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Hindu–Christian relations are a mixed affair. Hinduism's historical tendency has been to recognize the divine basis of various other religions, and to revere their founders and saintly practitioners; this continues today. The declarationNostra aetate by theSecond Vatican Council officially established inter-religious dialogue betweenCatholics and Hindus, promoting common values between the two religions (among others). There are over 17.3 million Catholics in India, which represents less than 2% of the total population, still making it the largest Christian church in India.
Although little is known of the immediate growth of the church,Bar-Daisan (154–223 CE) reports that in his time there were Christian tribes in North India which claimed to have been converted byThomas and to have books and relics to prove it.[1]
Saint Thomas Christians typically followed the social customs of their Hindu neighbours, and the vestiges of Hindu symbolism could be seen in their devotional practices.[2] Social sins likeuntouchability entered their practices and theSynod of Diamper abolished it.[3] The sacraments related to birth, marriage, pregnancy, death, and other things also adapted nuances from Hindu religious practices. Even today, tyingMinnu, a Hindu symbol of marriage, is the most important rite in Christian marriages as well. In 1519, Portuguese travelerDuarte Barbosa, on his visit to Malabar, commented on the practice of Saint Thomas Christian priests usingKudumi similar to that of Hindus in his manuscript "Book of Duarte Barbosa".[4]
In the social stratification of medieval Malabar, Saint Thomas Christians succeeded in relating their social status with that of upper-caste Hindus on account of their numerical strength and influence and observance of manyBrahmin and upper caste customs.[3][5] In the 13th and 14th centuries, many Saint Thomas Christians were involved in thepepper trade for the local rulers and many were appointed as port revenue officers. The local rulers rewarded them with grants of land and many other privileges. With growing numerical strength, a large number of Saint Thomas Christians settled in the inland pepper-growing regions.[6] They had the right to recruit and train soldiers and Christian trainers were given the honorary title "Panikkar" like theirNair counterparts.[7] They were also entitled with the privilege to collect taxes, and tax collectors were honored with the title "Tharakan".
Like Brahmins, they had the right to sit before kings and ride on horses or elephants like the royals.[3] They were protectors of seventeen underprivileged castes and communities, hence they were calledLords of Seventeen Castes.[3][8] They did not allow the lower castes to join their community for fear that it could imperil their upper-caste status.[8][9] This regal period ended when the community fell under the power of theRajas ofCochin andTravancore.[10] They owned a large number ofKalaripayattu training centers and theRajas of Travancore and Cochin, including the renownedMarthanda Varma, recruited trained Christian warriors to defend their kingdom.[11]
The upper-caste Hindus and Saint Thomas Christians took part in one another's festival celebrations and in some places in Kerala, the Hindu temples and Saint Thomas Christian churches were built on adjoining sites by theHindu kings. Until the 19th century, Saint Thomas Christians had the right of access to Hindu temples, and some leading Saint Thomas Christians held the status of sponsors at Hindu shrines and temple festivals.[12] But in the 19th century, Saint Thomas Christian integration with the Hindu caste system was disrupted: their clean-caste status was questioned in some localities, and they were denied access to many Hindu temples. They tried to retaliate by denouncing Hindu festivals as heathen idolatry. Clashes between upper-caste Hindus and Saint Thomas Christians occurred from the late 1880s, especially when festivals coincided. Internecine violence among various Saint Thomas Christian denominations aggravated their problems.[13]
TheGoa Inquisition was established in 1560, briefly stopped from 1774 to 1778, and was re-instated and continued until it was finally abolished in 1812.[14] Like theSpanish Inquisition and thePortuguese Inquisition before it, the original targets behind the creation of the Goa Inquisition were falsely-converted Sephardic Jews and North African Muslims who had emigrated to Goa from the Iberian peninsula, while lying about being Catholic. These two communities were perceived as a security threat due to their established reputation for joining forces to overthrow Christian rulers in the Iberian peninsula.[15] Some native Goans were also accused, arrested and tried for being crypto-Hindus.[16] Those accused of it were imprisoned and depending on the criminal charge, could even be sentenced to death if convicted.[17]
The Inquisitors also seized and burned books written inSanskrit,Dutch,English, orKonkani, as they were suspected of containing teachings that deviated from Catholic doctrine or promotedProtestant, Hindu or Muslim ideas. The Inquisitors aimed ensure Catholic teachings were absolutely enforced.[18] The Inquisition also prosecuted violators observingHindu orMuslim rituals or festivals, and persons who interfered with Portuguese attempts to convert local Muslims and Hindus.[19] Although the Goa Inquisition ended in 1812, discrimination against non-Catholics under Portuguese rule continued in other forms such as theXenddi tax implemented from 1705 to 1840, which was similar to theJizya tax.[20][21][22] Religious discrimination ended with the introduction ofsecularism, via thePortuguese Constitution of 1838 and the subsequentPortuguese Civil Code of Goa and Damaon.[23]
On 15 July 1583, Hinduchieftains in thePortuguese Goa village ofCuncolim massacred and mutilated fiveJesuit priests, one Portuguese civilian, and 14Goan Catholics.[24] The local Portuguesegarrison retaliated by executing the village chieftains involved and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim.[25]
