Stress Free in 10 Minutes

7 ways to chill out and recharge

With problems small or large, finding a quiet oasis from stress not only preserves sanity, but can be a lifesaver. Constant stress can harm the heart and even promote clogged arteries. New findings show it can cause a surge of stress hormones in the blood—stream that can weaken the body’s immune defences, making us more susceptible to infections like colds and flu. Everything from heartburn and cold sores to asthma and cancer are linked to high stress levels—they can even exacerbate memory loss as we age.
But relax. There are proven ways to quell stress. At an American university, scientists taught 59 adults a meditative approach to stress management. Afterwards the volunteers not only felt less anxious, but also reported fewer stress symptoms, such as headaches. When students at a university in Australia learned easy ways to defuse pressure, they had fewer sick days and faster recovery from colds. And a study in Miami found that HIV-positive patients practising stress reduction could boost the number of immune cells circulating in their bloodstream.
You don’t need to turn your life upside down to tame stress, says American psychologist Frederic Luskin. “A lot of people say they’re too busy to stop and deal with stress. But things you can do anywhere, and that don’t have to take more than a few minutes, can stop the stress response before it goes out of control. The truth is, by learning to clam down, you can actually feel less busy.”
Try a different one of these techniques each day this coming week. Some will work better than others. What’s important is finding two or three you can turn to whenever your stress metre climbs.
Do Nothing
Here’s How: At least once during the day, take five or ten minutes to sit the day, take five or ten minutes to sit quietly and do nothing. Focus on the sounds around you, your emotions and any tension in your neck, shoulders, arms, chest, etc.
“It’s one of the hardest things for many people to do,” says Robin Gueth of a California stress management centre. “We’re so used to thinking of our worth in terms of what we get done. Doing nothing can be a real struggle.”
Just sitting quietly slows heart rate and reduces blood pressure, countering two of the most obvious effects of stress. It can also change your perspective an increase your sense of control over events. “Studies show that the most stressful situations are things we can’t control,” says psychologist James Carmody. “We can’t change the past. We can’t predict the future. The only thing any of us can control is the present moment,” he explains. “When people in our programme practice this technique, they regain a sense of control—and ease stress.”
Laugh Out Loud
Here’s How: Keep something handy that makes you laugh. It could be a collection of your favourite comic strips, or a funny e-mail from, say, your child or a friend. You could even take a few moments to think about watching your favourite comedy serial. Turn to this every so often during your day.
One of the most effective stress-busters occurs nightly, says California researcher Lee Berk—when many people turn on their favourite serials at the end of a long day. Berk’s studies have shown that a good laugh reduces levels of the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine and boosts immunity. What’s more, the beneficial effects of a good belly laugh last up to 24 hours.
Even looking forward to laughing clams people. In results reported last year, Berk and his colleagues found that telling volunteers they would participate in an experiment that involved watching a funny video created a more positive mood and lowered their stress levels on the spot.
Tune In
Here’s How: When you face a daunting task, play soothing music—be it classical, country or jazz. At work you can use the CD drive on your computer to keep the music at the ready.
In an Australian study, two groups of students were told to prepare an oral presentation. Some worked in silence; others listened to classical music. Stress caused the silent workers’ blood pressure and heart rates to climb. Not so the volunteers in the musical group, whose measurements remained steadier. They also reported feeling much less stress.
Is there music you shouldn’t listen to? “A lot of people find classical music most relaxing, but not everyone,” says psychologist Elise Labbe, who has been testing the calming effects of music. “Our volunteers select everything from concertos to country music. Whatever music feels most calming to you is the one hat’s most calming to you is the one that’s most likely to help ease stress.”
Think Happy
Here’s How: Focus on someone or something you care deeply about for anywhere from 15 seconds to five minutes. Or picture a scene from a peaceful vacation. A phrase that makes you feel positive about yourself and the world can also work.
It sounds like advice from a greeting card, but thinking happy, calming thoughts can counteract the physiological changes that occur when we’re under stress. “A lot of the stress we experience comes from negative emotions we carry around with us—grudges, anger, hurt,” says Laskin, who studies the healing power of forgiveness (he’s also the author of the book Forgive for Good). “Just thinking about someone you’re angry with—a boss who’s a jerk, or a friend who hurt your feelings—can cause damaging stress hormones to flood the system. Thinking of people and things you love can have the opposite effect.”
Hit the Road
Here’s How: Get up from your desk, the couch—wherever you may be—and take a ten-minute walk.
Most People have an intuitive sense that walking helps calm them down. Now scientists are finding proof. In a 2002 American investigation, researchers looked at people who were taking care of relatives with dementia—as stressful a situation as almost any of us will face. Those who began walking four times a week, the scientists found, reported feeling less distressed and sleeping better. Tests showed that their blood pressure was also more likely to hold steady when they were under stress.
Don’t have half an hour to spare?
Don’t sweat it. Taking five- or ten-minute walks whenever you’re under pressure may be just as effective.
“Our research suggests that the best strategy is to take a few minutes—or even a few moments—to calm down whenever stress levels start to climb,” says psychologist Luskin.
Breath Easy
Here’s How: For five minutes, slow your breathing down to about six deep—belly breaths a minute. In other words, inhale for about five seconds. Exhale for about five.
We tend to take quick, shallow breaths, especially when we’re feeling tense. Taking a few deep breaths forces you to stretch your shoulders and loosen up tight muscles.
Slow breathing has other unexpected benefits, according to an international study from 2001. Researchers found that when people practice yoga or recite a prayer, their breathing slows to the five-seconds in, five-seconds-out rhythm, which, it turns our, matches a ten-second cycle fluctuation that naturally occurs in blood pressure. By synchronizing breathing to these underlying cardio-vascular rhythms, people not only feel calmer, but may also improve the health of their cardiovascular systems.
If your day is full of small hassles and frustrations, Gueth recommends putting a white dot on your wristwatch or the clock on your desk. “Every time you see that white dot,” she says, “take two or three long, deep breaths. You’ll be amazed how quickly it calms you down.”
Rise Relaxed
Here’s How: Right before bed, and after the alarm goes off in the morning, take five minutes to relax your entire body. Start by tensing your toes; then consciously relax them. Move on to the muscles in your feet, and then your calves, upper legs, buttocks, moving upwards until you end by scrunching up and then relaxing the muscles in your face.
If you start your day feeling tense, chances are you’ll feel tense all day, says stress expert Gueth. If you take your troubles to bed with you, they’re likely to disrupt your sleep. And that can mean even more tension. People deprived of sleep, research shows, experience increased stress hormone levels. Gueth’s advice: Begin and end each day by taking a minute or two to consciously relax.
One effective approach is called progressive relaxation. In a 2002 study, 46 volunteers who were taught progressive relaxation experienced a significant dip in heart rates, perceived stress and levels of cortisol. “Too much of my day is spent running around,” says Shelly Wahle. “I don’t want to start it that way. So I take five minutes before the craziness starts to quiet my mind. It’s not always easy. But once it’s part of your routine, you don’t feel right without it.”

