Uttarakhand cabinet approves draft bill to make forced religious conversions a non-bailable offence

The Uttarakhand state cabinet has approved the draft bill called ‘Dharm Swatantrata Adhiniyam’ under which forced and illegal conversions will be a non-bailable offence. The state government is aiming to curb the incidences of religious conversions by means of force, bribes or incentives and duping. Under this bill, a person, if caught with being involved in such practice will have to face a jail term from one year to five years. The minimum jail term will be two years if the victims belong to SC or ST category.

According to reports, if a person wants to convert voluntarily, he/she will have to submit an affidavit with the respective District Magistrate one month prior, in order to clarify that the conversion is voluntary and not forced.

Any conversions, if found not to have followed the above will be invalidated and considered illegal by the government. If a person wants to convert for the purpose of marriage, he/she will also have to submit the same affidavit.

The Trivendra Singh Rawat led state cabinet convened for four hours
on different issues on Monday in the state assembly. Under this bill,
even organised events for religious conversions will be illegal if not
notified to the government one month prior.

The government’s decision is in line with the order of the Uttarakhand High Court in November last year when the bench headed by Justice Rajiv Sharma had suggested that the state government should formulate the Freedom of Religion Act to check the practice of religious conversion for the sole purpose of facilitating a marriage. The HC had asked the state government to legislate a law on the analogy of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 1968 and the Himachal Freedom of religion act
2006.

A bench headed by Justice Rajiv Sharma had said, “It needs to be mentioned that the court has come across a number of cases where inter-religion marriages are being organised.

However, in few instances, the conversion from one religion to another religion is a sham conversion only to facilitate the process of
marriage. In order to curb this tendency, the state government is
expected to legislate the Freedom of Religion Act on the analogy of
Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1968 as well as Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2006, without hurting the religious sentiments of citizens.”

Under the bill, the immediate family members of the concerned person who has been converted can register a case.

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AIPF Fact-Finding Team Visit To Bastar finds violence against Christian minorities and other startling facts

Several Cases of Fake Encounters, Rapes, Arbitrary Arrests, Fake Surrenders Exposed

Raipur, 12 June 2016

An 8-member fact-finding team of All India People’s Forum visited four districts of Bastar, Chhattisgarh between 8-11 June 2016. The fact-finding team found several incidents of communal violence against Christians; as well as fake encounters; rapes; fake cases and arbitrary arrests; and fake surrenders.

The AIPF team comprised former Madhya Pradesh MLA Dr Sunilam of Samajwadi Samagam, former Jharkhand MLA and CPIML Central Committee member Vinod Singh, Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of All India Progressive Women’s Association, Brijendra Tiwari of AICCTU, Amlan Bhatacharya, State Secretary of PUCL West Bengal, Advocate Aradhana Bhargava of Chhindwara, Advocate Ajoy Dutta of Kolkata and Amlendu Choudhury. Bela Bhatia and Soni Sori also accompanied the team.       

Communal Violence Against Christian Minorities

1.       At several villages in Bastar district – including Karmari, Bade Thegli, Sirisguda and Belar – resolutions adopted under Section 129 (g) of Chhattisgarh Gram Panchayat Act have been wrongly invoked in violation of the spirit of the law to restrict non-Hindus from residing or building places of worship, even though the High Court has quashed such gram sabha resolutions in Karmari and Sirisguda. 

2.       In Bhadhisgaon (Tokapal Panchayat) in Bastar district, Pastor Pilaram Kawde was given a written notice by the Gram Panchayat denying permission to him to construct a place of worship on his own land. The written notice cited Sections 55 (1) and (2) Chhattisgarh Gram Panchayat Act 1993 and said that Pastor Pileman cannot construct a place of worship because “People of big-big castes and religions live in this village, and every Dussehra even the Roopshila Devi Ma joins the celebrations.”

