Asian Articles

Dominic Emmanuel

"Conversions" is a bogey raised by religion-political elements to justify ethnic cleansing and no amount of evidence will persuade them to terminate their policy

Rarely in life does one face such the paradox of being weighed down with heavy foreboding before setting out on a journey and at the same time being ever so fired with the hope of achieving something positive.

Last Saturday, 20 September, when the Archbishop of Delhi, Vincent M. Concessao, phoned me to suggest that there was a proposal for Church leaders to meet with the RSS and VHP leaders on the issue of violence in Orissa, I agreed immediately to be part of it. Little did I realise that I would have to travel to Bhubaneshwar to engage in dialogue.

By Pradip Thomas, School of Journalism & Communication, University of Queensland, Australia.

Pradip N. Thomas

Will the extension of communication rights bring about peace? Before I move on to answering that question, it is important to define what peace is. In common parlance peace is a state of affairs characterized by the complete or relative absence of conflict and violence at different levels – within the family, the neighbourhood, between communities, between countries. In this way of thinking structural peace be it at home or between countries is a necessary pre-condition for physical and mental peace, the basis for ordinary people to exist and co-exist, to live life. Peace in other words has both macro and micro dimensions. However, while overt violence remains the cause of the majority of human suffering, there is also the slow and unexamined play of violence at the heart of poverty that is rarely if ever represented as violence. This violence impacts negatively on the quality of life and on the ability of communities to exist inter-subjectively. One contemporary example of this violence is what the media have described as the global food crisis – the increasing costs and scarcity of essentials such as grain and its implications for human survival.

By Kristine Greenaway, Programme Manager, WACC Congress 2008

Toronto, 21 March (WACC) - The minister had never heard the term “human trafficking” but he knew something was happening in his community on the border with Nepal in northeast India.“On Fridays, Nepali girls are coming to the bazaar then we never see them again,” he told Pradipta Singh, an official with the Church of North India.It was then the minister learned that those young women are being “trafficked” into the sex trade or into slave labour in New Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities.

Book Review: Love to Share: Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright, and Christian Churches,
Co-published by WACC and WCC

By Rev Judy Chan Regional Vice-Chair, WACC-Asia region

At first glance, one might wonder why Churches would be concerned about legal matters such as intellectual property rights and copyright issues. As it turns out, Churches regularly have to deal with these matters, particularly concerning music and liturgy for worship. How can Christians be fair to the creator of these works, while at the same time promote a generous spirit of sharing? Love to Share is a response from the World Association for Christian Communication and the World Council of Churches.
The book seeks to broaden the discussion on intellectual property (IP) and copyright from a strictly legal perspective to a more theological and ethical stance. They do recognize the importance of complying with IP laws. However, they also believe that Churches can offer alternatives to the present system to reflect a more just distribution of the blessings of our creative powers.

By Kristine Greenaway, WACC

Toronto, 21 March (WACC) - Media ministries are aggravating tensions between Hindus and Christians in the Indian state of Orissa says an Indian communications specialist.

“Missionaries from South India are involved in ‘spiritual warfare’ using the media and Christian networks,” says Professor Pradip Thomas of the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland, Australia.

Published by the Church of North India

Seven churches, Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, and Independent were burned in Barakhamba village, Kandhamal district, central Orissa. December 23, 2007: Hindutva (Hindu supremacist ideology) affiliated Adivasi (tribal) organizations organized a march, rallying, “Stop Christianity; Kill Christians”.A Dalit (formerly "untouchable" groups) Christian leader testified, “We went to the local police and informed them of the situation. They assured us that things would be under control. On December 24, we heard voices of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shiv Sena people, chanting, 'Hindu, Hindu, Bhai, Bhai'; 'RSS Zindabad'; 'Lakshmanananda Zindabad.' They shut down shops. That night they felled trees to block roads, severed power and phone lines.

The president of WACC- Europe region, Mr Piet Halma, who is also the Vice President of WACC-Global was an observer at the just ended Pakistani elections and filed the following report, on behalf of IKV Pax Christi, a Dutch NGO.

A Myanmar poet known for his odes to love was arrested after penning a Valentine's Day poem that carried a hidden message criticizing the leader of the country's military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, colleagues said Thursday. The poet, Saw Wai, was arrested Tuesday, a day after his poem "February 14" was published in the popular weekly entertainment magazine "A Chit," or "Love," according to friends and colleagues who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.

By Rebecca Lalhmangaihzuali, Study Secretary, Women’s Desk, SCMI

Bangalore, India -The Student Christian Movement of India (SCMI) organized, a national workshop on “Gender and Media Justice” 19- 21 October at the SCMI Programme Centre in Bangalore.

The objective of the workshop was to impart media education to the students and to enable them to critically watch over media, from a gender perspective, including newspapers, journals, electronic media and movies.

By Philip Lee, Deputy Director of programmes-WACC, based on a report by Kamal Raj Sigdel

Kathmandu, Nepal - For the past year Subaltern Forum, an organization of journalists based in Kathmandu, Nepal, has been producing and broadcasting fortnightly radio programmes on non-violent conflict resolution. Originally planned by the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), Subaltern took over when political difficulties intervened. WACC supported the initiative under its small projects programme.