Notes and Comments: Proselytism in Mysore [India]
The Young Islam, 1st October 1934 Issue (Vol. 1, No. 9, p. 4)
Consequent on the preaching of Christian missionaries in Mysore, about 2,500 Harijans of Gundlupet Taluk have been influenced to embrace Christianity; so states a message of the United Press.
Not only is the Christian missionary concerned with the spiritual condition of those outside his faith but he ameliorates the economic and social state of those who join his fold. It is mainly the consideration of one’s progress in his social status and of his betterment in the struggle of life that the depressed class is attracted towards the Christian faith. And the humane and uplifting work that Christianity is doing in this sphere should not but be commended. The high-caste Hindu seeks to absorb them into his own nation for his own benefit merely by allowing them to enter into his temples. This can hardly be said to be uplift in the real sense of the word. It is but an exploitation of the only right the depressed class retains—the right to vote. The uplift of the downtrodden oppressed section of humanity can only be brought about in a complete and perfect manner by making them a part and parcel of one’s nation, joining to it all the rights the other members possess. This transformation we are obliged to assert can only be achieved through Islam. Or else a partial uplift is possible on the lines the Christian Missionary is busy at work.