Free Yourself From Stress!

The word ‘stress’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a state of affair involving demand on physical or mental energy”. A condition or circumstance (not always adverse), which can disturb the normal physical and mental health of an individual. In medical parlance ‘stress’ is defined as a perturbation of the body’s homeostasis. This demand on mind-body occurs when it tries to cope with incessant changes in life. A ‘stress’ condition seems ‘relative’ in nature. Extreme stress conditions, psychologists say, are detrimental to human health but in moderation stress is normal and, in many cases, proves useful. Stress, nonetheless, is synonymous with negative conditions. Today, with the too many diversification of human activity, we come face to face with numerous causes of stress and the symptoms of stress and depression.
At one point or the other everybody suffers from stress. Relationship demands, physical as well as mental health problems, pressure at workplaces, traffic snarls, meeting deadlines, growing-up tensions—all of these conditions and situations can be valid causes of stress. 
People have their own methods of stress management. In some people, stress-induced negative feelings and anxieties tend to persist and intensify. Learning to understand and master stress management techniques can help prevent the counter effects of this urban malaise. 
The Dynamics of Stress
In a challenging situation the brain prepares the body for defensive action—the fight or flight response by releasing stress hormones, namely, cortisone and adrenaline. These hormones raise the blood pressure and the body prepares to react to the situation. With a concrete defensive action (fight response) the stress hormones in the blood get used up, entailing reduced stress effects and symptoms of anxiety.
When we fail to counter a stress situation (flight response) the hormones and chemicals remain unreleased in the blood stream for a long period of time. It results in stress related physical symptoms such as tense muscles, unfocused anxiety, dizziness and rapid heartbeats. We all encounter various stressors (causes of stress) in everyday life, which can accumulate, if not released. Subsequently, it compels the mind and body to be in an almost constant alarm-state in preparation to fight or flee. This state of accumulated stress can increase the risk of both acute and chronic psychosomatic illnesses and weaken the immune system of the human body. 
Stress can cause headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorder, allergies, insomnia, backaches, frequent cold and fatigue to diseases such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes, heart ailments and even cancer. In fact, Sanjay Chugh, a leading Indian psychologist, says that 70 per cent to 90 per cent of adults visit primary care physicians for stress-related problems. Scary enough. But where do we err?
Just about everybody—men, women, children and even foetuses—suffer from stress. Relationship demands, chronic health problems, pressure at workplaces, traffic snarls, meeting deadlines, growing-up tensions or a sudden bearish trend in the bourse can trigger stress conditions. People react to it in their own ways. In some people, stress-induced adverse feelings and anxieties tend to persist and intensify. Learning to understand and manage stress can prevent the counter effects of stress.
Methods of coping with stress are aplenty. The most significant or sensible way out is a change in lifestyle. Relaxation techniques such as meditation, physical exercises, listening to soothing music, deep breathing, various natural and alternative methods, personal growth techniques, visualization and massage are some of the most effective of the known non-invasive stress busters. 
Stress can be positive
The words ‘positive’ and ‘stress’ may not often go together. But, there are innumerable instances of athletes rising to the challenge of stress and achieving the unachievable, scientists stressing themselves out over a point to bring into light the most unthinkable secrets of the phenomenal world, and likewise a painter, a composer or a writer producing the best paintings, the most lilting of tunes or the most appealing piece of writing by pushing themselves to the limit. Psychologists second the opinion that some ‘stress’ situations can actually boost our inner potential and can be creatively helpful. Sudha Chandran, an Indian dancer, lost both of her legs in an accident. But, the physical and social inadequacies gave her more impetus to carry on with her dance performances with the help of prosthetic legs rather than deter her spirits.
