Ban Scientologists From India

Anti-Scientology campaigners have begged the Cardinal Archbishop of Mumbai to stop volunteers associated with the group from visiting the traumatised city to distribute booklets by L Ron Hubbard.

Damien DeWitt, the pseudonym of one of the leaders of the anti-Scientology group "Anonymous", has just sent the following letter to Cardinal Oswald Gracias. Quite how His Eminence is supposed to stop followers of Hubbard from planning to "flood" Mumbai with their material is unclear. But I think you'll be interested in the contents of the letter, and in particular the claim that Scientologists exploited 9/11. Here it is:

For His Grace, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, Vice-President, Catholic Bishops Conference of India

Your Grace,

I send my condolences and prayers to you and the people of Mumbai and India in the aftermath of this terrible massacre which has taken the lives of innocent people of many faiths and nations. I also write asking you to immediately pass on a warning to the government officials in charge of post-disaster operations in Mumbai.

The Church of Scientology has announced that it is dispatching its Volunteer Ministers (VM's) to disaster sites in Mumbai. The Volunteer ministers must be prevented from participating in disaster relief and trauma counseling efforts at all costs.

They appeared at Ground Zero after our own terrorist tragedy on 9/11, and behaved disgracefully. Head of the Church of Scientology David Miscavige has proclaimed the Global Obliteration of psychiatry, psychology, and religious pastoral counseling to be Scientology's number one priority. The VM's therefore interfered with, harrassed, and blocked the efforts of legitimate, professional mental health and pastoral care counselors.

Damian Thompson of the UK Telegraph has confirmed a report from Counterknowledge that the Church of Scientology is dispatching VM's to Mumbai. Counterknowledge.com is the first to publish this information based on intelligence gathered by the anti-Scientology human rights protest group Anonymous.

Many of us Catholic and Christian critics of Scientology's human rights abuses are deeply concerned about Scientology's infiltration of India and its co-opting government, municipal, civic, and religious organizations, particularly the Catholic church in India.

The VM's routinely deceive the Indian public that they are a secular organization disseminating the humanitarian wisdom of LR Hubbard which is compatible with all religions. If fact, all of its practices are inseparable from the rest of Scientology ... No decent group secular or religious should have anything to do with this organization, especially the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the VM's have already deceived the Bishop of Ooty into endorsing them by permitting them to teach Hubbard educational technology to students at St Joseph's College. This is a scandal waiting to be exposed [my italics].

So I urge you to pass this information on to the authorities in Mumbai and to alert the Catholic and secular press in India.

Spare, Your Grace, the traumatised people of Mumbai the unholy ministrations of these vultures and their global obliteration of psychiatry programme.

In the compassion of Jesus,

Damian DeWitt
San Francisco