Communal disharmony arose even beforeIndian independence in 1947 on the aforementioned issue of religious conversion. Conversions have been legislated by the provisions of theFreedom of Religion Acts, laws which were replicated in numerous other regions in India.Odisha was one of the first provinces of India after its independence to enact legislation with regards to religious conversions. The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967, mentions that no person shall "convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religious faith to another by the use of force or by inducement or by any fraudulent means".[26][27] Christian missions have been active in Odisha among the tribals andbackward Hindu castes from the early years of the twentieth century. Right-wing Hindus have alleged that the increase in the number of Christians in Odisha has been a result of an exploitation of illiteracy and impoverishment by the missionaries in contravention of the law, instead offree will.[28]
Behind the clashes are long-simmering tensions between equally impoverished groups: theKandha tribe (who are 80% of the population) and the Panas (ପାଣ), which are both original inhabitants of the land. There has been an Indian tradition ofuntouchability.Dalits, consideredlower caste people, are subject to social and economic discrimination, which is outlawed in theIndian constitution, however, the prejudices remain. Conversion from untouchability has encouraged millions of such people to escape from their circumstances by joining other religions. The Panas have converted to Christianity in large numbers and prospered financially.[29] Over the past several decades, most of the Panas have becomeDalit Christians.[30]
Indian Christians were relatively unaffected by communal violence until the end of the 1990s and enjoyed social harmony with their majority Hindu neighbours.[31] However, the late 1990s saw a significant increase in acts of anti-Christian violence, and the year 1998 was the tipping point.[32] In the ensuing years, they were denounced in anti-Christian propaganda and they were targeted for violence byHindu nationalist groups which wanted to prevent tribal voters and lower-caste voters from converting to Christianity.[31] In March 1998, theBJP started its rule of India and anti-Christian violence dramatically increased.[33][34][35]
Historically, the BJP and the Hindu nationalisticSangh Parivar organizations were more likely to accept violence against minorities than their rivalCongress Party.[34] In most reported cases, the named perpetrators are members of the Sangh Parivar organisations, small subgroups that formed under the umbrella of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), anumbrella organisation whose roots date back to 1925. The RSS, who promote a form ofnationalism, oppose the spread of "foreign religions" likeIslam andChristianity.[36]
TheHuman Rights Watch report stated thatVishva Hindu Parishad (VHP),Bajrang Dal, and RSS (the sister organisations of the BJP) are the most accused organizations for violence against Christians in India.[33] Although these organizations differ significantly in many ways, they have all argued that, since Hindus make up the bulk of Indians, India should be a Hindu state.[37] RSS volunteers are taught to believe that India is a nation solely for the Hindus and that Hindus have suffered at the hands of invaders, notably Muslim rulers andBritish Christians.[31] Human Rights Watch reported that the attacks against Christians are part of the Sangh Parivar organizations' orchestrated effort to encourage and exploit sectarian violence to raise their political power base.[33]
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Hinduism and Christianity differ on fundamental beliefs onheaven,hell andreincarnation, to name a few. From the Hindu perspective, heaven (Sanskrit:swarga) and hell (naraka) are temporary places, where every soul has to live, either for the good deeds done or for their sins committed. After a soul suffers its due punishment in hell, or after a soul has enjoyed enough in heaven, it again enters the life-death cycle. There is no concept in Hinduism of a permanent hell like that in Christianity; rather, the cycle of "karma" takes over. Permanent heaven or bliss is "moksha".
Indian philosopherSarvepalli Radhakrishnan, wrote:
Unfortunately Christian religion inherited the Semitic creed of the ‘jealous God’ in the view of Christ as ‘the only begotten son of God’ so could not brook any rival near the throne. When Europe accepted the Christian religion, in spite of its own broad humanism, it accepted the fierce intolerance which is the natural result of belief in 'the truth once for all delivered to the saints.'[38]
In Hinduism (also inJainism andSikhism), the concept ofmoksha is akin to that of Buddhism'snirvana, but some scholars further claim that it is akin as well to Christianity's doctrine ofsalvation. Hindu sannyasi Swami Tripurari states:
... in theory the sinners of the world are the beneficiaries of Christ’s sacrifice, but it is God the father for whose pleasure Christ underwent the crucifixion, even when the father’s joy in this scenario lies in the salvation of sinners. Christ represents the intermediary between God and humanity, and his life aptly illustrates the fact that it is sacrifice by which we come to meet our maker. Thus in Christ the Divine teaches us "the way" more than he does the goal. The Christ conception represents "the way" in the sense that the way is sacrifice, out of which love arises. TheKrishna conception represents that for which we not only should, but must sacrifice, compelled by the Godhead’s irresistible attributes, etc. depicted therein.[39][better source needed]
TheChristian Ashram Movement, a movement withinChristianity inIndia, embracesVedanta[40] and the teachings of the East, attempting to combine the Christian faith with the Hinduashram model, andChristian monasticism with the Hindusannyasa tradition. In Western countries, Vedanta has influenced some Christian thinkers (see also:Pierre Johanns,Abhishiktananda,Bede Griffiths), while others in the anti-cult movement have reacted against the activities of immigrant gurus and their followers.Brahmoism is considered a syncretism of Hinduism with Protestantism or Lutheranism.[41][42][43][44][45]
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