Experts tell us that stress, in moderate doses, are necessary in our life. Stress responses are one of our body’s best defence systems against outer and inner dangers. In a risky situation (in case of accidents or a sudden attack on life et al), body releases stress hormones that instantly make us more alert and our senses become more focused. The body is also prepared to act with increased strength and speed in a pressure situation. It is supposed to keep us sharp and ready for action.
Research suggests that stress can actually increase our performance. Instead of wilting under stress, one can use it as an impetus to achieve success. Stress can stimulate one’s faculties to delve deep into and discover one’s true potential. Under stress the brain is emotionally and biochemically stimulated to sharpen its performance.
A working class mother in down town California, Erin Brokovich, accomplished an extraordinary feat in the 1990s when she took up a challenge against the giant industrial house Pacific Gas & Electric. The unit was polluting the drinking water of the area with chromium effluents. Once into it, Brockovich had to work under tremendous stress taking on the bigwigs of the society. By her own account, she had to study as many as 120 research articles to find if chromium 6 was carcinogenic. Going from door to door, Erin signed up over 600 plaintiffs, and with attorney Ed Masry went on to receive the largest court settlement, for the town people, ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in the U.S. history—$333 million. It’s an example of an ordinary individual triumphing over insurmountable odds under pressure. If handled positively stress can induce people to discover their inherent talents.
Stress is, perhaps, necessary to occasionally clear cobwebs from our thinking. If approached positively, stress can help us evolve as a person by letting go of unwanted thoughts and principle in our life. Very often, at various crossroads of life, stress may remind you of the transitory nature of your experiences, and may prod you to look for the true happiness of life. 
Stress Throughout Evolution
Stress has existed throughout the evolution. About 4 billion years ago, violent collision of rock and ice along with dust and gas, led to the formation of a new planet. The planet survive more than 100 million years of meltdown to give birth to microscopic life . These first organisms endured the harshest of conditions—lack of oxygen, exposure to sun’s UV rays and other inhospitable elements, to hang on to their dear life. Roughly 300,000 years ago, the Neanderthals learnt to use fire in a controlled way, to survive the Glacial Age. And around 30,000 years, Homo sapiens with their dominant gene constitutions and better coping skills, won the game of survival. Each step of evolution a test of survival, and survival, a matter of coping with the stress of changing conditions.
Millions of trials and errors in the life process have brought men to this stage. Coping with events to survive, has led men to invent extraordinary technologies, beginning with a piece of sharpened stone. 
From the viewpoint of microevolution, stress induction of transpositions is a powerful factor, generating new genetic variations in populations under stressful environmental conditions. Passing through a ‘bottleneck’, a population can rapidly and significantly alters its population norm and become the founder of new, evolved forms. 
Gene transposition through Transposable Elements (TE)—’jumping genes’, is a major source of genetic change, including the creation of novel genes, the alteration of gene expression in development, and the genesis of major genomic rearrangements. In a research on ‘the significance of responses of the genome to challenges,’ the Nobel Prize winning scientist Barbara McClintock, characterized these genetic phenomena as ‘genomic shock’. This occurs due to recombinational events between TE insertions (high and low insertion polymorphism) and host genome. But, as a rule TEs remain immobilized until some stress factor (temperature, irradiation, DNA damage, the introduction of foreign chromatin, viruses, etc.) activates their elements.
The moral remains that we can work a stress condition to our advantage or protect ourselves from its untoward follow-throughs subject to how we handle a stress situation. The choice is between becoming a slave to the stressful situations of life or using them to our advantage. 

