I doubt most Indians even know what we are talking of.

Such is the state of ignorance and dhimmitude that I see around me here in India.It is slowly,very slowly ,changing;thanks to sites like Jihad watch,FFI.org and Islamwatch. About Christian missionary work :I feel some Indian Hindus are replacing Dhimmitude to Islam with Dhimmitude to Christianity[this is the perception I get from the comments here] . I have a few christians and muslims among my friends. My relations with them was as an equal ; whether they operated from the same point is moot. One among my friends,a neighbour, decided to do her bit of evangelising amongst us , in the neighbourhood, that is Hindu with her as an exception. She came home to give a Christian pamphlet which,I knowing what it may contain [I had heard and seen Evangelists spouting their stuff, in our publi c transport, with utter disregard to how we may feel about it.], politely refused, as she was : 1) my neighbour; 2) she was elder to me. I had just done the rangoli [ a traditional Hindu art form] in front of our house when she said that Rangolis ar e of the devil and should not be done [mind, I was doing this in front of my house , not hers] ; then she said why are you worshipping plants and animals, referring to the Tulasi and Cows]. That I am living in Darkness and she is being kind and doing me a favour by pointing out these things about my religion. It was then I realised how hindus and their practices were being percieved by others. All othe rs could see is us worshiping our parents,teachers,plants and animals; but they can 't and don't understand the idea behind such acts, that it is more like limiting wh at cannot be limited so that we can relate to it; that our worship is like a micro level model of something that is HUGE. But that is besides the point. When an evangelist talks to me about being in the "Dark",he/she does not acknowledge that: a)I am a person who has intelligence to discriminate between the right and the wrong of things[their point is I am wrong because I say that Jesus is one of the many gurus/guides who came to us]; because I don't read or follow the bible. b) That I have a right to my practices just as they do to thei rs. [I don't go telling them that they must not have a christmas tree,the palm sunday cross or a 'JesusSaves' sticker on their door]. This is only one instance of how evangelists operate in India. The other w ays are of course the much touted 'rice-bag/money' variety, that is more commonly known. They also have even worse ways of luring people to their faith, which is really disgusting. That is the abuse of power , whether as a counsellor with a client/patient [one friend had gone to him for a post 26/12 Tsunami PTSD counselling was asked to become Christian to over come her fear. Another became a Christian after her neighbours told her that their was devil in her hou se causing the marital problems she had , and that it will become better if she

converted. I have heard of instances when children in a 'Christian' school are brainwashed with scary stories and asked not to participate in their family fest ivals and religious functions [does this NOT go against the institution of Family - as king people to reject their spouses or parents? Is this Christian family value to go against Parents, because of what they were taught in school, the parents were decent God fearing, law abiding people]. I also know of College hostels run by 'Christian' Nuns where girls from poor families are targeted with pro Christian and anti-Hindu propaganda, to convert, thereby separating them from their families. Christian NGOs that run orphanages or schools use such practices to scare children to become christians,and when their parents protest,their wrong doing i s hidden and they give a spin that 'Hindu Nationalists'[then are they not national ists as they are Christians]are targeting their 'good'work.Please read Mrs.Hilda Raja 's blog to know more about NGO's such as World Vision. Hindus could not open new Colleges or schools as easily as those of the 'Minorit y communities'. About Khandamal, the latest of Hindu-Christian clashes, A Hindu Swamiji was killed in his ashram as his operations for the welfare of the people in the region was hampering Christian missionary work.They were trying to replicate what happened in the north east , in that region of Orissa. So unless there is a spirit of "live and let live , and let bygones be bygo nes" amongst Christians and Hindus in India, there is no t much hope for either peace nor development in India. Very sorry for the long post, but I thought this needs to be told.