US pastor's visa revocation raises new questions

Why Christian missionaries â€" be they Indians or foreigners â€" are discriminated against as compared to other missionaries belonging to the majority Hindu religion? asks Fr Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese.

In his latest column for a national daily, Fr Emmanuel contrasts the recent arrest of evangelist William Lee in Kochi and the case of a 69-year-old Italian nun who applied thrice for a visa to visit India with no success with that of Iskcon devotees distributing tracts across the country.

"It was indeed fascinating to see the two men of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) chanting with cymbals, as if in trance and distributing free literature at Nizamuddin (Delhi) railway station a few weeks ago," writes Fr Emmanuel.

"What caused the intrigue was not the discovery that one of the two Iskcon "missionaries" was an American and a probable convert from Christianity as there are hundreds of thousands of them who have left the Church to embrace other religions, but that no one attacked him or no police went after them."

While the case of Graham Staines or Kandhamal or the series of attacks in Karnataka might be considered extreme, it is quite common to find cases of "persecutions" of Christians in different parts of the country, particularly in the BJP ruled states, he noted.

Fr Emmanuel, who is a founder-member of Parliament of Religions, asks why there are two sets of rules for foreigners who are Christians and those who have renounced Christianity to embrace Hinduism or a similar religion.

"If Indian sadhus and sadhvis are granted visas to go and openly proselytise Christians in America and Europe, why is that courtesy not extended reciprocally to the citizens of those countries while visiting India?" he inquired.

"Why is it that one can buy volumes of the Bhagvad Gita on railway stations and not copies of the Bible, Quran or the Guru Granth Sahib?"

He adds: "Many of my Hindu friends are seen heading for America and Europe without any visa restrictions. Baba Ramdev recently bought a 200 acre plot of land in Scotland to promote his yoga and related activities. Leave alone buying land, a Christian undergoes a harrowing time before s/he can obtain a visa to come to India.

And if at all a visa is granted, it comes with a rider, like in the case of Mr Lee that he would not be allowed to preach anywhere. And yet there are countless instances of foreigners giving discourses on various Hindu sects or philosophies."

Last month, the Kerala police registered a case against Pastor William Lee for violating visa norms by conducting a musical convention at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kaloor, Kochi.

In July this year, three American tourists were asked to leave India following complaints from Hindu organisations that they were attempting to convert locals to Christianity.