Use Skills, Not Pills

Stress is the most commonly used word in today’s busy world. Many health hazards are immediately connected to stress. While it is said to affect the most busy business people, the reality that it affects even children who are burdened with too many lessons to study and too many home works to complete, saddens us.
Some people want to reduce their stress so much that they are willing to pay large sums of money to do so. People spend thousands of rupees needlessly on stress vitamins, tranquillising pills, sleeping pills and many more products in the hope of eliminating the harmful effects of stress on their health.  
Sometimes stress becomes really severe, in spite of all your efforts. Then even small details become overwhelming. If you find yourself chronically unable to function because stress is so overwhelming, it may be time to seek outside help. 
Perhaps that is the time when people caught in stress begin to look for any product or service that can bring you a little relaxation and tranquillity. Today one needs to be aware that any product or service that can bring you relaxation can take your money, and make empty promises that it will bring a 
soothing relaxation. 
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it,” said General Douglas MacArthur. Stress is the by product of entering into a war without a will to win. For those who are determined to win and courageously enter into any risk, stress has no place.
Wise time management can also help you to minimise stress. When students say that they spent all week studying for their exams, it actually means that they spent six days worrying about the exams and just spent one day studying. Thus, instead of worrying too much if we can make the best use of time, stress can 
be released. 
All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people. Perhaps you can choose the moments of stress to listen to others and humbly receive some helps from others, so that you don’t lose your inner peace and calm.
Helen Keller said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Perhaps stressful moments open new horizons for anyone caught in stress. The saddest reality is that those under stress remain looking at the door that is closed instead of the new horizon that has opened up. 
Stress comes into the life of so many people primarily because many of us want to be men of success rather than men full of values. Human mind can easily work out a clear plan without taxing your mind or body in such a way that it can lead us to a stress free life. Instead of relying too much on the artificial ways of removing stress which in turn may bring additional problems, it is better to opt for a simpler and personal solution to the problem.
The exact opposite of the stress response is the relaxation response. This response reduces blood pressure, slows the pulse, quells anxiety, and releases tension. Relaxation permits your body to recover from the effects of stress, and you can will it to happen, even in the midst of a stressful situation. You can relax anywhere, any time. You can simply tune into a tranquillising thought or word and relax. For most people, though, relaxation is first learned through a formal exercise. 
Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more 
readily seen.” 
You need to develop many personal skills to handle your stress. The best relaxation will always come not from outside, but from inside. Because, relaxation, happiness and peace are inside jobs. The skills you develop to handle your worries will guard you against stress. 
Relax! Enjoy your life! For tranquillity, you don’t need pills. All you need 
is skills.

