Information About New Delhi Journalist Vishal Arora
Vishal Arora is an independent & freelance journalist and writer living in New Delhi, India. Vishal Arora’s articles have appeared in Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Deccan Herald, The Tribune, The Statesman, Mint, Indo-Asian News Service, Sify.com, Swagat, The Caravan, Compass Direct News, Religion News Service, World Politics Review, Lipido Media and Religious Watch. Vishal Arora has presented papers on the mixing of religion and politics in seminars organised by the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life in Washington DC (which focused on the dangers of “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists” and “Right Wing Hindus”). Vishal Arora writes on socio-political affairs and human rights for national and foreign media with an almost exclusive focus on incidents of communal violence in India against the Christian minority. On the internet and on Vishal Arora’s official domain (vishalarora.co.in), his religious affiliation is not openly divulged (although some of his writings talk about God in a seemingly non-denominational way: 01 – 02 – 03 – 04 – 05). It is suspected that Vishal Arora’s religious affiliation is purposely suppressed and cleverly cloaked to avert accusations of Christian bias.
Vishal Arora Contacted Gerald Moreno About The Sai Controversy
On May 11th 2010, Gerald Moreno received the following email from Vishal Arora:
Vishal Arora: “Dear Mr. Gerald Moreno,
I am a journalist based in New Delhi, India. I am writing an article on Sathya Sai Baba, which includes the accusations by numerous ex-devotees. Most of those who made the allegations have told me that you have been the most active person to ‘spread hate’ against them. So, I wanted to give you a fair chance to respond to this. Can I also know how are you related to Sathya Sai Baba? Are you a devotee?
Also, I’d appreciate if you could say, in a few lines, why so many ex-devotees made the allegations?
Thanks and regards,
Vishal Arora ”
Gerald Moreno responded the same day (May 11th 2010) and his full response can be found on the Vishal Arora Correspondence Page. Vishal Arora adamantly refused to answer any and all questions posed to him by Gerald Moreno. This type of one-way and secretive behavior is not what one would expect from a credible journalist or writer. Apparently, Vishal Arora has much to hide and is not interested in maintaining an open, sincere and two-way dialogue with Gerald Moreno, whom he intends to write about. The reasons for Visha Arora’s secrecy have since come to light and may be disturbing to some.
Vishal Arora – Christian Bias Uncovered
Before Moreno received Vishal Arora’s email, Moreno contacted Lisa DeWitt about Robert Priddy’s 16-day absence from his blog (which was highly unusual considering Robert Priddy’s rabid blog postings on almost a daily basis). The very same day that Vishal Arora emailed Moreno (May 11th 2010) was the very same day that Robert Priddy resumed posting on his blog. Coincidence?
Moreno felt that since Vishal Arora implied he had talked extensively to ex-devotees and simply asked for a “few lines” from him, something did not feel “right”, so he decided to research Vishal Arora. It was quickly discovered that Vishal Arora’s official domain (vishalarora.co.in) was purchased and registered for him by NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary):
What is “NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary)”?
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Our Mission Statement
The mission of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is to equip leaders to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandments through the local church and its ministries.Our Seminary Target
Our target as a Seminary is healthy churches. We measure the effectiveness of our Seminary by the health of the churches that our graduates lead.Our Core Values
Doctrinal Integrity — Believing that the Bible is the Word of God, we believe it, teach it, proclaim it, and submit our lives to it. Our confessional commitments are outlined in the Articles of Religious Belief and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.Spiritual Vitality — We are a worshiping community emphasizing both personal spirituality and gathering together as a Seminary family for the praise and adoration of God and instruction in His Word.<
Mission Focus -- Our Seminary does not exist merely to get an education or to give an education. We are here to change the world by fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandments through the local church and its ministries.
Characteristic Excellence -- We want everything we do to be characterized by offering the utmost of our abilities and resources as a testimony to the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Servant Leadership -- We follow the model of Jesus to exert leadership through nurturing and encouraging those around us.
