'Christians Should be Beheaded in India,' Says Hindu Extremist
Pravin Togadia, Secretary General of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a Hindu extremist group, has said that anyone who converts Hindus to Christianity should be put to death by decapitation.
He made the demand when he addressed the Akhil Bharatiya Dharmaprasar Karykarta Sammelan, a three-day event in Ahmadabad.
During that event Togadia also called for changes to the Indian constitution.
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Father Babu Joesph, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, urged action against Pravin Togadia: "One is not shocked by his statement but it is definitely worrisome. This is totally unacceptable," he said.
Cedric Prakash, Director of Prashant, the Ahmadabad-based Center for Human Rights, Justice and Peace was also not surprised by Togadia’a comments, “What Togadia has said is nothing new. His words are against the spirit and the freedom enshrined in the Constitution of India, which guarantees every citizen the right to preach, practice and propagate their religion and for that matter choose their religion.”
Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians was also concerned that Togadia’s “hate propaganda has so often resulted in considerable violence against India’s Muslim, Christian, and Dalit minorities,”
George continued, “Violence and other abuses against marginalized groups in India are part of a concerted campaign of these Hinduvta organizations, whose leadership is dominated by upper-caste Hindus, to promote and exploit communal tensions in order to retain political and economic power.”
Togadia has had a long history of being in favor of discriminatory measures against other religions. He has long been advocating anti-conversion legislation in all states to curb conversion from Hinduism to Christianity.
Togadia has reportedly began to distribute “trishuls,” which are brochures telling Hindus to take caution of the imminent danger and to get ready for violence. This has been seen by some as a blatant act to incite acts of violence. As for George he feels that the use of trishuls is “a brazen attempt to militarize society under the garb of a religious program.”