The Union of Wills

‘Union of Wills’ whose ultimate fruition is service to all beings. It will make the man-woman relationship more beautiful than a symbiotic union.

Man is a thought - adventurer, says D.H. Lawrence. Real thought is an experience. It begins as a change in the blood, a slow convulsion and revolution in the body itself. It ends as a new piece of awareness, a new reality in mental consciousness.

On this account, thought becomes an adventure, and not a practice. In order to think one must risk oneself doubly. First one must meet life in the body. Then, face the result in the mind.
The risk is double, because each of us has two selves. First is the body which is vulnerable and never quite within our control. The body with its irrational sympathies, desires and passions, its peculiar direct communication, is defying the mind. And second is the conscious ego, the self.
Historically, the male has changed considerably in the past fifty years. The earlier male was a person who was hard-working, responsible, fairly well-disciplined: he didn’t see women’s souls very well, though he looked at their bodies a lot. The present day male is vulnerable to collective opinion: if you were a man you were supposed to like football, cricket and other games, be aggressive, never cry and always provide. But this image of male lacked female. It lacked some sense of flow; it lacked compassion. He was a macho man.
Separation and unity – the excitement and fear, the triumph and anxiety they generate-will remain continuing themes in adult life. In adulthood, when we find ourselves in an intimate relationship, each of us experience again, even if only in highly attenuated form, those early struggles around separation and unity-the conflict between wanting to be one with another and the desire for an independent, autonomous self. 
For each woman and man who comes into any relationship stirs the yearnings from an unremembered but still powerfully felt past; each brings with her or him two people-the adult and the child. Both know the agony and the ecstasy of a symbiotic union. Ecstasy, because in the mother’s arms the infant could experience the bliss of unity and the security that accompanies it. Agony, because from the time of birth life seems a series of separations. 
Of course as adults we know there is no return to the old symbiotic union; survival is no longer at stake in separation. But the child within feels as if this were still the reality. And the adult responds to the archaic memory of those early feelings even though they are far from consciousness. Thus, we do not usually know what buffets us about-what makes us eager to plunge into a relationship one moment and frightens us into anxious withdrawal in the next. We know only that we long for closeness and connection with another, and that we feel uncomfortable when we get it. 
In this process, two things are central: the crystallisation of a gender identity and the maintenance of what psychologists call ‘ego boundaries’ that set us off from the rest of the world. This in larger part, is what a child’s separation struggle is all about-a struggle that’s different for boys and for girls just because it is a woman who has mothered them both.
It’s obvious that the experience of being male and being female is different. But what has been less clear until now is how the process of developing and internalising a gender identity affects the development of ego boundaries and thus, determines the shape of feminine and masculine personality in adulthood. 
Today, the man-woman relationship is a microcosm of the interaction of larger forces in the greater cosmos. However, this sacredness is lost when men and women relate to each other primarily as personalities. Then their magnetic polarity is diminished by what is known as ‘little needs’ for entertainment, excitement, security, admiration and so on. The real magic of love can happen when their connection reflects the dynamic interplay of the energies in the cosmos at large.
J.G. Bennett writes about the inner meaning of marriage as a ‘Union of Wills’ whose ultimate fruition is service to all beings.  
In order to be able to serve others, we first have to learn to serve one another, to consider other person’s well-being before our own. This union of wills will make the man-woman relationship more beautiful than a symbiotic union.

“Modithva must spread”

Interview with L. Ganesan, the Tamilnadu state unit president of the BJP.

Following Orissa there is a widespread violence against Christians in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The secularism of India is under question again and again. With religious freedom on one hand and the threats against conversion on the other, the Christian community is at crossroads as it is targeted for some sporadic conversions in some parts of the country. While there are political questions behind every heinous attack, even more serious issues irritate the BJP, RSS and VHP groups. L. Ganesan, the Tamilnadu state unit president of the BJP, opens his heart for the first time about the background of the anti-christian violence and issues that lead to constant friction and violence between Hindu and Christian religious groups in this Interview to the editor, Glorious Steve.

What is the background against which this continuous violence against Christians is set?

