Talk:Tripura Baptist Christian Union

Allegations against TBCU
Wikipedia is not a place for Political Overtones and far-fetched facts. It is meant for general knowledge. If any serious allegations are there, please write it in another article ..

say, Allegations agains the TBCU or Church-Militants link in Tripura, etc.

Thanks and good day

-Bdebbarma

Why the revert to POV version
Hi Rumpelstiltskin223,

Pls justify the Reverts?????

Thnx,

-User:Bdebbarma
 * I noticed removal of sources and whitewashing the facts. Rumpelstiltskin223 06:11, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi Hi Rumpelstiltskin223,

Thanks for the information, i have kept only the facts as mentioned by you, the rest has ethnical and political overtones. We from the state know it.

regards, Bdebbarma
 * Looks ok. Though the issue is terrorism and genocide by a small fraction of extremists, not ethnicity, since it does not reflect on Tripurans (who aren't really an ethnicity anyway). Your edits are fairly NPOV tho. Very good.Rumpelstiltskin223 08:49, 18 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Rumpel you are incorrect, the Tripuris are an ethnolinguistic group. The NLFT though, is a terrorist group that engages in the genocide of Bengalis, Hindus, and tribals. Note that not all Bengalis are Hindu, not all Hindus (in Tripura) are Bengali, and the tribals are mainly animist. Baka man  00:11, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Correct. But I was not talking about Tripuri people but Tripurans (people who live in Tripura). Not all Tripurans are Tripuri and Tripurans are not an ethnicity though Tripuris are. Rumpelstiltskin223 00:21, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Ethnic issues
Hi Rumpelstiltskin223,

Good to know u like this version, but there are some clarifications regarding ur views.

First, this article has very much to do with Ethnicity and Ethnical tensions in Tripura (if u are not aware of it). TBCU is a Tripuri ethnoliguistic organisation, and whatever is written here has a reflection on the view on the religious sentiments of the Tripuri people. The Tripuri people are ethnically different from the Bengali and other Indian people of Tripura.

Second, NLFT is also a Tripuri ethnoliguistal organisation, but the violent actions of NLFT should not be taken as the viewpoint on the whole Tripuri community's actions. So, any viewpoint on the NLFT in any article also has a reflection on the view of the Tripuri community as a whole.

Thats why, even this present version is also highly POV according to me (we need to discuss on a better NPOV version, which doesnt hurt the sentiments of the Tripuri people), just like you cannot equate any religious organisation , say VHP or Sunni/Shia and the terrorists in India, similarily you cannot equate actions of NLFT with that of TBCU.

hope to hear from u,

regards, User:Bdebbarma
 * Wikipedia should not be used for political propaganda my friend.If you can find any reliable sources that say the things you said above, then you may include them in a "Response Section". Until then, wikipedia philosophy of verifiability takes precedence over the opinions of a (apologies if this sounds dismissive) random user whose identity or credentials can't be established over the internet. Also, I have grave doubts of TCBU being an "ethno-Linguistic" organization, since the phrase "Baptist Church" clearly establishes a link with the extremely fanatical and minority sect of Christianity, which is a religion, not an ethnicity. Plus, the bbc articles prove that point in a fashion. If they were an ethno-linguistic organization they would call themselves the "Tripura Etho-linguistic organization" and be a construct of Tripuris instead of a terrorist front created by Missionaries from New-Zealand.

Having said that, you are quite correct in your assertion that the violent actions of NLFT should not be conflated with Tripuris. I extend the same courtesy vis-a-vis the TCBU, which is obviously NLFT's propaganda front and does not represent the Tripuri people as a whole, unless you can provide verifiable proof to the contrary.Rumpelstiltskin223 06:05, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

TBCU's credibility
Hi Rumpelstiltskin223,

Thank you for understanding the NLFT issue. I hope u have understood the Tripuri ethnical issue now. If u want articles to study about the ethnical conflicts happening out in Tripura i will give you some links here shortly from the websites in Tripura (not a distant and unknowing website source like BBC).

Just like you wudnt listen to news about Britain from Tripuri websites, similarily same concern here.

I dont know ur ethnicity, but u should be quite aware that there is a conflict going on between native Tripuri people and Bengali people in Tripura since the 1970's. If you would notice the BBC article there is nothing saying TBCU is the sponser, it says Secretaries of some remote churches in North eastern part of Tripura have been caught with explosives.

Just because of 2/3 persons being caught u cannot blame a whole community organisation like TBCU, Incase u r not from India/Tripura, St. Paul's School in Agartala the first ICSE English medium school in Tripura is run by TBCU since 1940's, which is well-known and reputed.

Also, the leaderships of the opposition ethno-parties of Tripura like the INPT and the NSPT are all members of various Tripuri TBCU churches in the state, so are the Upper-class beauracrats of the Tripuri's. So i don wonder that CPI(M) the communist government of Tripura blames TBCU n these churches for all the ills of the state.

