Christians: India
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Christmas in India
c.2010
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATED Christians not understood
More and more people from other religions now celebrate the festival but the stereotyped image of the community still remains
Shobha John | TNN
The Capital City Minstrels, a popular choral group in Delhi, Prabhsharan Singh Kang, a practising Sikh, has been part of the choir for 11 years. He says he absolutely loves it and “it’s the best thing that happened to my life — 20% of its members were not Christian when it began 16 years ago; today, it’s half and half.
Christmas’s commercial worth. Like Diwali, it’s the time of year families expect to spend and most Indian businesses have adapted to the dual festive rhythm of making money. In Delhi’s famous spice market, Khari Baoli, shopkeepers have started to sell sealed packets of dry fruit for Christmas cake. It makes the process of baking Christmas cake easier. Arguably, it also widens the appeal of baking cake for those who aren’t Christian.
In Bangalore, discounts and gift vouchers make Christmas a season of joy for many. For Kabir Lumba, managing director of the retail chain Landmark Group, it means sales go up by 10-11%. “Christmas has gone beyond the religious connect — it doesn’t matter what your background is,” says Lumba with satisfaction. For Koshy’s, which is famous for its Christmas goodies, the build-up to the big day starts as early as November and it’s not as if only Christians are buying.
And in Shillong’s main Police Bazaar, Christmas season is considered the best time to open a new store or release a CD, particularly cover versions of Christmas songs by local bands.
In an interesting multi-faith touch that goes the other way, for Jharkhand’s Christian tribals the season means bhajans and arsa — a sweet made out of jaggery and powdered rice. Some parts of Chota Nagpur have a unique celebration that sees the elders of a family collecting flour from different households the night before Christmas. It goes into khullai roti, a bread that is hidden in the forest for a young people’s treasure hunt. The winner is felicitated and given gifts.
But has the stereotyped perception of the average Indian Christian changed from the view that they were degenerate and dissolute byproducts of colonization? Not really, say experts, even though much of the stereotype was based on myth. Sociologist T K Oommen says it was always wrong to regard the entire Christian community in this way. “Christians are of three types — those who claim descent from St Thomas, one of Christ’s apostles who visited India in the first century, converts from SCs/STs/OBCs, and Anglo-Indians. Some 67% belong to the second category.”
Seventy per cent of Christians live in rural and small town India. “South India, the northeast and tribal areas of Chota Nagpur have 90% of India’s Christians, while the Indo-Gangetic plains just 1%”, says Oommen. The extent of assimilation is such that names like Reshma, Nirmala and Sushma are common. Many Indian Christians even perform aarti, points out Father Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic archdiocese.
In any case, India’s Christian community is too diverse to be lumped into one category, being a disparate group of 252 denominations. The Christian in Kerala or Tamil Nadu is entirely different from tribal co-religionists in central and north-eastern India and Dalit Christians.
Unsurprisingly, says Oommen, the Christian typically doesn’t have much nuisance value and lacks political clout. But Roy Paul, former member of the Union Public Services Commission and ex-aviation secretary, says the “quiet Christian” may be more on account of their being better educated than other communities.
But Emmanuel says the Christian is valued for running some of India’s best hospitals, schools and NGOs but regarded with suspicion for proselytization. “The Census has consistently put the Christian population at around 2%, giving the lie to this,” he says, but much of India still believes Christians want to spread the word.
With reports from Jaideep Deogharia in
Ranchi, Aneesha Bangera in Bangalore and Manosh Das in Shillong
SC/ ST converts
Continue to call themselves “SC Hindus”
Rani Devi is organizing a jagran for Yeshu
Divya A | TNN
officially, these new Christians continue to call themselves “SC Hindus” in order to benefit from the government’s SC/ST schemes and job quotas.
One such is Thankamani of Thiruvananthapuram. She’s in her late 40s and converted from Hinduism after the local pastor cured her niece of sickness a few years ago. But she remains Hindu in all government records despite her stated admiration for the priest’s “healing touch”. Thankamani says she wishes she could come out. “I am a complete Christian now but I hardly go to church or celebrate Christmas openly, because if I am caught doing it, I shall lose my job,” she says. With additional reporting by Ananthakrishnan G in Thiruvananthapuram
Geographical spread
2011: Half of Christian population lives in the south
The Times of India, Aug 26 2015
Sivakumar b
One in two Christians lives in south: Census
Nearly half of the country's Christian population lives in south India, shwows the Census 2011 data released. The five southern states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana account for 1.28 crore (46%) of India's 2.78 crore-strong Christian community . With seven northeastern states accounting for 28.1% of the Christian population and Goa for another 1.3%, S the rest of the country is home to less than 25% of the total Christians in the t country . The proportion of Christians f in the total population has, however, dipped slightly from 2.34% in 2001 to i 2.29% in 2011. t Kerala alone is home to 22.07% of f the total Christians in the country , followed by Tamil Nadu with 15.88%.Hindus are the overwhelming majority in the country, making up 79.8% of the population, but the south accounts for just 21.47% of the community in the country . The southern states also account for just 16.87% of the total number of Indian Muslims. Other communities like Buddhist, Jains and Sikhs constitute only a minuscule portion of the population of the five states.