Swami Lakshmanananda, an 82 year venerable man had been working for the upliftment of the tribals and dalits in that region for many years. The Christian missionaries were trying to convert the hindus. But, there was no support from the hindu harijans. Similarly, many harijans who became Christians were constantly rubbing shoulders with the tribals. This constant friction was created by the Christian missionaries and particularly the priests. Swami Lakshmanananda opposed this. So the Christians missionaries were angry with him. Prior to the killing of Swami Lakshmananandna there were four attempts on his life. Every time the missionaries were behind the attempt.

Is in’t it true that there were news reports saying the Maoists were behind the murder and that they had accepted that they were responsible for the act?
That is a wrong presupposition. Generally, governments, government servants, and the police used to be the target of the Maoists. How can a swamiji who was serving the people become the enemy of the Maoist? So, Maoists have no part in the murder. In fact, a news was passed by the district collector to all the Christian run schools to safeguard themselves some hours before the incident took place. How can this happen? This is a planned murder. And Christian missionaries are behind the murder.
There is so much of anger against Christians because they have become like the multinational companies. They set target and work. How can you work for conversion with targets. It is to do with conscience.

What about Karnataka? It is BJP that is in power in Karnataka...
The reason is politics. It is planned to bring down the image of the ruling BJP. be hind these attacks there is Congress party. The police dogs have gone straight to the house of a member of the Congress party. This is to fool the Christian community to get their votes. Christians are being treated as fools.
Generally Hinduism practices tolerance. At the same time, many people miscalculate our tolerant behaviour. How long can we tolerate this? People say that in Orissa and Karnataka there is BJP rule that is why Christians are attacked. But in Kerala only the Communists are ruling. How is that Christians are attacked there? In fact, Communism propagates atheistic principles and is just opposite to Christianity which believes in God. Even there Christians are attacked for political reasons. Christians must make an effort to understand who is good and who is evil.
There are many denominations within Christianity? How is that most of the Catholics and catholic institutions are targeted when such attacks take place?
The one who indulges in violence will not differentiate between who is a Lutheran, CSI or a Catholic. All of them appear to be the same. During an emotional outburst he will not be looking for the differences. There is so much of anger against Christians because they have become like the multinational companies. They set target and work. How can you work for conversion with targets. It is to do with conscience. How can this be right? I am not blaming all the Christian institutions. I am referring to the many new churches and organisations emerging in the name of Christians. Such organisations are to be banned and this business in the name of religion has to be stopped.
Observing the recent violence all these, it looks as if the BJP run states seem to follow the style of Modi in Gujarath, thinking that taking a violent path will fetch them success politically. Is it true?
It is a wrong perception about Modi. Modi never indulged in such politics. People are happy about the rule of Modi. It is true that he controls every religion with an iron hand. He is very strict everyone. Many women happily say that they are able to walk even at night without any fear. You must understand fully what modi has done there. Media propagate a word called ‘Modithva.’ I say, modithva is not bad. We are proud about that and Modithva must spread.
Aspects of Christianity you like and aspects you dislike...
I like the unity that is evidently seen among Christians. Yours is an organised religion. You feel for each other. Otherwise how is it possible for you to close down schools condemning the attacks in Orissa? The second aspect I like is their service mindedness. This is nurtured in every Christian. Even women and nuns go with courage to serve the people even at night. I shed tears reading the news about a girl who wanted to serve Jesus as a nun but was denied the opportunity who eventually went on to commit suicide.

I dislike the sprouting of new organisations without proper motive. We condemn churches that attract people with money from abroad.

Do you differentiate between Islam fundamentalism and Christian fundamentalism?

There is no point in that. But, Christians are behind the separatist movements of the north eastern states. We condemn that. Conversions are going in a grand scale in the north east.

In the last 20 years Christian population has not even crossed 2%. How can you say there is a lot of conversion?
The problem is they begin to demand separate status after becoming a majority. Even if they have not grown in number ideologically they are united and fight against the rest. What is important for us is nationalism. The nation is more important for us than anything else. We cannot tolerate regionalism or separatism.

