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The Institute for the Study of Indo-Pakistan Relations (INPAREL) at the University of Leicester and the Center for South Asian Studies at Kings College, London are jointly holding a Conference on the
"Position of Minorities (Religious) in India" on May 27th 2003 at 3 PM at King's College London, UK.
John Prabhudoss, the Executive Director of the Policy Institute for Religion and State, from
Washington DC is invited to speak from a Christian perspective.
Background:
On January 13, 1993 Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi, the Education Minister of India went on the record saying that the
"Hindu rashtra (Nation)
need not be a formal structure. It is the basic culture of this country. It is considered that all Indian Muslims are Mohammadiya Hindus; all Indian Christians are Christi Hindus. They are Hindus who have adopted Christianity and Islam as their religion".
Dr. Joshi, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was also the President of the BJP party which is the main political party in the ruling coalition.
February of 2002, witnessed a state sponsored
genocide of innocent minority religious people in the state of Gujarat, India in response to an arson in which 58 members of the extremist Hindutva volunteers died .
In recent months two states in India have
adopted legislations banning religious conversion, while various religious and caste minorities feel their position to be increasingly threatened.
The participants in this colloquium represent various
minorities or an awareness of the challenge to secularism. They are:
Justice H. Suresh, Mumbai. Member of the Concerned Citizens’ Tribunal in Gujarat, 2002
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, Editor, The Milli Gazette, Delhi, India
Professor PG Jogdand, Head of the Department of Sociology, Mumbai University, India
John Prabhudoss, Chairman, Governmental Relations
Committee, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America, Washington DC; President, Policy Institute for Religion and State, Washington DC
A speaker drawn from the Sikh community
This distinguished panel promises to provide us with clear and up-to-date analysis of the threat to the minorities in India.
Professor Richard Bonney
Director, Institute for the Study of Indo-Pakistan Relations (INPAREL)
University of Leicester
http://www.le.ac.uk/pluralism
Site Map of the Venue
Ph: 0207 848 2338
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