India and China are two countries which are growing the fastest in the world today. The two countries have several things which separate them but also have some similarities. All similarities surprisingly are anti-human and un-democratic. They include cheap labour, corrupt government agencies, anti-people policies and the latest to the list is sedition charges to silence their own people. The bible also has several instances of sedition being used as a weapon to silence those who basically talk for the justice and equality of people.
China did not cheer the Nobel prize for Liu Xiaobo and saw the prize as an infringement upon the internal policies of the country. Similarly India could not prevent a questionable court judgement jailing Dr. Binayak Sen for life on a case which is actually no case at all. Sedition is a big charge and is basically used to quell all discontent in a country. Or so it seems as in both cases there seems to be no better explanation.
Acts 6: 8-15 relives the arrest of St. Stephen on charges that he shook some of the traditional beliefs of the synagogue. Even though he tries to explain his stand he is then stoned to death without a proper trial. His last words “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” shows that his fight was against the wrongs that he saw and not against any individual.
What then does this mean for the church? Does it augur well for the church to remain quiet while those who work for the poor are put in jail? Does it mean that the church leaders also practise the same and removes its perceived enemies in the name of false sedition charges? Do we remember the lives of our saints and forget the inspiring leaders of present who remind us of our saints? Or are we waiting for them to die to then remember them as saints?
A government is of the people, by the people and for the people. How can a government then allege sedition on its own people? India has come to the point of practising a punishing democracy where everyone who is against the official line is punished and brought into line. Why doesn’t the government give medical help to the poor? Why doesn’t the government address the freedom issues of its citizens? Can fear keep people from raising their voices against injustice and wrong doing?
The government in India is trying its best to put a stop to all sorts of addictions but when will it review its own addiction to sedition? The all is well reply will not keep a true democracy in silence. If India is truly a democracy we will over throw this addiction. Till then, Lord, do not hold this sin against them!!!
