Apparently after he survived his crucifixion, he tootled over to India to hang out for a while. Hundreds of tourists have since seen the shrine supposedly containing his remains, although most locals think the bones are really evidence of some early Muslim scholars in the area.
The increasing traffic has angered them, prompting security fears in a region that has seen its fair share of violence.
“Some Christians from the West claim it is the grave of Jesus and they had approached us with a request to exhume the remains for carbon dating and DNA testing. But we refused,” Mohammad Amin Ringshawl, the shrine’s caretaker, told Reuters.
“By claiming Rozabal is Jesus’ tomb the foreigners are hurting Muslim sentiments, so to avoid any trouble we have locked the sanctum sanctorum.”
In 1973, a local journalist by the name of Aziz Kashmiri wrote a book called “Christ in Kashmir” which helped launch the whole idea of Jesus having a retirement home but while Muslims don’t believe Jesus actually died on the cross,
“If Isa (Jesus) visited Kashmir and settled here, we would have all become Christians. But that is not the case in the valley,” said Irshad Ahmad, a Muslim scholar.
There were Christians in India as early as the first century (St. Thomas has a tomb there apparently), and certainly by the 7th. There are Christians still there now, outnumbered and maybe persecuted in some fashion, but there. I’d never believe Christ went to India either, but it’s clear Christians went. That they were unable to gain a majority of believers is neither here nor there, really. And not that it matters either, but three different religions can call the middle east home and which group has the most believers there?
I think the locals are right that local folks are buried at that shine, not some god’s offspring. The fact that people can believe Jesus is there is simply proof that people will believe anything.
One Minion's Opinion 