3.       Christians are being prevented from using burial grounds in several villages. In Bhadisgaon, an elderly Christian lady Saradi Bai died on 25.5.2016, but Hindu villagers provoked by the Bajrang Dal stopped Christians from burying her. Eventually, after negotiations conducted by the police, she was buried in a casket but without the cross – but the Hindu villagers warned that no future Christian burial would be allowed. Accordingly, the 200 Christians of the village gave applications to the SDM, Tehsildar, police and Sarpanch asking that burial grounds be allotted separately for Christians, since they were being prevented from using the common burial grounds.

4.       Saradi Bai’s husband Sukhdev Netam passed away on 6.6.2016, and Hindu villagers prevented Christians from carrying out his last rites and burying him, threatening to kill them if they tried to bury him. Eventually after police arrived, he was buried but again, the villagers and Sarpanch warned that in future, they will call Bajrang Dal if there is any attempt by Christians in the village to use the burial grounds.

5.       At Ara village, Bario Chowki, Jeypore thana, District Ambikapur, on last Sunday, 5 June 2016, a Bajrang Dal mob of 25 people led by Chhotu Jaiswal, Sonu Gupta, Bipin Gupta, Chhotu Gupta and others attacked the church during Sunday prayers; vandalized the church; and beat up the pastor, his wife and three others. They made a video of the thrashing and made it ‘viral’ – we have a copy of this video. They dragged off the Pastor, his wife and three others to the Bario Chowki where they were kept till night. No FIR was registered against the assailtants – instead a case under Section 295 A has been registered against the Pastor who is yet to get bail.

6.       In village Sirisguda, rations were denied to Christian believers, and Food Department authorities were beaten up along with Christians; the ambulance was not allowed to enter the village; injured Christians were not allowed to get proper treatment in the district hospital. After great efforts a case was registered but the statements of the injured are yet to be taken in Court. VHP, Bajrang Dal people prevent Christians from filling water in the village. At a meeting called by the DM, the VHP and Bajrang Dal said that Christians must do ghar wapsi, or else we will evict them from the village invoking Section 129 (g) of the Panchayat Act.

Repression and Intimidation of Villagers Resisting Violations of Forest Rights for Raoghat Mines 

1.       Ramkumar Darro of village Kohche, thana Antahgarh in Kanker district said that 25 hectares of land have been acquired for Raoghat Mines without informing the villagers, gram panchayat, or gram sabha. (Officially the Raoghat Mines, as well as adjoining dam and railway lines are for Bhilai Steel Plant but a consortium of private companies will be involved with the mining project). Trees have been cut, adivasis’ forest land that they have had for the last 50 years is being grabbed; several places of worship of adivasis are being destroyed and even the burial grounds have been taken over by the company. CRPF camps have come up densely at every kilometer in the area. Ramkumar Darro had spoken to an earlier fact-finding team in May, after which he was threatened by a SDOP that he would be jailed as a Maoist.  

2.       Dukra Singh’s daughter was raped by an SPO and even had a baby by him. No case of rape could be registered, the SPO promised to pay Rs 50000 as compensation but has only paid Rs 25000.

Fake Encounters

1.       Nagalguda, thana Gadiras, Kuakonda Tehsil, District Dantewada: Four women – Rame, Pandi, Sunno and Mase - were killed here in a fake encounter at 7 am on 21.11.2015, and Badru, one former Maoist who surrendered and became a ‘Pradhan Arakshak’ and had accompanied the force, raped Mase before killing her. 22 DRG jawans were decorated and promoted for this ‘encounter,’ in spite of the fact that rewarding jawans for encounters is against NHRC guidelines and Supreme Court guidelines for encounters.

2.       Arlampalli, Dornapal Tehsil, district Sukma: Here, villagers told the team that on 3 November 2015, three village boys – Dudhi Bhima ( age 23), Sodhi Muya (age 21) and Vetti Lacchu (age 19) were killed by the police. The three boys left the village in the morning o 3 November on two cycles to get a drink of the local alcoholic drink (made out of date palm fruits). After getting their drink, they were going to the Polampalli Bazaar, where Bhima’s mother was waiting for them. Near the ‘nala’ close to the village, one youth Vetti Lacchu got down from the cycle while the other two went ahead. Security forces were in the area for a combing operation, and caught the two boys on cycles and began beating them up. The third youth, Vetti Lacchu, seeing this, began to run away – and was shot dead by the police. The other two youth were asked to carry the body of their friend to the Polampalli thana but on the way, they too were shot dead. No FIR has been registered as yet.

