Description

Freedom to Build, Not Destroy

The last few years have been singularly torturous and tormenting for the minorities, especially the Christian community, in India. The relentless espousal of the largely undefined concept of Hindutva has left its horrendous footprints in the nook and corner of the country by way of battering and pounding members of one of the mostpeace-loving communities in the country.

Sarto Esteves’ book ‘Freedom to Build, Not Destroy’ demolishes some of the contradictions in the interpretation of the Constitutional provision of right to religion and reiterates the fact that the Church had never used the fa9ade of charity for conversion. The author takes the reader through irrefutable facts and figures to prove that members of the Christian community have never lagged behind in patriotic fervour. He also leaves no one in doubt about the commitment of Christians to tread the path shown by none else but Jesus, whatever the cost may be.

About the Author

A doctor in Political Science of the Bombay University and a communication expert, he has been a freelance journalist for over fifty years and an author of several books. His writings have a finesse of their own. They are looked forward to by his appreciation and educated readers for their deep, incisive thought. He has been contributing articles in media throughout India on a variety of subjects like Minorities and their Rights, Dalits and their economic plight, Democracy, Democratic Institutions, Goan Polities, Secularism, Communalism, Hindutva. the Scourge of Cateism Elections, etc. His list of books includes Prospects of Indian Democracy, Policies and Political Leadership in Goa. The Papacy, Nationalism, Secularism and Communalism and The Christian Message: India s Great Need, among others. His writings bear the stamp of refined scholarship and exude a cultivated style all his own. They are a testimony of

his faith and his patriotism.

CONTENTS

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. Freedom of Religion: A Fundamental Plight

3. Community’s Initiatives

4. Assaults on Christianity

5. “Forced Conversions”

6. “Christian Conspiracy”

7. Attacks on Secularism

8. Communalism: The Road to National Disintegration

Postscript

Appendices

Bibliography