NEW DELHI: Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Vishnu
Hari Dalmia met US ambassador Richard Celeste on
Tuesday to correct the ``misconceptions in the
western world'' over the recent attacks on
Christians in Gujarat.
Mr Dalmia also gave the ambassador a ``brief
note'' on the attacks detailing the incidents and
giving the ``real facts''. The note,
interestingly, begins with a detailed quote from
the New Testament.
Confirming the meeting and the note, Mr Dalmia
said he felt the ``one-to-one meeting'' --the
first yet -- was necessary both for correcting
the current picture and prepare for ``better
dialogue'' in future.
Who sought the meeting? The VHP president said,
``I had some indications that a meeting would be
just the right thing to do now.'' And so, the
meeting happened. Would the western world feel
better now after this meeting?
Depends on how the ambassador reacts to the note
given to him by the VHP leader. The 14-point note
has given nine specific incidents reported from
several areas of Gujarat starting July 31, 1998.
According to VHP central secretary Mohan Joshi,
the basic point made in the note is that these
so-called attacks on Christians were either
exaggerations or the result of reasons such as
land dispute.
Mr Joshi is the VHP's man in charge of monitoring
conversion activities. His cell is understood to
have put together this note for Mr Dalmia to take
to his meeting with the ambassador.
The note lists the case of a land dispute in
Surat. It turned communal when the complainant, a
Hindu, was prevented from taking possession of
the disputed land despite a favourable court
order.
The illegal occupant started the trouble, the VHP
has alleged. In the ensuing rioting --on July 16,
1998 -- several shops, houses and vehicles were
damaged. ``This had nothing to do with
conversions,'' Mr Joshi said.
But some of the other points in the note were
clearly about conversions. Specific instances
have been cited of conversion attempts by
missionaries in Gujarat, along with police cases
and complaints lodged about them.
The VHP is now taking the line that it has been
unfairly turned into a villain when the problem
is elsewhere, which is continued conversions
through inducements and force. It claims to
possess documentary proof of it.
It's in that context that Mr Dalmia is understood
to have met Mr Celeste -- to give a correct
picture of its role and also convey to the
``western world'' the magnitude and nature of the
``conversion problem'' here.