COVER STORY
‘We need a government that can be fair to all’
Now the Church is actively engaged in empowering and educating people. So, naturally the Church becomes the target, tells Fr. Adolf Washington, the Public Relations Officer, President of Indian Catholic Press Association and the Managing Director & Editor- in- Chief of South Asian Religious News, in an Interview to Fr.Glorious Steve.
1. Do you think that the Church is the real target of the BJP agenda or is there something else for which Christians and the churches are targeted?
That’s a good question. The real target is against any organisation, movement or persons that engage in the education and empowerment of the poor and the marginalized. Because with education and empowerment of the marginalized, people who were voiceless begin to speak-up against unjust socio economic structures, be it against bonded labour, casteism or any oppressive structure. With education and empowerment people also begin to claim and assert their Constitutional Rights. Now the Church is actively engaged in empowering and education people. So, naturally the Church becomes the target.
2. Do you think that all the Christian groups are united in fighting the BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal? If yes, what kind of coordinated actions have come about? If no, what causes the uneasiness among various churches to unite?
The presence of several denominations does not imply the Church is disunited. Unity does not imply uniformity of doctrine and form of worship. Unity to me implies ‘a feeling of oneness and solidarity despite difference. In a way, we are having common suffering and so we seem to be looking in the same direction and are looking at the same enemies who are perpetrating violence against the Church.
3. What are the strategic moves made by the Karnataka Church so far? Are you satisfied with the strategies proposed so far?
The Church in Karnataka has exerted sufficient pressure on the State, the Centre, on the Judiciary and on the Police Machinery in making them curb the spread of violence. NGOs, people of other faiths have also joined hands in solidarity with the Church.
4. How well do the opposition parties particularly the Congress and JD cooperate in fighting against BJP?
I think we should not be too concerned about looking for political parties as Godfathers of the Christian community. What we need is a government that can be fair to all communities and not antagonise or spread hate campaigns against anybody.
5. What kind of clashes happened in Dakshina Kannada and what are their effects? How well are they poised since there are sizeable number in the Christian community there?
We must not use the word Clashes. When we say clashes, we are talking about two or more groups confronting each other. There were not clashes in Dakshina Kannada, there was force by one group exerted upon a peaceful, praying community. The attacks ranged from ransacking prayer halls and Churches and convents, desecration of sacred vessels, destruction of furniture, burning of bibles and holy pictures, destruction of statues and even desecration of the Holy Eucharist. The ‘sizeable’ number of Christians you speak of are not there to serve as an armed force to fight- they are simple Christians who go about their day to day worship.
6. Have you made legal moves sufficiently so as to strengthen the case of Christian communities?
Yes, I had mentioned that the Church has exerted sufficient pressure on the Judiciary. In Orissa, Archbishop Cheenath took the state to the Supreme court. In Karnataka we made a representation to Justice Nayak on the National Human Rights Commission. I was part of the delegation that met Justice Nayak.

In a way, we are having common suffering and so we seem to be looking in the same direction and are looking at the same enemies who are perpetrating violence against the Church.

7. Are there strong Christian youth movements within the Karnataka Church to plan for a future course of action?
Every new problem gives us opportunities to look for new possibilities. The Church is planning strategic responses and a plan of action. We will gradually know it.
The Church has exerted sufficient pressure on the Judiciary. In Orissa, Archbishop Cheenath took the state to the Supreme court. In Karnataka we made a representation to Justice Nayak on the National Human Rights Commission.

8. What are the significant roles played by the religious congregations during this crisis?
Everybody is working. Let us not single out Religious Congregations. We are together in this struggle.
9. How are the media in Karnataka responding to these heinous attacks?
There is bias in the Media. But that is unavoidable because some of them have their own policies and ideological slants. However, by and large, The Media in Karnataka, or I must say, the Global Media responded and reported issues pretty fairly.
10. What is the response from Rome and other churches?
The Vatican is informed and aware of the happenings. The Vatican expresses its concern and so do other global Christian organisations.
11. Yeddyurappa held discussions with Archbishop of Bangalore and invoked Anti-Goonda Act on all those involved in attacks on places of Christian worship. How do you look at this act of Yeddyurappa?
The anti-goonda act is pretty complicated. You can arrest someone under the act, but the process that leads to a conviction in a court of law is extremely long and tough. You have to go into the past records of the accused and establish a length of evidences to convict the person.

