LIFE AS THE OTHER

It was also virtually disowned by the Catholic Diocese, with many believing that the group that broke away from the Church had invited trouble with its controversial conversion methods.

A walk up a flight of stairs to the fourth floor of Bawa Complex on the Kankanady Bypass Road leads to the main prayer hall run by the trust. Two well-dressed young men stand guard outside the door to the hall, and screen newcomers before allowing them entry inside. An unmistakable air of tension sets in once we are identified as a reporter and photographer. While one of the two men carries the news to someone inside, along with our identity cards, the other introduces himself as Dr Ajeet Cherian.

“We have to be extremely careful these days as we really don’t know when matters can take a turn for the worse again. That is why, as a rule, two of us always stand watch outside during Sunday congregations so that they can warn the others of any potential attack,” explains Cherian.

Pastor Manu George, who comes out of the prayer hall after consulting the trust’s top management, tells us that although we are allowed to sit in on the prayer service, photography would not be allowed. “This is because we do not want ourselves or any of the people who come here to be identified. We want to maintain our anonymity so that there are less chances of us being attacked,” George explains.

“A threat still exists, and our morale has taken a battering. This has even affected our daily lives. At times we are wary of being followed around. Earlier, some of us used to have get-togethers at home, but now we are scared of meeting. We fear that if our children sing at such get-togethers or loud voices are heard, it will be misconstrued as some religious session. We have to be on the watch constantly,” George adds.

A two-hour prayer service in English begins at 8 am. George begins the service by saying, “This is a time of test for all of us, a test of our faithfulness. God is giving us an opportunity and he will bless us, and our future generations, for our faithfulness.” Evangelical chants of ‘God is good’ are heard from the group from time to time. George then leads the congregation into prayer, seeking blessings from God “in a time of such economic crisis”, and thanking Him for newcomers to the prayer hall.

This is followed by Pastor A Job giving a lesson on the choices man is faced with in life, and the need to realise the difference between the “Will of God” and the “will of man”. Verses from the Bible relating to this are then read out, and the service is concluded with the entire congregation singing the hymn ‘Have thine own way Lord’ before trooping out of the building under the watch of a police jeep parked in front. The service in English is followed by one in Kannada and another in Malayalam.

On September 14, a mob of about 30 Bajrang Dal youths had gathered outside the building with the alleged intention of ransacking the prayer hall, but was dispersed by police. However, another church in the city — the Adoration Monastery in Hampanakatta — was not spared on the same day, with vandals pelting stones that shattered window-panes and glass casings. Even the crucifix at the church alter was desecrated by the mob. The attacks came in the wake of churches being ransacked in various parts of Orissa, and the reasons cited were that the New Life Fellowship Trust was printing and circulating copies of Satya Darshini translated from Telugu to Kannada, which allegedly depicted Hindu deities in a bad light. The trust was also accused of illegal conversions.

“The New Life Fellowship Trust is a Pentacostal Charismatic church started by Pastor S Joseph and a few like-minded people in Mumbai in 1980. It then spread its base to different parts of the country. We have never printed or circulated the controversial book being talked about, and we only got to know about it from the media. The accusations of conversions are also totally baseless. Different people come to us for prayer and healing. Some stay, others move on. It’s all a matter of faith,” says Pastor Donald Menezes, head of the trust in Mangalore, adding that the trust was being confused with many other Pentacostal churches using the Biblical term ‘New Life’ in their name.

“Our funding is from ‘ti thy’ (one-tenth of income) and other voluntary donations of our followers. Some of them have gone outside the country and send donations for projects, but this cannot be called foreign funding. Every rupee is accounted for in our account books,” says Menezes. Following the attacks, the Christian community had taken to the streets and were lathi-charged by the police, who also used tear-gas to disperse the protesters. A month later, tensions are still palpable, with Christians wary of more attacks without warning, and stating that it has lost faith in the current BJP Government.

“The claims of anti-Hindu books being circulated, and of conversions, are only an excuse for well-organised attacks on the Christian minority. We were deeply shaken… The police sided with the Bajrang Dal, and we have lost faith in the current government,” says Sister Mary Campbell, Superior of the Adoration Monastery, which is run by a cloistered community of nuns.

“After our church was attacked, the police lobbed tear-gas into the church. They later asked us irrelevant questions such as whether we were a registered body with a licence, and whether we were an international organisation. They also told us not to allow the press to take photographs of the damage done,” she claims.

The church has been left in the state it was following the attack, with shattered glass strewn in the corridors and in the vestry. A dismembered Jesus crucifix stands untouched as a reminder of the attack. “The way they entered our churches and attacked us gives the impression that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and police were actively involved as well. We will not tolerate any further attacks, and we will not take it lying down,” says the Bishop of Mangalore, Aloysius Paul D’ Souza.

Speaking on the current state of affairs and the threat perception that lingers, Superintendent of Police (Mangalore) Satish Kumar says: “Why don’t you ask the Christians whether they still feel threatened? We have posted men outside all the churches in the city, and have made 89 arrests following the attacks, including the Bajrang Dal’s state convener Mahendra Kumar. The situation is peaceful and under control.”

As for the New Life Trust, a deep sense of resentment and alienation prevails. The trust was also hurt by the Catholic Diocese clearly distancing itself from it while the attacks were on. Stating that there was a constant fear of being attacked again, Menezes hints that the trust was left high and dry by the Diocese. “We were all Catholics before, and separated from the Catholic Church in love. Some of the statements made by the Catholics and the Bishop of Mangalore are disappointing,” says Menezes.

“It is they (New Life Fellowship Trust) who have gone out of the Catholic Church and formed splinter groups. They are Christians because they believe in Christ, but they are not under our administration. We are not responsible for what they do or say. However, even if the allegations against them are true, nobody has the right to take the law into their own hands,” responds Bishop D’ Souza.

While opinion among the Catholics in the city is divided on the allegations against New Life Fellowship Trust, Father Austin Menezes of Melagres Church says: “The entire problem began because New Life was attracting poor people in distress and challenging their shallow faith by offering money and property to convert.”