas festival. launched-Be Santa-campaign, as Ambassador for @927BIGFM - to collect gifts from people -for poor children ,to bring smiles to their faces during this Christmas.Drop ur gifts at nearest @927BIGFM & Feel the joy -as best way to multiply your happiness is by sharing it with others?? pic.twitter.com/r5UTAi3nDY — AMRUTA FADNAVIS (@fadnavis_amruta) December 12, 2017 × Soon after the tweet was posted, Amruta was accused of encouraging Christian missionaries and luring Hindus into the fold of Christianity. In some of the tweets, the social worker was asked if she was a Hindu before marriage, while many others said this might not fare well for the chief minister's career. @CMOMaharashtra why #Maharashtra state sponsoring Christian superstitious events to convert Hindus students while you promote crackerless Diwali? Why no sharing caring celebration on #Shivaji jayanti?@BJP4India @ShivSena — SankaPadma (@SankaPadma) December 12, 2017 × Where were you on Diwali Ganesh Puja or when Chennai & Mumbai were flooded "Santa" feeling are exclusive to "Christmas"? this is an abuse of your position and status — No Conversion (@noconversion) December 12, 2017 × Done with the shaming tweets, Amruta came to her own rescue with a tweet which read 'love sharing & empathy have no religion'. Love , sharing & empathy have no religion - let’s accept all positivity around us & stay away from negative thoughts & demotivating energies ! — AMRUTA FADNAVIS (@fadnavis_amruta) December 12, 2017 × This isn't the first time when Amruta has been slammed this harshly on the social media.

Devendra Fadnavis' wife trolled for attending Christmas event, hits back with 'love has no religion' reply