This article was sent me by forum member Soul_Jyot. I found it interesting and want to share it with the forum. The author Inder T. Singh places the current and increasing trend of Christian proselytizing of Sikhs in India in a different context from the ones generally reported. He looks at the issue from the perspective of geo-political advantage, economics, caste and social consciousness. The article has an ending that will sound familiar to forum members who have much to say about the importance of sangat to the vitality of Sikhi. However, his take on the importance of sangat surprised me.
Christian Conversions in Punjab: Battleground Anew
Here is a selection from the article.
Conversions have been happening all over the world, including Punjab. They are not likely to cease; after all, there is a smorgasbord of religions in the growing and global free marketplace out there. But why all this emphasis on the small state of Punjab?
Keep in mind that there is real geopolitik at work here. The global realities are such that, to a West under siege, a powerful India is the only Asian counterweight to an increasingly muscular China and, as a nuclear power, the only one that can stem the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism at the same time.
Punjab sits astride what has been the passageway to India for centuries, and it also abuts Kashmir as well as a nuclear Pakistan, two powerful powder kegs ever ready to blow. India today is a critical geographical and political presence. Strategic imperatives and economic interests of the Western world are closely intertwined with the realities of Punjab. For the Western nations, a Christianized Punjab is perceived as a potential bulwark and a dependable ally - not unlike the way Timor has recently been cultivated in the heart of Islamic Southeast Asia.
Read the rest of the article at this link Christian Conversions in Punjab: Battleground Anew :: SikhNN :: The Next Generation of News and Views
Christian Conversions in Punjab: Battleground Anew
Here is a selection from the article.
Conversions have been happening all over the world, including Punjab. They are not likely to cease; after all, there is a smorgasbord of religions in the growing and global free marketplace out there. But why all this emphasis on the small state of Punjab?
Keep in mind that there is real geopolitik at work here. The global realities are such that, to a West under siege, a powerful India is the only Asian counterweight to an increasingly muscular China and, as a nuclear power, the only one that can stem the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism at the same time.
Punjab sits astride what has been the passageway to India for centuries, and it also abuts Kashmir as well as a nuclear Pakistan, two powerful powder kegs ever ready to blow. India today is a critical geographical and political presence. Strategic imperatives and economic interests of the Western world are closely intertwined with the realities of Punjab. For the Western nations, a Christianized Punjab is perceived as a potential bulwark and a dependable ally - not unlike the way Timor has recently been cultivated in the heart of Islamic Southeast Asia.
Read the rest of the article at this link Christian Conversions in Punjab: Battleground Anew :: SikhNN :: The Next Generation of News and Views