Our Denominational Affiliation
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Seminary would not be financially viable apart from significant funding by the SBC Cooperative Program. The Charter of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary assigns ownership of the Seminary assets to the Southern Baptist Convention, requires that all NOBTS Trustees be elected by the Southern Baptist Convention, and declares that the Charter “may not be altered, amended, or repealed without the expressed prior consent of the Southern Baptist Convention.”Our Heritage
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was founded in 1917 by an act of the Southern Baptist Convention at their annual meeting that year in New Orleans. Originally named “Baptist Bible Institute,” New Orleans Seminary was the first theological institution to be created by direct action of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was originally created as an undergraduate institution modeled after Moody Bible Institute. Gradually, the school began to move toward graduate level training, and in 1946 the Convention renamed the institution “New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.”The school was the fulfillment of a century-old dream of Baptists to establish a missionary training school in New Orleans as a gateway to Latin America, and as a mission center in the ungodly city of New Orleans. In 1914, P. I. Lipsey, editor of the Mississippi Baptist Record, wrote an impassioned editorial favoring the creation of a theological school in New Orleans: “A seminary (in New Orleans) would plant the Baptist cause in this city in a way that would immediately command the attention and the respect of all. It would be planting the siege guns at the enemies’ gates.”
Baptist Bible Institute opened its first session in October 1918 under the leadership of Byron H. DeMent, who served as president of the BBI from 1917 to 1928. “The Baptist Bible Institute is preeminently a child of providence and prayer,” DeMent said at his inauguration. Since that day, New Orleans Seminary has been known as “The School of Providence and Prayer.”
Others who have served as president of the school are William W. Hamilton Sr. (1928-42); Duke K. McCall (1943-46); Roland Q. Leavell (1946-58); H. Leo Eddleman (1959-70); Grady C. Cothen (1970-74); and Landrum P. Leavell II, nephew of Roland Leavell, (1974-95). On February 23, 1996, Dr. Charles S. “Chuck” Kelley, Jr., of Beaumont, Texas, was elected unanimously as the seminary’s eighth president. Prior to his election he had served at the seminary for 13 years as the Roland Q. Leavell Professor of Evangelism and most recently as the director of the Seminary’s Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health.
From its beginning until 1953, the school was located at 1220 Washington Avenue, in the heart of the Garden District of residential New Orleans. The current campus, at 3939 Gentilly Boulevard was purchased in 1947. The landmark entrance gates and fence from the Garden District mansion now are located on the front block of the Gentilly campus. The current property, once a 75-acre pecan orchard, has been transformed into a beautiful campus with more than 100 buildings. More than 20,000 men and women have prepared for ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Our Doctrinal Commitments
All the faculty members of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary subscribe to the school’ historic confession, the Articles of Religious Belief, and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Our President has signed on behalf of the Seminary a pledge to doctrinal faithfulness entitled “One Faith, One Task, One Sacred Trust: A Covenant Between Our Churches and Seminaries.” And the faculty also recently joined the other Southern Baptist seminary faculties in endorsing “What God Has Joined Together: A Resolution in Defense of Marriage”.
Needless to say, a Baptist Theological Seminary would never purchase and register a domain for someone who was not strongly allied with them, their beliefs, their practices and their missionary objectives. The Southern Baptist Convention is one of the most conservative, evangelical and fundamentalist Christian Churches in the USA and also has the largest number of Christian missionaries (more so than all other USA Christian Churches combined). The Baptist Center for Theology & Ministry’s Faith & Message Statement and NOBTS Articles of Religious Belief are of particular interest. The Southern Baptist Convention believes:
“It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.” (Reference)
Moreno emailed Vishal Arora on May 11th 2010 about this information and said:
Gerald Moreno: “Dear Vishal Arora,
It is my sincere hope that when you write your article about Sathya Sai Baba that you will divulge any association you may have with NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary), which registered your official domain http://vishalarora.co.in/. The About NOBTS page is of particular interest.
When you are attempting to write about a spiritual teacher who has a large Hindu following in India, I think this information is highly relevant and necessary. Needless to say, I have written extensively about various Christian movements against Sathya Sai Baba and your Pro-Christian writings, your friendships with various Christians and your association with an evangelical Christian ministry raises several red flags.
I must also say I am very concerned about what appears to be an extensive communication between you and ex-devotees and how you wanted me to summarize my views in a ‘few lines’ (which is what prompted me to research your associations more closely).
Therefore, I kindly ask that you maintain transparency in your writings pertaining to Sathya Sai Baba so that you will not be accused of bias or having ulterior motives like Vir Sanghvi, Paul Lewis, Tanya Datta, Michelle Goldberg and NineMSN A Current Affair.
If you decide to withhold your association with NOBTS and if I feel that your article does not give due justice to both sides of the Sai Controversy, I will be forced to write about this issue and make it public.
I sincerely hope there is less to this finding than I think there is. You are free to enlighten me.