3.       Palamagdu, Dornapal Tehsil, district Sukma: Police claimed that two women Maoists were killed after an hour-long gun battle on 31 January 2016. In a local newspaper, the police is quoted as saying that the two women Naxalites were wearing saris and could not run and therefore fell into a ditch and were killed. The team found that in fact, the police had killed two small girls in cold blood. The mother of Siriyam Pojje (age 14) said that her daughter along with Manjam Shanti (age 13) had gone to feed the hens and was going to have a bath in the river and return home. On the way the police shot dead both the girls. Manjam Shanti’s father also said that both girls lived in the village and had no connection with Maoists.

4.       Kadenar village, Bijapur district: The police claimed that on 21.5.2016, an encounter took place with 30-35 armed Maoists, in which a husband and wife – Manoj Hapka and his wife Pandi Hapka/Pandi Tanti were killed. On reaching Kadenar village Pandi Hapka’s mother and brother told the team that at 8 pm at night on 21 May, police came to the house where the family was eating dinner. They took Manoj and Pandi away, along with their clothes, other belongings and Rs 13000 that they had earned by harvesting chillies in Andhra Pradesh. We were told that Manoj and Pandi had been with Maoists for a year, but five years ago, the couple left the Maoists and came back to the village where they did farming. Pandi has had TB for the past five years and has been very ill.

Fake Cases and Arbitrary Arrests                         

In Padiya village, Gadiras Thana, Sukma district, on 21 May 2016, at 9 am, a force of 200-300 police came and picked up villagers working on a water body, saying they were involved in the breaking of a Essar pipeline on 19 May 2016. Police took away 11 adivasis, left two of them later, and 8 remain in jail. The night before our team reached the village, the police forced sarpanch Madkam Hadma to wear police uniform and move with the force, arresting four people. Thus the police conspired to make the sarpanch look like a police agent, making him vulnerable to attacks by Maoists.

In the same village, a small 12-year-old boy Joga had been picked up by police on 12 May. The fact finding team met Joga and learned that Joga’s father and brothers had been arrested and detained illegally in the thana for seven days, where they were made to clean utensils and do other cleaning work in the thana. They were later released. The night before our team arrived in the village, Joga’s father had been taken into police custody with three others. The SHO of Gadiras thana said that repeated arrests are done because Joga’s sister is a Maoist ‘Mahila Commander’, whereas more than 150 villagers told the team that this is not true and the girl lives in the village. The team is apprehensive for the safety of Joga’s sister – she may be killed in a fake encounter claiming she is a Maoist. The sarpanch also is in danger of being killed.                

Rape of minor girl by CRPF Jawan

On 8 June 2016, a girl aged 14 years from Podum village, thana Dantewada was shutting her kirana shop when a CRPF jawan came and raped her throughout the night in the shop. She told her brother in law, who complained in the thana and was sent for medical examination last night (11 June 2016) – a process facilitated by the team and by Soni Sori. The CRPF jawan had given a name – RR Netam – and number in writing to the girl but this appears to be false since the TI says that no jawan of this name is there in the Jarum CRPF camp near Podum village.          

Fake Surrenders   

There have been 50 surrenders in the Chintalnar area. The team visited Chintalnar village where we were told of several staged surrenders. One small trader told us that he was called to the Polampalli thana by an SPO saying there is a warrant against him. He went there where he and 25 others were told that either they must agree to ‘surrender’ or they will be booked in a case of killing Nagesh, an SPO who was killed 2 years ago. He is 55 years old and he said that the other 25 cases were also not genuine surrenders. They all were given Ra 10000 each on the spot. Several others also testified to fake surrenders but are afraid of reprisals from the Maoists. We were told that the sarpanch, Kosa, is also under threat from Maoists for having facilitated the fake surrenders.