In case u r an anti-Christian, well i dont hav any arguments for u. A healthy secular discussion is required for any outcome regarding this article. (pls see my first discussion topic).

regards,


 * Hi. I am not anti-Christian or anti-anybody. Also, you are welcome to show me some links. However, it is intellectually dishonest to criticize bbc. Please see WP:RS. BBC may have it's biases, but it is a respectable source and reliable and always cited on wikipedia.Also, if the websites you show me are partisan, then they cannot be included without illustrating their biases. Please read wikipedia philosophies and rules carefully. Regards. Rumpelstiltskin223 09:58, 20 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Oh, and also, a lot of the things you said are what in wikipedis is called "Original research". Wikipedia rules states that Original research is not allowed. Of course, we are free to discuss in the talk page our viewpoints, but we must not cite your opinions as facts in the article. For a good example, look at the article on Hezbollah. I am sure many of Hezbollah people would make the same arguments you have (Middle-East issue is ethnic/Hezbollah feeds people/just because 2/3rd of Hezbollah do terrorism does not mean we are terrorist etc.etc) but the article is still very balanced and mention all facts and views. We must be equally non-partisan here and mention that the Baptist Church is allegedly involved in financing terrorism. I will take another look at this article and check for any inconsistencies etc. Rumpelstiltskin223 10:05, 20 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Well I just read the BBC article. The padre who got caught with bombs was with the Noapara Baptist Church. Are you saying that they are unaffiliated with TCBU?How many Baptist groups are there in Tripura anyway? before you answer, you should look at another wikipedia policy of WP:Verifiability also. The mere fact that a highly reputable news source like BBC mentions Noapara in connection with the State Baptist Church of Tripura is sufficient context to establish that BBC reveals or alleges a connection. Can you provide evidence that there is no connection? It is a murky issue so perhaps we should discuss, yes? Rumpelstiltskin223 10:18, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Baptist Church Organisation and anti-Christian propaganda in Tripura
Hi Rumpelstiltskin223,

Thanks for the invitation to discuss freely. Sorry for the late reply, was busy working :)

Regarding the issue of NLFT vis-avis TBCU, i would like to clarify few points regarding the Baptist Church Organisation. Baptist churches are part of the movement called Evangelical and Congregational, wherein the churches believe in independence from any central authority, e.g the churches of Baptists, presbyterians and pentecostals in USA. (Pls study the Baptist topic to understand furthur)

Similarily, each Baptist Church in Tripura is also independent in its actions. Every church elects its own pastors and Secretaries and Deacons as they believe in Preisthood of all believers, so basically there is no clergy in Baptist/pentecostal churches worldwide. Baptist Church members elects its secretary annually from among the church members by secret ballot. A Baptist church is inturn a member of a regional Baptist Association (usually county/district-wise), where it is inducted again by votes among the Baptist Association Committee.

Furthur a Baptist Association is a member of a Baptist Convention/Council/Conference (usually state-wise), where similarily it is taken in by votes among the Council Committee. A Committee has the right to refuse a Association membership, similarily a Association has rghts to refuse a Church. Similarily a Church has rights to refuse memberships to any Association and remain independent, (Pls take note that this structure is not there in other Christian churches like the Catholics or Anglican/Lutherans, etc)

As per the discussion, the Noapara Baptist Church must have been a member of the Deogang /Dharmanagar Baptist Association (the respective Baptist Assoc in that region of North Tripura) which in turn must have been a member of the TBCU. TBCU is a committee/council in Agartala consisting of periodically elected church members from among the various affliated Associations.

Herein, lies my point!!!!! We cannot justify the link between actions of a church secretary directly to the TBCU... TBCU doesnt directly control or finance any church, it is only a coordination committee. The responsibility of the offences lies to the Noapara Church and then the Association which the church is member of. Similarily to NLFT, does a militant being a church member of a Baptist church and also a member of NLFT make the Church and the Association /TBCU militants/terrorists?

Apparently, just like you, the Bengali controlled media in Tripura doesnt understand it, nor the BBC which copied the reports by the Bengali language newspapers of Agartala, as there is no competing Tripuri language newspapers to refute the claims or clarify the news (since Tripuri's are a minority in the city).

So, please if u dont understand the analogy, pls do tell me :)

regards, ````


 * {edit con)There are in fact two issues that the NLFT fights on. One is the Tripuri people's right to self-determination against Bengalis (if I was a minority in my own homeland I would protest as well), and the other is Southern Baptist churches using front orgs in Tripura to "claim Tripura for Christ" (using Nagaland as an example). I myself sympathize with the Tripuris, they should get their own ethnolinguistic domain. Baka man  16:43, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Missionaries
Hi Rumpelstiltskin223,

I didnt take your comments about missionaries lightly. If you are a keen student of History of Religion, you would know that every religion has been started and propagated by Missionaries.

eg, Buddhist missionaries to Asia from India, Islamic missionaries in Middle-East, Hindu missionaries to South East Asia, Christian missionaries to Europe.

So, it surprises me that you have such a view on missionaries (New Zealand here), the NZBMS started the first English Medium school in Tripura in the 1930's and also ran various social institutions.

Please do revert back for more discussions :)

regards, ````


 * See the point rumpel is trying to make is that Hinduism and Buddhism have no organized religious bodies and generally dont speak with one voice. Christianity and Islam on the other hand are well organized, and the simple fact that they believe in salvation rather than liberation may explain their actions. The fact is that they believe their way is the right way, and all others are going to hell, while Hindus and Buddhists are ambivalent on the situation. In Nagaland and in areas controlled by NLFT Hindus and Muslims are not able to worship freely due to fear of Baptist orgs. In Kashmir, Hindus are routinely massacred and killed by ISlamic terrorists. Tabligis are active in KAshmir and Christian missionaries are active in the NE. There is a connection. Baka man  16:48, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 20:09, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

WP:INDIA Banner/Tripura Addition
Note: WP India Project Banner with Tripura workgroup parameters was added to this article talk page because the article falls under Category:Tripura or its subcategories. Should you feel this addition is inappropriate, please undo my changes and update/remove the relavent categories to the article -- Amartyabag   TALK2ME  11:23, 27 June 2008 (UTC)