Sincerely,
Gerald Moreno”
Vishal Arora responded on May 12th 2010 and said (in part):
Vishal Arora: “There is no need for me to hide that I am a convert to Christianity, but I respect all religions and their followers. My brother studied at the NOBTS a few years ago when I registered my domain…
Thank you and regards,
Vishal Arora”
Vishal Arora’s brother is Vivek Arora (Profile Subsequently Deleted – See Screencap):
Vivek Arora pursued his PhD at NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) from 2004 – 2009 and is a Research Associate for the Center for New Testament Textual Studies (which is also associated with NOBTS). Furthermore, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) said the following about Vivek Arora:
NAMB: “As a young man living in India, Vivek Arora had a dream that he would someday find a book that would answer all his questions and that he would be instrumental in bringing people together in a way that would let them live in harmony. He discovered that book years later when he came to faith in Christ while reading a Hindi translation of the Bible. As for people living in harmony, he believes the Great Commission is God’s plan for that. Today, Vivek and his wife, Manisha, are church planting missionaries in Boston, reaching out to the international community that has gathered from around the world in one of America’s great cities. ‘We are reaching out to international students and professionals,’ Vivek says. ‘Many come here from their countries for two or three years. If we can reach them for Christ the impact will be greatly multiplied when they return to their home countries.’” (Reference)
NAMB’s statement of faith can be found HERE. NAMB’s views on Biblical Inerrancy can be found HERE.
However, it is irrelevant if Vivek Arora studied at NOBTS (the only relevance being a conservative, fundamentalist and evangelical Christian faith among members of the Arora family). NOBTS did not purchase and register a domain for Vivek Arora. NOBTS purchased and registered a domain for Vishal Arora. A Baptist Theological Seminary would never purchase and register a domain for someone who was not strongly allied with them, their beliefs, their practices and their missionary objectives. The fact that NOBTS purchased and registered Vishal Arora’s official domain strongly suggests he is allied with them and is possibly funded by them as well.
Considerable research was conducted into domains purchased by NOBTS and not even one other domain was found to be registered by NOBTS for any single individual besides Vishal Arora. Considering NOBTS Statement of Faith (that states there is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and that the unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, a place of everlasting punishment) and considering Vishal Arora’s ties with this conservative, fundamentalist and evangelical Christian organization, it is very difficult to accept Vishal Arora’s Christian faith along with his comments about respecting all religions and their followers. It is also very disturbing that Vishal Arora, as a Christian convert, would be writing about Sathya Sai Baba (a revered spiritual teacher who happens to have a large Hindu following in India and a large multi-faith following world-wide).
Although Vishal Arora does not write “Anti-Hindu” articles per se, he does write extensively about communal violence in India against the Christian minority that tends to demonize “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists” and “Right-Wing Hindus” (which are subjective descriptions often used on the internet to formulate “Christian vs Hindu” arguments). Vishal Arora has argued extensively against “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists”, “Right-Wing Hindus” and anyone he believes may be associated with them (which happens to include various gurus and spiritual teachers in India with large Hindu followings). In an article entitled “Religion and Politics in India”, Vishal Arora wrote:
Vishal Arora: “Religious leaders have enormous followings and acceptability in India. Not only the people, but also the politicians seek their ‘blessings’. There are many Hindu gurus who are known for their overt support to the BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda. These gurus include Sadhvi Ritambhara, Morari Bapu, Asaram Bapu, Vasudevanand Saraswati, and Swami Satyamitranand Giri.