Conditions in the Village

Two AIPF teams covered 1650 kilometres in their journey, where they encountered more than 60 police and CRPF camps. But in the 25 villages that the teams visited, the villagers were insecure and suspicious of each other. In these 4 districts, political groups and other organizations are rather inactive, suggesting that the scope for democracy has shrunk there. Most of the villages visited by the teams were without electricity, without roads, and lacking in education and health facilities. In Ketulnar, two baby girls died after drinking milk provided by the anganwadi. We found that the village had 8 mitanin who did not even have medicines to treat diarrhea and vomiting and the hospital is 10 kilometres away because of which the little girls could not be treated. Now after the death of the girls, medicines have been provided but a case of culpable homicide is yet to be registered against the milk provider.

Signed

Dr Sunilam

 (9425109770)

Kavita Krishnan

(09560756628)

Brijendra Tiwari

(9926146022)

               

on behalf of AIPF

Madhya Pradesh Christians want Good Friday break back

Political parties and labor unions have joined Christians in demanding that Good Friday be reinstated as a public holiday in India's Madhya Pradesh state.

Church officials and politicians said the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party state government has deliberately not listed the day as a holiday in the official gazette, following its policy of overlooking other religions.

"This shows the government's hatred towards Christians," said K.K. Mishra spokesperson for the state chapter of the opposition Congress Party.

Good Friday was recognized as a statewide holiday until a gazette notification issued on Nov. 26 failed to have it listed as one. Good Friday is a holiday in most of India.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in the state 13 years ago, has been gradually promoting a Hindu ideology, critics have said.

"It deliberately made Good Friday a working day," Mishra told ucanews.com.

Father Maria Stephen, spokesman for Bhopal Archdiocese, said the government's move is unfortunate and will divide people along "sectarian lines, and eventually destroy peace and harmony."

The decision undermines the spirit of the Indian constitution, which is based on secular principles, the priest said. Such ideas will also sow the seeds of fundamentalism, said Father Stephen. The state government should reconsider the decision, he added.

Communists have also weighed in on the issue. Badal Saroj, state secretary of the Communist Party of India, said Good Friday is not just a Christian holy day. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ provides a message for everyone working for truth and human equality, he said.

The United Forum of Bank Unions said it sent a memorandum to state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to tell him that Good Friday should be a holiday.

However, Anthony DeSa, the state's chief secretary, said no political group or employees union have approached him so far about having Good Friday off.

There are 59 millions Christians in India which has a total population of 1.3 billion people.

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Marginalising Christians

CHHATISGARH’S Bastar region looks seductive in its tranquil beauty. The calm on the surface, however, is deceptive because the area is simmering with a hate campaign, spurred by the Hindutva organisations led by the VHP. There has always been a subterranean terror campaign against members of the minuscule Christian community in this region, but the arrival of a BJP-led government at the Centre has emboldened these organisations to such an extent that a particularly systematic campaign to drive Christians out of the State has begun. To make matters worse, even the police turn a blind eye; no first information reports (FIR) get registered and representations to the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary, or the police chief have no impact on the ground reality.

It all began on May 10 in Sirsiguda village when a meeting of the gram panchayat was convened and a resolution passed under Section 129(G) of the Chhattisgarh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, which sought to “preserve the traditional cultural unity of the village; prohibit non-Hindu religious practitioners from either practising, preaching or propagating any other religion; banning the entry of non-Hindus in the area; and prohibiting the construction of any religious place without the prior permission of the gram panchayat”. The resolution stated that anyone violating these clauses would be liable for action. The resolution (a copy of which is with Frontline) was signed by the village sarpanch and other office-bearers of the gram panchayat. As many as 50 gram sabhas have passed similar resolutions.

The 50-odd Christian families in Sirsiguda village have been denied their PDS rations on the grounds that their ration cards are fake. They filed a complaint with to the district Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department on June 16. After the authorities arrived in the village to investigate the issue, those who deposed before them, mainly Christians, were beaten up by a group of 150-odd VHP activists, in full public view, with the local policemen remaining mute spectators. Even though an FIR naming the perpetrators of the violence was lodged the next day, so far no arrests have been made (Frontline has a copy of the FIR). The shops in the village refuse to sell their goods to the Christian families, who have been repeatedly warned by VHP activists to either convert to Hinduism or leave the place.

