Hopegivers denies link with controversial book

New Delhi – Christian ministry, Hopegivers International, has denied having any link with the controversial book, Haqiqat, that reportedly contains disparaging statements against Hinduism and other religions and prompted Hindu nationalists to take up arms in protest in Rajasthan.

Recently, Hindu fundamentalists, including Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal activists staged a violent protest against a book titled, Haqiqat, authored by MJ Matthew, and went on a rampage vandalizing Emmanuel Mission Senior Secondary School and a church.

The activists also burnt the effigy of Bishop MA Thomas, founder, Emmanuel Mission and threatened to destroy the Emmanuel Hope Home, an orphanage that shelters hundreds of orphans and close down Christian bookstores, schools and churches in the state.

Hopegivers International, in a statement obtained by Christian Today, has categorically denied having anything to do with the controversial book and stated that it has “been falsely accused of publishing a book banned by the local government in the state of Rajasthan, India.”

“Anger over the book has led to almost daily violence against Hopegivers institutions for the last several weeks,” the ministry officials said, adding that the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan has failed to protect the basic civil and human rights for local Christians.

“In response to street–preachers’ tirades against the book, Hopegivers schools and orphanages have been burned, churches and Bibles desecrated, and mobs of vigilantes have defied police by attacking innocent Christians and Dalit–caste minorities all across the state,” HI officials stated.

Surprisingly, very few of the rioters have read or even seen the book but have been incited to attack and protest against the Emmanuel Mission in Kota and its founder Bishop MA Thomas, who is also the founder of Hopegivers International. Ever since the sectarian violence broke out in Rajasthan, Bishop Thomas has been reported to be in hiding for fear of his life.

“If something is not done by the central government to stop this,” said Hopegivers President Dr. Samuel Thomas, “I am afraid that some of the children in our orphanages or patients in our hospitals will be hurt or killed by violent mobs.”

Hindu agitators have also falsely named Bishop Thomas and Dr. Thomas as publishers of the book and arrest warrants have been procured against the two. Some bank accounts of the mission have also been frozen.

Many Christians feel that Hindu fundamentalists are using the controversial book as a pretext to launch attacks on Christians and indulge in mob violence, vandalism and slander.

Hopegivers has reported that the threat of violence over the publication of the book was used by extremists to pressure Bishop Thomas to postpone some of the graduation ceremonies of the Emmanuel Seminary scheduled for February 25. However, Hopegivers still managed to award diplomas to their whole graduating class of nearly 11,000.

Violence first broke out on February 17, when Hindu militants in Ramganjmandi, Kota district, destroyed a Hopegivers sponsored church, school and bookstore. While the mob went unpunished, the local police brought three mission workers in for questioning.

Hopegivers’ headquarters in Kota, where the NGO runs an orphanage for 2,600 orphans and a rehabilitative hospital for the poor is suffering the most with the local administration threatening to revoke the licenses of charities run by Hopegivers and to shut off water and electricity to the orphanage and hospital.

“This endangers the lives of innocent children and impoverished, bed–ridden patients,” explained Dr. Thomas, however, adding, “We will continue to do what we are called to do – save the lives of abandoned and orphaned children. This recent wave of attacks is meant to destroy our work and drive out God, but no power on earth can stop the love of our Lord as those stirring up communal violence here will soon find out.”

The National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi has reportedly ordered an investigation into government involvement and culpability in the violence.

Hopegivers is the largest Christian charity in Rajasthan and has projects throughout the state working with needy children, people affected by leprosy and the poor.