In July 2008, high-profile spiritual gurus, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Ramdev, were the special guests at the launch of the Hindi version of BJP leader Advani’s autobiography, ‘My Country My Life’, in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh state. The gurus reportedly praised Advani in their address.” (Reference)
Consequently, it is not surprising that Vishal Arora, as a Christian convert, is taking aim at popular gurus and spiritual teachers in India (who have large Hindu followings) and is attempting to associate them with “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists” and “Right Wing Hindus”. It is an irrefutable fact that Vishal Arora’s writings are published on numerous conservative, fundamentalist and evangelical Christian websites & blogs that are used to polarize Christians against Hindus. For example, Vishal Arora’s articles have been published on:
- All India Christian Council (aiccindia.org)
- All India Catholic Union, John Dayal (aicu.blogspot.com)
- ASSIST Ministries (assistnews.net)
- Ban The RSS (bantherss.blogspot.com)
- Baptist Courier (baptistcourier.com)
- Baptist Press (baptistpress.net)
- Baptist Press (baptistpress.org)
- Bos News Life – Christian News Agency (bosnewslife.com)
- Baptist Press (bpnews.net)
- Charisma Mag (charismamag.com)
- Christianity and the Christian Faith (christianity.com)
- Christianity Magazine (christianbreakingnews.com)
- Christian Examiner (christianexaminer.com)
- Christian Forums (christianforums.com)
- Christianity Today (christianitytoday.com)
- SOS Christian News India (christiannewsindia.in)
- Christian News Today (christiannewstoday.com)
- Christian Persecution India (christianpersecutionindia.blogspot.com)
- The Christian Post (christianpost.com)
- Religion Today (christiansunite.com)
- Christ My Righteousness (christmyrighteousness9587.wordpress.com)
- Compass Direct News (compassdirect.org)
- The Intersection of Faith and Life (crosswalk.com)
- Christian Persecution India Articles (cpiarticles.blogspot.com)
- Evangel Globe (evangelglobe.com)
- Mangalorean Catholics (groups.yahoo.com/group/MangaloreanCatholics)
- Indian Christian News (indianchristiannews.com)
- Indian Christians (indianchristians.in)
- Indian Christians (indianchristians.us)
- Le Journal Chretien (journalchretien.net)
- Open Doors – Serving persecuted Christians worldwide (opendoors.org.au)
- Oregon Faith Report (oregonreport.com)
- Persecution Update India (persecution.in)
- Christian Suffering & Church Persecution (persecution.org)
- Praise the Almighty (praisethealmighty.com)
- Prophecy News Daily (prophecynewsdaily.com)
- The Right Conservative News Sites (rightsidenews.com)
- Baptist Press (sbcbaptistpress.org)
- Secular India (secularindia.com)
- My Soul Pants For God Alone (soulpants.wordpress.com)
- Mission Chretienne Globale (spcm.org)
- The voice Of The Martyrs (thevoiceofthemartyrs.blogspot.com)
- Transfigurations (transfigurations.blogspot.com)
- Voice of the People – Called by Gods grace for his will and purpose (voptv.org)
- World Christian Ministries (worldchristianministries.org)
- Worthy Christian News (worthynews.com)
- Among numerous others (even more so in association with Tehmina Arora)
Vishal Arora only writes one-way articles about alleged Christian persecution in India that systematically demonizes “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists” and “Right Wing Hindus”. Needless to say, there is another side to the Christian persecution stories. In India, one cannot travel anywhere without seeing Christian graffiti painted on boulders near main traffic routes and on the rocks on high mountains tops. The author has personally seen these things all over India. How would Christians feel if Muslims or Hindus painted their religious symbols on boulders near main traffic routes and on the rocks on high mountain tops in their predominantly Christian countries? If this happened, there would be undeniable hostility and anger against Muslims or Hindus. Yet, when Christians paint their graffiti in India (which is predominantly a Hindu country) they cry “persecution” and play “martyrs” when Hindus and Muslims get hostile and angry with them. Why should Hindus and Muslims have to endure this type of fanatic religious behavior from minority Christians in their homeland?
There have been stories of Christians throwing beef on Hindu idols (Ref), Christians killing Hindus (Refs: 01 – 02 – 03 – 04), a Catholic priest (who was criminally charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Minnesota) being protected by his home diocese in India (Ref) and even fellow Christians admitting to the aggressiveness of Christian missionaries in India (Refs: 01 – 02).
