Welcome to the Harvest Bridge podcast. A part of our work here at Harvest Bridge is connecting local leaders in South Asia with people like you, here in the United States. Through our podcast we want to provide a place where you can hear their voices and listen to their stories in their own words.
Throughout this month, we’ve been listening to ministry leaders as they discuss the impacts of religious nationalism throughout South Asia and Myanmar. They are witnessing firsthand the rise in persecution and violence as religious nationalism grows. Before we hear from our leaders, let’s define religious nationalism. Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer, a professor of sociology and global studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explains:
“From time to time in the history of the nation state, there has been a kind of fusion of national identity with religious affiliation. Sometimes this is an innocent sort of identity. But sometimes it’s much more strident, particularly when it’s meant to exclude groups within society that are not part of the dominant religion. I think this is what we’ve been seeing in the last 30 years since I’ve been studying this phenomenon around the world. This really is a global phenomenon. There is now a new kind of movement to standardize the notion of nationalism and identify it with one particular culture. That can alienate a lot of people, and sometimes, sadly, in a very brutal way.” (Used with permission from the Council on Foreign Relations. Read the full interview here).
Let’s now hear from some of our ministry leaders about how this is impacting their work in South Asia. First, we’ll hear from Shalva,* our co-country leader in Nepal:
“Our political situation is unstable, unstable government. The government, you know, is changing every two, three years. Then what they do sometimes, you know, [is] simply to raise the religious issue, sometimes to get, you know, favour from the Hindus or some other people, those who are very neutral in politics. Just to make them aggressive, they raise this religious issue. Then, you know, some people will come with, Hindu ideology, you know, Hinduism, [saying] we should make Nepal as a Hindu nation. You know, some kind of this ideology and some people, those who are in favor of Hinduism, they will support the government. So, this kind of play is going on.”
You just heard Shalva explains how political instability in Nepal creates an environment where religious nationalism can thrive. Government leaders often use religion to manipulate and control people, lobbying specific religious groups to gain votes and power.
“Some people, some parties, they are in favor of Christians, because Christianity is growing. Christianity is growing and in some places without Christians’ vote, people cannot, you know, win the votes and this post in the election. So Christians are becoming important, but [more] government is trying to ignore the Christian and suppress the Christian. You know, suppress Christian activities.”
As Christianity grows, it is gaining political attention, but Christians in Nepal still remain a minority and are frequently targeted for persecution. In India, persecution is also increasing as religious nationalism grows, and it’s not limited to Christians. Muslims and lower-caste Hindus are also being attacked. Swapnil*, a ministry leader in India shares:
“There will be some who want to fight, to snatch your things, to beat you and no solution – government can’t do anything because it’s the government itself – they, they did it. They help the people to do it. We are controlled now. So Muslims are targeted. Now Christians are targeted. And now other communities, called the lower caste which we call lower caste – Dalit. . . So it becomes everyday, so much. So much hate speech.”
Swapnil* later shared a video showing tribal Christians being attacked by Hindus in Eastern India. We’ll play a few seconds of it here. You can hear the fear and anger in the voices. . . . Swapnil* also shared that in addition to violence, the government is also restricting religious NGOs and leaders, cutting off their funding and livelihoods.
“They are unemployed, no job . . . they will cancel all the licenses of Christian NGOs and Muslim NGO and Sikh community, Sikh community. . .”
Suraj*, in the Bihar state of India, echoes similar reports of persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddists, and Hindus from the lower castes by their government.
“Now the government has taken charge, now BJP – Hindu political party – also has come up. . . They have released the anti conversion laws, so it has become very difficult and fierce. . . Yes, it is affecting not only Christians, [but also] Muslims and Buddists, even those who are from lower, lower castes of Hindus are also being affected by their caste system. So only the higher caste people are getting benefit. . . . And so this Prime Minister is disturbing all the opposition party leaders by bringing false accusations, by putting them into jail. So, all the main, main leaders of the opposition party are having trouble now… because they are getting troubled from their own people, from Hindu caste people, disturbing the Tribals. . . . You know Muslims, well, they feel like hopelessness. They are being disturbed and attacked and are living very humbly – all the people of other faith, Muslims, Christians. And Christians they are attacked mainly because of the conversion issue. For many Hindus become Christians. They do not become Muslim. But in the present situation Hindus are becoming Christians. That’s why they are being attacked.”
The government continues to fuel religious division among the people, often to maintain political power. But despite their efforts, the people are building bridges with one another. For example, we received a story from a Harvest Bridge missionary in Bangladesh who we’ll called Protik* to protect his identity. Protik went with another missionary to share the story of Jesus in his community. The neighbors overheard them and rallied extremists in the area to hurt them. Protik’s friend, who is a practicing Muslim, confronted the extremists and protected the missionaries, ensuring their safety. We also have instances of our missionaries being protected by Muslim politicians in Bangladesh.
Let’s hear again from Shalva in Nepal:
“Even though we have a very – they say that our Constitution is the best constitution in the whole world. . . So, what is happening is that people have, you know, these political leaders they are interpreting according to their favor. So they’re interpreting according to their favor and they’re dividing the people. And some parties, they are in, in such a, you know, activities that divide and rule. You know how you divide? If you raise a religious matter, and that is the first point, you can divide the people. . . . actually people – Hindu, Christian, Muslim – all are living in harmony. You know, some people, some political parties – they are trying to play with the religious groups.”
The government divides the people, but many of the people are seeking harmony. In areas already facing poverty, natural disasters, and political unrest, religious nationalism makes ministry even more challenging. Yet, the leaders of Harvest Bridge continue to serve, bringing hope to their communities.
Thank you for listening to the Harvest Bridge podcast. To hear more stories like these, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or subscribe to our email list at www.HarvestBridge.org to learn more about the ministry of leaders throughout South Asia who are doing much, with little.