Who are these “Christian Converts”?
Thanks to Sh KSV Subramanian for alerting me to this. In a comment yesterday, he asked:
Kerala government has announced writing off loans upto Rs.25,000 to converted Christians. Is this not discrimination on the basis of religion?”
I decided to dig further. Here is what I unearthed…courtesy the Budget Speech of Dr Thomas Isaac, Minister for Finance, Govt. of Kerala:
8 (iv). The penal interest and loan amounts up to Rs.25000/- in regard to loans drawn by scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and converted Christian communities from government departments, corporations and co-operatives will be waived. The necessary funds would be for this would be met from the corpus fund.
…
137. I am happy to write off loans outstanding upto Rs.25,000/- as on 31st March 2006 along with interest and penal interest, borrowed by people belonging to SC/ST from government departments SC/ST Corporations and converted Christians corporations and co-operative banks.
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143. I set apart Rs. 7 crore for the Backward Classes Development Corporation and Rs.3 crore for the Christian Converts Development Corporation.
The obvious question is: “Who are these Christian converts?” Are they different from other Christians? An as KSV has pointed out, is this not a case of discrimination based on religion? Can this move be challenged in the High Court? Is there more to this that I am not aware of?
Can readers from Kerala and/or those familiar with politics in the region please comment?
By the way, the Govt. of AP had done something similar last year…and you may not be surprised to know that this special treatment of “minorities” does not extend to certain groups in Jammu & Kashmir.
Who are these “caste Hindus�
Our Government even has a ‘Christian Converts Development Association’ ???
And to think that we are bothered about only the missionaries using monetary inducements for conversion…Looks like this Government-minority nexus is ages ahead of all of us (all right minded Indians, Hindus). We have not even begun to fathom the true nature of this nexus and its devious means.
I am at a loss of words/ideas to think how I can make any difference at all.
Very depressing.
If we don’t understand the underlying drivers of this phenomena we will lose out before we can blink.
– Marxist Nexus with the Xtians
– Tactical funding by foreign governments
– Antonia Maino and sell out within the Congress
– Marketing strategy of Xtian missionaries
– Social Reengineering of India
– Control of Media
We have to attack this from different angles
– Grassroots level organiation for charities
– Extensive education around Hinduism – has to have private penetration
– Political power
– External lobbying and influence in loci of power
– Intellectual development and investment into Hindu thought
– Control of Media
1. All old time Christians of Kerala including Syrian Christians should take note of this and protest. Why are they discriminated against ?
2. If a converted christian converts to another religion e.g. Buddhism will they have to pay back the amount ?
3. Is it only for first time converts ? Can this facility be availed if I convert again to Christianity ?
4. Why is it denied to converts to Islam ? All newly converted muslims should also take note of it.
I do not believe the comment by the minister is with malice. There is a lower class section in Kerala that goes by the tag “Converted from Pulaya” or something similar. In essence they are part of the social strata that scheduled tribes and scheduled castes would be part of, though may not come under SC/ST classification because of their Christian faith.
I would blame BJP and all the ‘right’ minded parties for not highlighting these. They should invest on filing PILs etc on such issues.
Shiv Sena, rather than targeting Sachin should write something about this in Samna.
Also read our Italian award winner CEC Navin has once again mentioned ‘Mother’ (and of course, TOIlett paper has give front page coverage) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Undertrials-must-get-right-to-vote-Election-Commission/articleshow/5259200.cms
Excerpt from Loan Waiver Scheme for Christian converts by Sarath Babu George (news item dt 10th Jun ’10):
..In his address at the inauguration of the loan waiver scheme, undertaken by the Kerala State Development Corporation for Christian Converts from Scheduled Castes and the Recommended Communities Ltd. here on Thursday, Mr. Balan said the current loan waiver scheme would write off Rs.159 crore and this would benefit nearly one lakh people, mostly belonging to the poorest sections of the society, he said.
..Under the debt waiver scheme for the Christian Converts, loans up to Rs.25,000 maturing on 31 March 2006 would be written off fully. In cases where the loan amount exceeds the stipulated amount, penal interest part would be written off, providing the persons with an opportunity to avail a one time benefit.
V.N. Vasavan, MLA, in his presidential address, highlighted the efforts of the State Government in protecting the needy. Commending the initiatives of the Government, Archbishop Vattappara of the Anglican Church of India requested those who avail the relief measures to reduce dependency on the assistance and to fully utilize the opportunities provided to improve living standards.