Out Loud! with Hindu extremism demands Canadian vigilance

The systematic attacks against Christians in the Orissa state of India following the murder of a Hindu leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, have angered Indo-Canadians as well. At least 11 people have died in the violence since Saraswati’s murder on Aug. 23.
Since the slain leader was the representative of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu fundamentalist group, its supporters have begun targeting Christian homes and institutions to avenge his killing.
Though the police believe that he may have been murdered by ultra-leftists, the Hindu groups are blaming the Christian missionaries for his death.
Two Metro Vancouver Sikh temples Dashmesh Durbar in Surrey and Gurdwara Kalgidhar Durbar in Abbotsford have condemned the attacks on the Christians.
It is pertinent to mention that innocent Sikhs were also targeted by mobs in different parts of India in 1984, following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.
The Pope has also condemned these incidents. In fact, Christian missionaries in Orissa have long been vulnerable to Hindu extremists, who accuse them of luring poor Hindus into Christianity.
An Australian missionary, Graham Staines and his two sons, aged nine and seven, were burned alive in January, 1999 by a group led by Dara Singh, a Hindu extremist, who was convicted for murder. His mother, however, was honoured by the VHP.
Despite these past episodes, the state government has miserably failed to protect the Christian minority. It’s not a coincidence that the Hindu nationalist BJP is a part of the coalition government in Orissa.
India is not a Hindu state, though the Hindu extremists want to make it one because Hinduism is the religion of the majority in that country.
Since the Indian Constitution is based on the principles of secularism and pluralism, religious conversion is an individual choice. Not only should the Indian government treat the Hindu extremists like any other terrorist group, the Canadian authorities should take this threat seriously as the supporters of the Hindu extremists are discreetly functioning in Metro Vancouver too. What’s the use of waiting for a bigger tragedy like the Air India bombing or 9/11 to happen instead of being vigilant now?