VHP approaches minorities commission against Christian missionaries

A Vishwa Hindu Parishad-led delegation, comprising ethnic tribesmen from North-Eastern states and Punjab, on Tuesday met the National Minorities Commission and National Tribal Commission to submit evidence of alleged misdeeds by Christian missionaries.

The delegation was led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad's national spokesperson Surendra Jain and comprised representatives from the states of Tripura, Mizoram and Punjab.

"On September 10, Christian missionaries burnt the Guru Granth Sahib in Bhatinda. In Mizoram, a sub-divisional magistrate wrote a letter to a Chakma tribe family, asking it to give up its agricultural land for construction of a church. We have a copy of that," said Jain.

"We have submitted copies of documentary evidence, photographs and newspaper clippings of cases of missionary aggressions and forced conversions to both the commissions," he added.

The delegation handed over a memorandum to the Tribal Commission seeking their right to retain their culture, belief and livelihood. The delegation from Punjab approached the National Minorities Commission seeking protection of their minority status.

source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/23vhp.htm

PM to release Vision 2020 on July 2

PM to release Vision 2020 on July 2

KOLKATA, June 19 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will unveil ‘Vision 2020’, a document aimed at the socio-economic development of the North-Eastern region, in New Delhi on July 2, Union Minister for Development of North-Eastern region Mani Shankar Aiyar has said. The ‘Vision 2020’ was prepared after three years of uninterrupted consultations with 50,000 common people of the North East and a host experts and institutions to take care of the shortcomings in the region Terming the vision document as an ‘Aam Aadmi (common man) document’, DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said it would require Rs 13 trillion for the implementation of Vision 2020 in the region. The document had been endorsed by the North Eastern Council and Chief Ministers of the region, he told members of the four industry chambers at an interactive session on N-E development, last evening. Aiyar said if India wanted to match the GDP growth of China, then it will have to consider the contribution of the North-East where growth potential was immense. –PTI