Analysts say there are many reasons why the Christian population is concentrated in the south. “The first apostle, St Thomas, arrived in Kerala and travelled to Tamil Nadu.Christians have always considered the southern states as their own and they are one with the culture of these states,“ said analyst Bernard Samy .A Christian in Tamil Nadu speaks the local language and has adopted the local culture, thereby living in harmony with all other religions, he said.
Education also plays a major role in Christians making south their home, he said. “There are several educational institutions managed by the church and individuals from the community .These institutions employ many from the community and they form part of the state's population,“ Samy said.
International population expert P Arokiasamy said there are historical reasons for high number of Christians in the south. “The presence of centuries-old Christian institutions in education and health sectors is a big factor. All the southern states have their share of centuries old Christian institutions,“ said Arokiasamy . Migration from other states is another reason, he said. Christians from other states come down south for jobs and marriage, and then settled down.
Christians in India, region-wise
[ From the archives of the Times of India]
Ashley D’Mello
There are approximately 24 million Christians in India. The largest number belong to the Roman Catholic church which has a following traditionally in Southern and Western India.
Along with the Catholic church there are the mainstream Protestant denominations, several of which are clubbed under the church of North India and the church of South India. In addition there are the Syrian Christian churches in Kerala which have a large following along with the Pentecostal Christians who belong to several dozen different sects. The regions with a significant Christian population in India are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, large parts of coastal Karnataka, Mangalore and Goa. Aa significant number are also in Jharkhand and Bihar. In terms of ethnic groups there are the Syrian Christians of Kerala, the Latin Christians of Kerala, Goan and Mangalorean Catholics, the East Indians who are native to the Mumbai region and Anglo Indians who are present in many Indian cities.TheNortheast also has a number of ethnic Christian communities including the Khasis, Nagas and Mizos. The largest and most vibrant community of Christians are found in Kerala with several different denominations and many sects. Kerala is also the state with the oldest tradition of Christianity, which they claim goes back to St Thomas, the apostle of Christ. The Syrian Christians trace their origin to the first Christians baptized by St Thomas. While there is no historical proof of this ,it is a tradition which is very strong in Kerala. There are two Catholic denominations among the Syrian Christians and several others which are independent including the Orthodox Syrian church, the Jacobite Syrian church and the Mar Thoma Syrian church. North India has only a few Christians mainly to belonging to the church of North India many of whom retain their traditional names. Interstingly there are also a number of Bengali Christians, mainly in the Kolkata area.
Attacks on Christians
2015: 85 incidents
The Times of India, Jan 18 2016
Manash Gohain
Attacks on Christians rose by 20% last year: NGO
Citing 85 major incidents of alleged persecution of Christians across 20 states in 2015, a report by a minority and human rights NGO says 2015 saw an unprecedented spike in “intolerance“ against the community .The report says on an average India saw one such incident of hate crime against Christians a day in 2015. While the report terms Madhya Pradesh as the worst state, followed by Telangana and Uttar Pradesh for such attacks, it calls Maharashtra the 'Hindutva capital'. Delhi too, the report says, is among the top 10 states that saw such incidents, with five Catholic churches vandalised and assaults on priests and community members.
The Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) in its report claims that at least seven pastors were killed and 8,000 Christians (including 6,000 women and children) targeted in 2015. The report cites incidents from across the country -from Arunachal Pradesh, where suspected Hindutva fundamentalists attempted to attack Christians and whip up mass hysteria by quoting the Census 2011 data, and Chhatisgarh, where there is an alleged ban on religious activities other than of Hinduism, to Himachal Pradesh where the CPWD wrote off the Shimla CNI Church as a government property , and Tamil Nadu, where Bibles were thrown on the road to incite community members and create tension.
“There is at least a 20% increase in the incidents in terms of the number of people victimised as against 2014. The real numbers are much higher as many don't want to report such incidents as the police force is communal.
Even though there is no BJP government in Kerala, the state has the highest number of shakhas.West Bengal, which has long been under communist rule and is now governed by liberal forces, BJP has a strong hold over five districts where reconversions are picking up. There is saffronisation of secular institution and in every sphere secular activities have been saffronised -be it in the northeast, Tamil Nadu, Kerala or Goa,“ claims Dias.
See also
1. Assam