Arun Pannalal, president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, told Frontline that this incident had triggered a chain reaction in the entire Bastar region. Efforts to apprise the Chief Minister and other senior Ministers have been in vain. “We have sought an appointment with the Chief Minister more than 50 times, but he has not given us time. Complaining to other State government officials has been of no help as they only give assurances and nothing changes on the ground,” Pannalal said. (The forum filed a writ petition in the Chhattisgarh High Court on September 5 challenging the constitutionality of the resolutions adopted by the village councils. On September 8, the court asked the State government to file its reply within three weeks.)

Attacks on Christians, systematic and in full knowledge of the authorities, have become frequent since the Modi government took office in New Delhi. On July 27, in Parapur village, where only two Christian families have been living for the past several years, Sukhram, 22, was beaten up by VHP activists and the police refused to register an FIR. Instead, his family was told either to compromise or to face the consequence. Intimidation and attacks have been happening in and around the Dhamtari area, which has a concentration of Christian families, too.

“No one is doing anything for us. We are totally helpless, at the mercy of Hindutva goons. The government does not listen to us, the police take no action, the political parties just don’t care. Where do we go? What do we do? We are not even allowed to pray in peace,” Pannalal said, conveying the despondency and frustration the community as a whole is experiencing in the State.

Attacks on Christians in Chhattisgarh are not a recent phenomenon. In January 2012, activists of the Hindu Dharam Sena created a ruckus in the Catholic Convent School in Korba, protesting against the principal not allowing Saraswati puja in the classroom. In February 2008, BJP Minister Renuka Singh led an attack on a Christian meeting at Fatakpur village in Sarguja district. Eleven pastors, accused of conversion, sustained injuries in the attack. They were arrested and later put in jail where they continue to remain. In June 2006, five practising Christian women from Bothili village in Durg district were disrobed at a public meeting by goons led by BJP MLA Pritam Sahu, who was accompanied by one Madanlal Sahu.

But the difference now is that with the BJP in power at the Centre, the attacks have become more brazen and the indifference of the authorities has become starker. Take for example the Sirsiguda gram panchayat resolution. The gram panchayat sabha is a local government meeting attended by local body representatives, but a copy of the resolution banning non-Hindus in the area was sent to the local VHP head. This raises serious concerns about the state officially encouraging non-state actors in matters as sensitive as religion. According to Chhattisgarh Christian Forum members, even the police are in cahoots with VHP functionaries. “In such a scenario, where do we go?” one of them asked.

“Physical violence was something that has been present over the years, but now structural violence also has begun, which is far more dangerous because it aims at systemically targeting Christian believers. This is more dangerous because Christianity has been in existence in the Bastar region for the last 100-125 years and to suddenly displace people, calling them outsiders, accusing them of conversion, is painful. It breeds hate, causes pain and frustration, and polarises society communally,” said Akhilesh Edgar, honorary regional secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, an organisation that has been taking up such issues with the State government over the years, without much success.

As for the role of the secular parties, “the less said, the better”, Edgar said. The CPI, however, has tried and intervened effectively sometimes, but the Congress could not care less, he said. 

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Christian bodies move court against ban in Bastar

Christian bodies in Chhattisgarh have moved the Bilaspur High Court against the ban on the entry of non-Hindu religious missionaries in the State’s Bastar region.

In June, over 50 Gram Panchayats in Bastar had passed orders under Section 129(G) of the Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Act banning “all non-Hindu religious propaganda, prayers and speeches in the villages.”

“The High Court issued notices to the Chhattisgarh government and the Bastar district collector on Monday over the petition filed by the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum and the pastor of Sirisguda village in Bastar. The court has given the authorities three weeks’ time to respond,” said advocate N.L. Soni, who represented the Christian bodies in court, speaking to The Hindu.

