Tribals torn apart by religion

Two months before polling began in Jharkhand, Ajay Tirkey began dividing his day between campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Ranchi and attending to his real estate business. Mr. Tirkey, who heads the Central Sarna Committee(CSC), with lakhs of animistic Sarna tribals as members in urban parts of Ranchi, Gumla and Hazaribagh,believes that the BJP’s Narendra Modi will get the community what it has been demanding for decades: the distinction of being a minority religion with all attendant benefits. “We submitted a memorandum to Modi in December to introduce a Sarna code in the census, and [the] BJP’s State leaders agreed,” he says.

Mr. Tirkey — tall, stout, dressed in white shirt and trousers and wearing a golden watch on one wrist and a vermillion thread on the other — speaks softly and smiles often, even while narrating the violence that has broken out following his organisation’s attempt to stop religious conversions in the last decade. The office of his company, Deoshila Development Private Limited, is sparsely furnished, with only a poster of Hanuman for decoration. Mr. Tirkey owns the commercial complex we are sitting in. “This is a century-old fight. I have not let the Christians get away with conversions since I became the head in 2000,” he says. “We broke the walls of a church in Tape in Ormanjhi while it was being constructed. There was a case of conversion of five families in Ghagrajala village in Ranchi; we re-converted three. Then a few families in Gaitalsud, Angada, of whom only one member escaped because he worked somewhere else. He has not come back since; he fears us,” he recounts, beaming.

Mr. Tirkey, the BJP’s mayoral candidate from Ranchi in 2013, describes the “re-conversion” ceremonies as being similar to the ghar-waapsi (homecoming) ceremonies conducted by BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo in Chhattisgarh, in the mid-2000s. Mr. Judeo used to wash the feet of the converted person with holy water and declare the person Hindu again. Sarnas, Mr. Tirkey says, besides washing feet, made the converted person taste a drop of blood of a freshly sacrificed rooster and sprinkled water on them. A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA) or Dharam Jagran usually accompanied CSC members for this ceremony, he says. Sitting by Mr. Tirkey’s side, Manoj Kumar, a member of the BJP’s Jharkhand Kisan Morcha Pradesh Samiti, nods in agreement.

Conversion politics
In the last century, religious conversions in the Chotanagpur region have led to tensions. The first missionaries to arrive were the German Protestants in 1845, followed by the Catholics. The rift between Christian and non-Christian tribals was visible in 1947-48. Concerned with the growing influence of Christians, Sarna leaders formed a ‘Sudhar Sabha,’ notes academic Dr. Alex Ekka in an essay on the Jharkhand movement.

The former captain of the Indian hockey team, Jaipal Singh Munda, is credited with getting equal rights including reservations for Christian tribals, as a member of the Constituent Assembly. A few Sarna leaders opposed this move then. Congress MP Kartik Oraon introduced a bill in Parliament in 1968 to de-schedule Christian tribals, albeit unsuccessfully.

The Jan Sangh and the RSS began making inroads in the Chotanagpur region in the 1960s, initiating developmental activities in forest villages to counter the growing reach of Christian missionaries. While the VKA already has a strong presence in the Gumla and Latehar districts of West Jharkhand, more recently it has focused on increasing its influence in Sahebganj and Pakur along the State’s border with West Bengal, close to Bangladesh. Both districts feature in a map of areas from Uttar Pradesh to the north-east as “Areas of high Muslim and Christian influence” in a publication by Sankat Mochan Ashram, New Delhi.

“The church was trying to proselytize in Pakur but slowed down after we increased our presence. We recently performed ghar-waapsi for 50 families there. Sarna groups are doing re-conversions themselves now; we prefer it this way. We explain to them that 2000 years ago, we worshipped trees. Sarnas are Hindu too,” says Prakash Kamat, the Bihar-Jharkhand zonal secretary of the VKA.

Tribals constitute 26.3 per cent of Jharkhand’s population. According to the 2001 Census, of the State’s population of 3.29 crore, 68.5 per cent are Hindus and 13.8 per cent are Muslims. Only four per cent follow Christianity. Though Sarnas, who worship their ancestors and nature, are not counted separately, they make up most of the ‘Other’ category, estimated at 11 to 13 per cent of the population. Sarna groups claim that the actual numbers may be higher, given the absence of a separate category for them. A common perception is that despite their small numbers, Christian tribals have better access to higher education and jobs. Whether due to economic disparities or the stoking of enmities by different religious groups, the chasm between Sarna and Christian tribals has widened.

A deep divide
The most stark instance of this was in 2013 when a spate of protests erupted in Ranchi soon after the Cardinal Telesphore Toppo unveiled the statue of a “tribal” Mary — a dark-skinned Mother Mary wearing a white and red saree and bangles, holding an infant Jesus in a sling, as is common among tribal women. Sarna dharamguru Bandhan Tigga, considered more moderate than Ajay Tirkey’s group, gave the Church three months to remove the statue, describing it as a conversion tactic. In August, over 3,000 Sarna tribals marched to the site, a small Catholic church in Singpur on Ranchi’s outskirts, threatening to bring it down. The police imposed Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code in the area to stop the protesters. Three days later, a FIR was registered against members of Sarna groups after they threatened families in Ormanjhi, 50 km from Singpur, who had converted to Protestantism several years ago, to re-convert to Sarna religion within a week, even breaking the gate of the house of one of the families.

Sources close to the Cardinal claim he had not known that the statue was that of a “tribal” Mary before he reached the parish for the inauguration, but have chosen to stay silent, fearing that a step back now may only weaken the church’s position. Before this, in 2008, the church was on the back foot when Sarna groups questioned the ‘Nemha Bible’ published by a Lutheran church in the tribal language, Kuduk, which they said contained portions offensive to animistic worship.

In Singpur, the residents still recount last year’s protests cautiously. “Thousands marched from Dhurva to the parish. While the march had been called by Sarna groups, several Bajrang Dal members wearing saffron bands marched with them. Even tribals from neighbouring Odisha, Chhattisgarh districts reached here,” recalled a member of the community. It was done by evoking Sarnas’ pride, say Dharam Jagran members.

anumeha.y@thehindu.co.in

 

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Church leaders gun for ