2 of 2

Nearly 500 students in the school have lost at least one family member. The earthquake claimed almost 5,000 lives in the prosperous town of Gandhidham.

"Two of our children have no one left to care for them," said Sister Fabiola. She added: "We have no idea as to how and when we could restart the school. Even our convent is not livable."

Relief workers have come from agencies and churches across India and abroad to help the survivors. But some have complained that as well as dealing with the destruction caused by the earthquake, they also face obstruction from Hindu fundamentalists.

"I have received a report from our colleagues yesterday that they [Hindu fundamentalists] were conducting village-to-village enquiries to find out whether any Christian missionaries have reached there," said Samson Christian, a member of the Church of North India (CNI) and a prominent Christian activist in Gujarat.

When a team of church workers, led by nuns, arrived in a remote village in Gujarat, Hindu fundamentalists holding batons stood at the entrance to the village and asked the church workers: "Why have you come here?"

"They told us 'We do not need you here,' and we had to go to another village," Sister Fatima, one of the nuns, told ENI at a relief camp run by the Catholic Church in Bhachau.

In other developments, Ashok Singhal, the secretary general of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) - World Hindu Council - said on February 4 that India should "boycott" the $4.3 million given by the Catholic Church to help those hit by the earthquake. Singhal said that the money should be refused because of the call by Pope John Paul II, during his 1999 visit to India, for the conversion of Asia. (Pope John Paul visited New Delhi in November 1999 to release the apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Asia that calls for evangelization of Asia in the third millennium.)

In New Delhi, Father Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, told ENI that "it is better to ignore" Singhal's comments. "This espouses VHP's pettiness," said Emmanuel.

Copyright © 2001 ENI

Christianity Today has covered some of Gujarat's post-quake response in "Quake Rocks Hindu Hotbed | Agencies appeal for funds to aid victims" and "Politician Who Saw God's Hand in Gujarat Quake Forced to Resign | Civil aviation minister had told Christians that quake was God's judgment against persecution of Christians."

Other Christianity Today stories about India include:

Christians Hammered by Pre-Christmas Violence | 200 Christians driven from a small town in Gujarat, India, and their church converted into a Hindu temple. (Dec. 22, 2000)

Indian Christian Youth Form Protection Group | Non-violent group aims to counter attacks on Christians through peaceful solidarity. (Nov. 12, 2000)

A Chinese Model for India's Churches? | No thank you, say Indian Christians to Hindu proposal for government church regulation. (Oct. 12, 2000)

U.S. Religious Freedom Commission Criticized | Indian churches reject U.S. inquiry, but Pakistani Christians welcome it. (Oct. 3, 2000)

Plans to Resolve India's Interfaith Tensions Face Delays and Accusations | Did India's National Commission for Minorities plan a meeting to discredit Christians? (July 20, 2000)

India's First Dalit Archbishop Holds 'No Grudge' Over Predecessor's Attack | Once "untouchable" Dalits make up bulk of country's Christians. (May 11, 2000)

India's Christians Resist Move to Register Conversions | State's legislation unconstitutional, says leaders. (May 2, 2000)

Build Bridges, but Fight Fanaticism, India's Churches Told | National Council of churches in India will work against strengthening of caste system. (Mar. 9, 2000)

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

February (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45