“Our main contention is how anybody on Indian soil can refuse entry to Indians. Nobody can stop the entry of religious missionaries under any law,” said CCF president Arun Pannalal.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, however, has demanded strict implementation of the ban.

“We welcome that they [Christian bodies] have moved court. They will accept the law at least in this way. The ban was imposed by local Gram Panchayats to protect their heritage and culture. I don’t think the Christian bodies should have any problem with that,” said VHP Bastar district president Suresh Yadav.

Mr. Yadav claimed that 10 more Gram Panchayats in Bastar had passed the resolution under the CPR Act in the last one month, the latest being Erikpal and Parapur villages.

“Religious conversions are creating tension in Bastar’s villages and if the villagers want to stop it using an Act, then we support such efforts. The VHP’s role has only been in an advisory capacity and it will continue its work around people’s awareness,” said Mr. Yadav, adding that VHP office-bearers would meet the Governor and the Chief Minister to seek strict implementation of the ban.

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Congress and BJP: United in Targeting the Church

BJP and Congress governments play politics with conversion bogey

By John Dayal

India’s microscopic Christian community and its clergy may become “collateral damage” of an unspoken but very palpable competitive wooing of the majority Hindu community, specially in central India, in the run up to the General Elections in 2014, and elections to State legislative assemblies even earlier.

Three significant recent developments show the political trend. The State of Madhya Pradesh, which was among the first [with Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh] to seek a curb on conversions to Christianity through its ironically named Freedom of Religion Act in 1968, is now adding some more draconian provisions to the notorious law. Neighbouring Maharashtra is understood to be planning a similar law to criminalize conversions. And up in the Himalayan north, the Himachal Pradesh government is planning to seek the Supreme court’s help to reverse a High court judgment which had struck down some of the more vicious components of the state’s anti conversion law, including one which required government’s permission before change of faith.

Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata party, now gone entirely overboard with the Hindutva agenda of its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh whose chosen Prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has made it clear where his priorities lie. His lieutenants have called for a building of a Temple to Lord Rama on the ruins of the Babri mosque the RSS groups demolished in 1992. Modi himself has lost no opportunity to stress his support to the Hindu heartland.

But it is the Congress that governs Himachal Pradesh. The current chief minister had enacted this law, and he now wants all its “teeth” restored by the Supreme Court. Maharashtra is also ruled by the Congress in a coalition with the Nationalist Congress Party of Union Agriculture minister Mr. Sharad Pawar, who too professes a vey “secular” ideology to woo the large Muslim population of his home State.

The mainstay of the Congress political platform has been its traditional non-partisan ideology – and its affirmative action for the poor, the marginalised, the religious minorities, Tribals and Dalits. But it has been an open secret from the days of Mahatma Gandhi and the illustrious leadership of the Freedom Struggle, that Congress also harbours majoritarian elements who surface every time the party has to seek votes in the face of a direct challenges by the BJP and other Hindutva groups such as the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

The Maharashtra government has been secretive on its reason for contemplating a law to curb conversions. It has no data to show the number of conversions done through fraud or coercion – the two reasons given as grounds for vitiating a change of faith by a citizen even in the states of Arunachal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Himachal which do have these laws on the statute books.

What complicates the politics of such moves against conversions -- and the phrase is generally understood to mean conversion to Christianity, and not to Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism -- is the focus on Christian preachers and evangelists. Islam has since Independence not really been involved in proselytizing with its numbers growing only through birth. There have been many instances of Hindus converting to Sikhism, a practice that was common before the Army assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984 at the height of the separatist Khalistani militancy, but still takes place in the Punjab and New Delhi. Conversions to Buddhism take place on a mass scale from the ranks of the Dalits, who are then called Ambedkarites or Neo-Buddhists. Five hundred thousand of them were converted to Buddhism in Nagpur by the late Dr. B R Ambedkar, the chair of the committee that wrote India’s Constitution. A recent celebrated mass conversion took place in recent years in Mumbai where 50,000 Dalits changed faith at a popular public grounds in the heart of the city under police protection.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Council of Hindus) and the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (Jungle Dwellers Welfare Association), frontal organisations of the RSS working in the tribal areas, routinely convert animistic and Christian tribals to Hinduism under what they call a Ghar Wapsi programme, “home-coming” to their faith. There has been no legal action ever against the VHP, or the RSS.

So far the Himachal law was the most draconian as it forced citizens and their pastors to give a month’s notice to the state authorities and then await their decision before they could formally profess the faith. The Evangelical Fellowship of Indian, and a secular NGO, ANHAD led by celebrated civil rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, moved the high court which struck down these obnoxious clauses.

It is these very sections that Madhya Pradesh now wants to incorporate into its old law. It in fact goes a step further and wants the police to launch mandatory enquires into why the person wants to change his faith – in effect why he wants to leave Hindu fold. Pastors can be jailed for four years and fined a hundred thousand rupees if they break the law.

In states where the police force and the subordinate bureaucracy is known to be bigoted sand partisan, such laws can become extremely punitive. Human Rights activists have often pointed out that such laws also encourage the persecution and victimization of the Christian community, especially of the clergy.

The Church does not seem to have anticipated this. It also has no thesis for a united pre-emptive challenge to such laws. Individual groups go to court, but it is not an easy process. Some sections of the church, in fact, are quick to blame Pentecostal groups as inviting such laws by their provocative evangelisation. Others seem ready to sue for peace, and are already making overtures to the BJP as was seen in the YMCA feting Mr. Narendra Modi at a function in Ahmedabad last month.

The last time the Church voiced its anger was when the then Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, called for a “national debate on conversions”, and the Catholic Bishops Conference president, Archbishop Alan de Lastic, challenged him, pointing out that such talk encouraged violence against hapless Christians in the country. It remains to be seen how the church will respond now.

Violence continues in Orissa despite curfew

Friday, 29 August , 2008, 12:34
Last Updated: Friday, 29 August , 2008, 12:52

Bhubaneswar: The communal violence that erupted in Orissa after the killing of five people, including a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, continued for the seventh day on Friday with stray incidents being reported from Kandhamal district despite a curfew, police said.

“There have been stray incidents of violence in parts of Kandhamal” a police official told IANS on phone from district headquarters Phulbani.

The areas where violence broke out included Phiringia, Tikabali and Udayagiri.

"Mobs have blocked roads in several places and police are trying to clear them,” the official said.

"Although 4,000 policemen have been deployed in Kandhamal district, which is the worst hit, Hindu and Christian rioters have clashed in several places. We have arrested at least 137 people in the district since Saturday," he added.

However, officials at the police headquarters here said that things were peaceful in the rest of the state.

Educational institutions run by Christians remained closed across the state on Friday as a part of nationwide protest against the violence in which Christians were targeted, according to its community leaders.

“Policemen have been ordered to shoot rioters at sight and curfew is in force in all major towns of Kandhamal. Security forces have been taking out flag marches in several areas," a government official said.

Police said 11 people have been killed in the violence since Saturday. However, local TV channels and newspapers said at least 17 people have died in the communal violence and the bodies of 13 people had been found.

Asit Kumar Mohanty, regional coordinator of the Global Council of Indian Christians, claimed that 30 Christians had been killed since Saturday.

"As per our estimate, 10,000 Christian families have fled to the forests after their houses were burnt and they were attacked by rioters. Over 4,000 people have been injured and more than 20,000 houses have been burnt," Mohanty told IANS.

However, government sources said the figures given by Mohanty were exaggerated. Kandhamal district officials said about 4,000 Christian families had fled their homes.

"It is an emotional and spontaneous reaction of people to the killing of Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati," Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, an administrative official camping in Kandhamal, said.

The state has been on the boil since the killing of Saraswati, a member of the central advisory committee of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and four others on Saturday evening by suspected Maoist guerrillas at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district.

Saraswati was leading a campaign against cow slaughter and religious conversion in the communally sensitive district - which with a population of around 600,000 including 150,000 Christians has witnessed numerous clashes between Hindus and Christians in the past.