Sita Ram Goel, K. M. Panikkar, Arun Shourie, M.S. Srinivasan and Gauri Viswanathan have written extensively and intelligently about conversion tactics in India by Christian missionaries (Ref: 01 – 02 – 03) and have sounded refuted Vishal Arora’s claim that Christianity came to India with the arrival of Apostle Thomas in Kerala in 52 AD (Ref). Christians have created an Indian Bible using Hindu imagery & Hindu scriptures and have also adopted Hindu names and outfits to trick Hindus into accepting Jesus Christ (Refs: 01 – 02 – 03 – 04). For example, see the Christian Yogi Bede Griffith Trust Website. Other types of inculturation and assimilation ploys include the Hindu’ization of Jesus Christ and Christian symbols (the cross in English letters reads “Om Namah Cristaya” meaning “Om Obeisance to Jesus Christ” and “Christa Sharanam” meaning “Jesus Christ is our Refuge”):
Vishal Arora And The Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life
As mentioned in the introduction, Vishal Arora has presented papers on the mixing of religion and politics in seminars organised by the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life in Washington DC (which focused on the dangers of “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists” and “Right Wing Hindus”). Do not let the fancy name fool you, the Oxford Centre For Religion and Public Life is a USA-based Christian organization founded by the Reverend Dr. Arne Fjeldstad (who is also the “Head of Communications” for the Anglican group GAFCON). The Oxford Centre For Religion and Public Life created the “project” domain GetReligion.org, which is owned and registered by Terry Mattingly (an Eastern Orthodox Christian who directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities). All of the contributors for GetReligion.org are Christians (mostly Christian converts and/or Orthodox Christians). Videos of a very nervous Vishal Arora (notice the repeated blinking of his eyes and gulping movements in his throat) were created by the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life and published on YouTube:
Vishal Arora was filmed in Washington DC by a Christian organization where he talked against “Right Wing Hindus”. Since Vishal Arora is an independent writer from India with no known ties to any specific media organization, where exactly is Vishal Arora getting his paycheck from and who is sponsering and/or funding his expensive trips to the USA?
Vishal Arora Invokes The Swastika Against Hindu Nationalists
Vishal Arora wrote an article entitled Swastika Terrorism, which claimed “The Indian government is ignoring the surge of Hindutva terrorism at its own risk.” Why would Vishal Arora associate a known Hindu symbol with “Hindutvas” (movements advocating for Hindu nationalism)?
The word “swastika” is derived from the Sanskrit word “svastika”, meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of “su” meaning “good, well” and “asti” “to be”. Svasti thus means “well-being”.
As noted by Monier-Williams in his Sanskrit–English dictionary, according to Alexander Cunningham, the swastika represents a monogram formed by interlacing of the letters of the auspicious words su-asti (svasti) written in Ashokan characters. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period in Ancient India. The swastika occurs mainly in the modern day culture of India, sometimes as a geometrical motif and sometimes as a religious symbol. It remains widely used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Though once commonly used all over much of the world without stigma, because of its iconic usage in Nazi Germany the symbol has become stigmatized in the Western world, notably even outlawed in Germany
In Christianity, the swastika was used as a hooked version of the Christian Cross, the symbol of Christ’s victory over death. Some Christian churches built in the Romanesque and Gothic eras are decorated with swastikas, carrying over earlier Roman designs. Swastikas are prominently displayed in a mosaic in the St. Sophia church of Kiev, Ukraine dating from the 12th century. Swastikas also appear as a repeating ornamental motif on a tomb in the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan (Reference).
Vishal Arora’s invocation of the swastika stimga is a direct attack against Hindus who have been using that religious symbol for thousands of years. Vishal Arora, as a Christian convert, would appear to be inciting hostility and hatred against Hindus to his mainly Christian readers who are not familiar with the Hindu religion and its history with the swastika. As a matter of fact, fanatic Christians often claim that Hindus are “Nazi inspired”, “Hitler inspired”, “swastika worshipping”, “Nazi terrorists” , “using Nazi tactics”, “idolators”, “satanists”, “swastika terrorists”, etc. Shame of Vishal Arora for using the Hindu swastika as a prop to stigmatize Hindu Nationalists.
Vishal Arora’s Wife – Tehmina Arora
Tehmina Arora is the wife of Vishal Arora and she is the general secretary for the Christian Legal Association (CLA). What is the “Christian Legal Association”?
About Us
Christian Legal Association (CLA) aims on inspiring Christians in the legal profession to answer God’s call found in Micah 6:8 to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before God”, by living wholeheartedly for God in their place of study or work, thinking about legal issues from a Biblical perspective.CLA links approximately 600 Christian legal professionals across India and had established local networks in Bangalore, Chennai, Cuttack, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi.
Activities
The CLA team holds annual conferences and organizes regional and national seminars for Christian legal professionals. Fellowship and spiritual retreats provide CLA members encouragement and support in the exciting challenge of being a Christian lawyer.Faith in Practise, CLA’s monthly newsletter and prayer calendar, and Persecution Report, a weekly persecution report, help lawyers and civil society to keep updated on issues that confront the church in India.
CLA’s involvement in law and policy change ensures that the collective voice of the Christian legal fraternity is heard.
By engaging with the churches and christian workers in providing legal trainings and legal aid, CLA provides its members the opportunity to participate in equipping the Body of Christ to prepared to meet the legal challenges that face the Church.
