"Christian Community in India is cultural AIDS," exhorts anti-Christian leader...

India - According to Jeff King, President, International Christian Concern at www.persecution.org, there are leaders in India who consider Christianity a "virus". They parallel it to AIDS ?spreading to destroy.

Dr. Previn Togadi, the head of the VHP and author of the new anti-conversion laws, spoke out against the Christians and his comments reveal the true intention of the VHP. He describes Christian witness as "religious terrorism", Christianity as "a virus" and conversion as "cultural AIDS".

Christian Today from Gujarat reports that "Gomet (a new Christian) is one of a growing number of Dalits who are choosing to abandon Hinduism, the religion of their ancestors, in favor of something new. By escaping Hinduism, converts hope to escape oppression. So many thousands of Dalits are changing their religion that it's being described as a "conversion movement."

Dr. Togadi in incensed at such happenings. He states that it is going to destroy the multiple religions of India. It could get such a hold that the present-tense India religious world would wobble out of its timely influence. He wants the status quo to remain. In that, he considers any Christian witness to be taking full advantage particularly of the poor and ignorant. They are open prey to the Christian evangelists.

He states that "we are dead against conversion of any type. If I change my religion, that is a different thing. But if you target me, they (Christians) are targeting! They are harassing! They are planning and preparing! It is nothing but religious terrorism.

" They enhance monoculture by destroying our belief system. They did it in Europe, in the first millennium, second millennium they destroyed the belief system of Africa. Third millennium, the Pope himself came and declared that I will convert Asia and India. It means they want to destroy pluralistic belief system of India."

Consequently, the Religious Freedom Act has been passed this past March. Its name does not tell truth. It is a law that "restricts the activities of missionaries and requires would-be converts to obtain permission from a magistrate."

According to information provided by Elizabeth Kendal of World Evangelical Alliance, only 0.5% of the India population of Gujarat is Christian. One would not consider that much of a threat to the status quo.

Nevertheless, Dr. Togadi considers it a threat, which in fact is a compliment to the power of the gospel. He says: "It's not a question of the number of Christians. It's the concept. It is not a number, it is a virus. A single AIDS virus is sufficient to kill a human being. So conversion is cultural AIDS, which will destroy pluralism."

Ajay Singh