Dear Editor,
I COMMEND Ms Sherlina Nageer and Mr Chris Persaud on their letters to the editor under captions, “Who gave an American missionary permission to preach in Georgetown schools” (SN, March 21), and “Roopnaraine should investigate matter of missionaries preaching in Georgetown schools” (SN, March 23), respectively. And, “Missionary at Central High School” (Guyana Times, March 23).
I first learnt about this missionary when I came across a documentary against Hinduism titled, “The truth about Hinduism,” by Pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church on YouTube. I viewed the said documentary and other videos of the Church’s works and realised some of the preachings were actually held in several public schools in Georgetown. I then made some comments and a call on the authorities, particularly the Ministry of Education on social network, to look into the matter.
Mr Editor, having viewed the documentary and other talks held at these public schools, I am of the conviction that this missionary’s objective is to discredit, demonise and destroy Hinduism. The documentary presented a crude, vicious and disrespectful image of Hinduism. The producer of the documentary basically recorded the practices of a remote forest tribe in India and declared such practices to be the Hindu religion. The pastor then quoted biblical ideologies to demonstrate the so-called superiority of his faith. There was also a relentless attack on the Bhagavad Geeta.
I later learnt that after the uploading of the documentary on YouTube, it was removed within six days as a result of it reaching 65,000 viewers. The church has ordered thousands of DVDs of the said documentary to be distributed, particularly among Indians who are their targets. I call on every right- thinking person to condemn this hate mission and that the Ministries of Education and Social Cohesion look into this matter. Discipline all authorities who allowed these people to enter public schools to discredit Hinduism. Guyana is a secular State.
Regards
Pt. C. Nandalall