Membership
Membership is open to retired judges, lawyers, law professors and students, social workers and journalists and NGOs at a nominal membership fee. All members are required to affirm and uphold the Statement of Faith as a condition of membership.
What is the Christian Legal Association’s “Statement of Faith”?
All CLA members adhere to the following Statement of Faith
Trusting in Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I believe in:
- One God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
- The Deity of our Lord, Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; His vicarious death for our sins through which we receive eternal life; His bodily resurrection and personal return.
- The presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration.
- The Bible as the inspired Word of God.
Tehmina Arora also belong to Micah Challenge, which is described as:
“Micah Challenge is a global coalition between the World Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network. The Micah Network brings together 330 Christian organizations providing relief, development and justice ministries throughout the world. The WEA embraces 420 million evangelical Christians in 127 countries.” (Reference)
The Micah Challenge website provided the following information about Tehmina Arora:
“Tehmina is the General Secretary of the Christian Legal Association, India. She has written over 30 articles on human rights issues, published in leading national dailies and magazines. Tehmina is frequently called upon to address groups at seminars across the country on the rights of religious minorities in India. She worked briefly at the Supreme Court of India as an advocate before joining the Christian Legal Association.” (Reference)
Micah Challenge is facilitated by the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Micah Network. The Council for Micah Challenge has ten members drawn from the leadership of Evangelical Alliances and Christian relief and development agencies from around the world. The chair is Rev Joel Edwards, General Director of Evangelical Alliance UK. The other Board Members are: Tehmina Arora (India), Andy Atkins (UK), Steve Bradbury (Australia), Loida Cariel (Peru), Jane Furniss (Micah Network), Paul Mususu (Zambia), Geoff Tunnicliffe (WEA) and Peter Vander Meulen (USA). Ken Morgan serves as the ex-officio treasurer of the Board.
Tehmina Arora also has a long-time family history involvement with the Lalbagh Methodist Church in India. According to Kuruvilla Chandy (an Indian Pastor), Tehmina Arora and her Grand-Parents worshipped at the Lalbagh Methodist Church:
“Dr B Jeyaraj and I were room mates at seminary. He was my junior then. Today he is a professor in Old Testament studies. Tehmina Arora is the grand daughter of a couple who worshipped at the Lalbagh Methodist Church when I was pastor there. She has visited and worshipped at Lalbagh during my time. She is now in charge of the legal department of the Evangelical Fellowship of India. Both Jeyaraj and Tehmina were at the conference in Bangalore” (Reference)
This might explain why Vishal Arora made no mention to Tehmina Arora on his official domain. To Date: Neither Vishal Arora or Tehmina Arora have publicly divulged their husband/wife relationship (the FaceBook association where their relationship was discovered is private and can only be seen by members: See: Vishal Arora on FaceBook – Tehmina Arora on FaceBook).
Vishal Arora – In Conclusion
Vishal Arora has gone to great extents to package and present himself and his writings as unbiased and neutral. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Vishal Arora is a Christian convert, his wife and brother are conservative, fundamentalist and evangelical Christians and his official domain (vishalarora.co.in) was purchased and registered for him by the USA conservative, fundamentalist and evangelical Christian group NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary), which believes:
“It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.”…“The heathen, then, are under condemnation just as well as those who hear and reject the gospel, for they are sinners by both nature and practice.”…“We believe that the Christian life begins with conversion.” (Refs: 01 – 02)
Vishal Arora is also affiliated with the Christian organization “Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life” and the Christian news agency “Compass Direct News”. Therefore, Vishal Arora’s writings and views about “Hindu Nationalists”, “Hindu Extremists” and “Right Wing Hindus” are biased, self-serving and written with ulterior motives. Vishal Arora and Tehmina Arora have a Christian agenda that specifically targets “Right-Wing Hindus” (which can actually refer to any Hindu who does not denounce Hinduism and accept Christianity) and anyone they perceive as having affiliations with “Right-Wing Hindus”.
Vishal Arora, Tehmina Arora, Vivek Arora and NOBTS are “Right-Wing Christians” who feel it is their religious duty and moral imperative to convert Hindus to their Christian faith. So when Vishal Arora “innocently” takes aim at popular gurus and spiritual teachers in India (who have large Hindu followings) and attempts to associate them with “Right-Wing Hindus”, make no mistake about it: Vishal Arora is on a Christian crusade for his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