Radical Hindu groups in the state alleged that Christians killed Saraswati because he was opposing religious conversion. Christian organisations deny the allegation.

Saraswati's supporters have been holding protests since Saturday night, blocking trains and vehicles.

Orissa is no stranger to communal violence between Hindus and Christians.

"People are very angry and the government needs to immediately arrest the Christian militants who killed Swamiji,” said Subash Chauhan, leader of Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal.

On January 22, 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, 10-year-old Philip and six-year-old Timothy, were burnt alive by a Hindu radical mob in their vehicle in Keonjhar district.

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Andhra Pradesh CM orders probe into priest's murder

Hyderabad: Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, has accepted the demand for ordering a comprehensive investigation into the killing of 10 Pastors and also numerous attacks on the Christians by communal groups in the State.
The Chief Minister also ordered a meeting to decide on the measures to be taken to make a thorough enquiry into the murder of Fr Thomas Pandipally on 16 August 2008. The assurances followed a meeting that Archbishop M Joji had held with the Chief Minister on 22 August 2008. The Archbishop had led a 12 member delegation of Catholic leaders. The funeral of Fr Thomas took place at Bellamppalli on 20 August 2008. The funeral service was presided over by Archbishop Abraham Viruthagulangara of Nagpur. Mrs Saramma, the mother of Fr Thomas, came from the United States with his brothers and sisters to take part in the burial.  
On 19 August 2008 Archbishop Joji had sent a detailed report of the murder to Rev Pedro Lopez Quintana, the Apostolic Nuncio to India, who took up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs. All the Members of the Hierarchy in India (CBCI) were also sent a copy of the same urging them to devise a plan at the national level to put an end to the atrocities of the extremists.
The Archdiocese of Hyderabad and the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches (APFC) sent memoranda to the Prime Minister, the UPA Chairperson and the Home Minister in New Delhi and to the Ministers for Minorities Welfare and the Home Affairs in Andhra Pradesh. The National Commission for Minorities, the AP State Minorities Commission and the AP State Human Rights Commission are being requested to ensure a thorough investigation into the present case and all the killings of Pastors and attacks on Christians in the State.

Source: AICC

Polls in the air, UPA brings Muslim quotas on the table

Jayanth Jacob / D K SINGH

Posted online: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST

New Delhi, September 4

Sensing the inevitability of mid-term elections sooner rather than later, the UPA government is believed to be working out reservation benefits for Muslims and Christians. The plan is to bring a “sub-quota” for Muslims within the existing 27 per cent OBC quota and to include Christian and Muslim Dalits in the Scheduled Castes List.

This comes along with fast-tracking a slew of measures: implementation of the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee’s recommendations on minority welfare, legislation for unorganized sector workers and a more humane relief and rehabilitation policy.

Highly placed sources in the Congress have told The Indian Express that the government plans to issue an “executive order” to provide for a sub-quota for Muslims. Although a section of backward Muslims do get this benefit in the OBC category, their share in the reservation pie is minuscule. The Muslims, it is being argued, will stand to gain “substantially” in terms of their share if a sub-quota were to be created within the existing quota. And as they will be eligible for this benefit on the basis of social and educational backwardness, it will also circumvent existing court rulings against reservation on religious grounds.

Sources said the sub-categorisation of communities under OBC quota on the basis of relative backwardness had been recommended by the National Commission for Backward Classes over a decade ago but successive governments have been sitting on it.

Sources said the government is also working out ways to include Muslim and Christian Dalits in the SC List — a matter which is at present in the Supreme Court. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 originally restricted the SC list to Hindus but was later opened to Sikhs and Buddhists; it still excludes Muslims and Christians from its purview.

Tahir Mahmoud, member of the National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra, told The Indian Express that this could not be done via an executive order.

“The First List (Constitution Order 1950) was made in the name of the President of India on behalf of the government of India. But it is provided in the Constitution that any amendment to this 1950 Order could be done by Parliament only,” he said.

This comes shortly after the UPA announced a string of measures for minority welfare in Parliament last week in the wake of the Justice Rajendra Sachar committee’s recommendations.

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