Deccan Churches Attacked

A Crusade against Christians in Karnataka

Everything began on September 8. A Christian prayer hall was vandalized in Bada village of Davangere district. Three other churches were targeted in the district before this incident.
Yeddyurappa, while maintaining that the focus would be on preserving communal harmony, said, “The rule of law will prevail. Nobody has the right to indulge in forcible conversions, and inducement to pave the way for conversions is banned.”
But, his words clearly stated that the victims of the attacks were at fault, not the perpetrators. The Deputy commissioner of Davangere, K. Amar Narayan, gave instructions to check how many churches were authorized. He made it clear that the survey would be only for churches and Christian prayer halls.
Speaking to ‘The Week,’ on why no action was being taken against temples that encroached on public places, BJP state spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said, “If you don’t expect temples to come up in a Hindu country, where else do you expect they will?”
So it was not surprising that when 14 churches were attacked in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Chickmagalur districts on September 14, state Bajrang Dal convener Mahendra Kumar proudly declared that the organisation was behind it.
In the Adoration Monastery on Falnir Road in Mangalore, a mob damaged the crucifix and the tabernacle. In the afternoon, Mahendra Kumar told the Mangalore media that the Bajrang Dal had carried out the attacks. “We will continue to do this against all churches indulging in conversion,” he said.
The sizeable Christian community in Dakshina kannada protested against the attacks and clashed with the police, who resorted to lathicharge and teargassing.
While prayer halls in Davangere were attacked on grounds that they were “illegal structures”, in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Chickmagalur, churches were targeted for allegedly converting people. Though the Bajrang Dal claimed they were targeting the New Life Group, even Catholic churches were attacked.
‘The Week’ and ‘Tehelka’ reported that there had been 55 attacks on churches in different parts of Karnataka since the BJP came to power in the state. “This is payback time for the BJP. Which has built its success on 40 years of hard work by the RSS,”Tehelka reported.
“While the various Christian groups were targeted, the primary anger of the BJP, RSS and VHP is on the newly emerging church groups which are booming and which try to lure the people with money if they joined their churches. While Catholic and other prominent churches remain silent about such incidents, the BJP is alarmed about the growing menace,” said some informed sources from Bangalore.
Yeddyurappa alleged the attacks were an opposition conspiracy “to besmirch the government’s image”. The Congress and the JD(S) said the attacks were part of the BJP’s “hidden agenda”. Congress leader Veerappa Moily called it “state-sponsored communal terrorism”, and alleged that the culprits were being allowed to go scot free.
More than 170 people were arrested. But on why Mahendra Kumar was not arrested, the chief minister’s reply was that “the police have also arrested Bajrang Dal activists”.
Yeddyurappa ruled out a judicial probe, and ordered an inquiry into the sources of funds for the New Life Fellowship Trust (NLFT).

BJP pressure

On the other hand, the BJP put pressure on the government to arrest those involved in the murder of Lakshmanananda. While all organisations of the Sangh Parivar insisted that conversion was the main reason for the communal tension in Kandhamal, the BJP urged the Chief Minister to implement strictly the laws pertaining to conversion and the ban on cow slaughter.
On the political front, a joint initiative by all political parties could restore peace and communal harmony in the district. But that is unlikely to happen as elections to both the Lok Sabha and the State Assembly are scheduled for next year.
Justice delayed
The record of the BJD-BJP government shows that it has never been serious in its approach to ensure peace in Kandhamal. In fact, the district witnessed communal violence for more than a week in December last year following an attack on Lakshmanananda Saraswati. At least four persons were killed and hundreds of houses of Christians were burnt down. While the judicial inquiry into the violence is still on the next judicial inquiry into the killing of Lakshmanananda and the communal violence is followed. By the time the reports of the two commissions see the light of day, Kandhamal’s communal clashes may well have acquired a new dimension because of the interplay of social, political and cultural factors say media persons.
Brushing aside all their differences the BJD workers joined BJP activists to enforce the State-wide bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Sangh Parivar outfits. As of now Patnaik, his critics say, is going the Modi way with his eyes set on the elections.
“ Looking into the whole communal attacks on Christian community in the country and naming whole Muslims as terrorists , I tend to believe that it is a vicious technique of Sangh Parivar and its Gujrath mascot to install a desperate man in the waiting list to be the Prime minister of India , because he might cross to his eighties if does not become PM this time.” Said , Fr. Anand Muttungal, the PRO and the Spokesperson for M.P Bishops Council and coordinator of Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh.
Glorious Steve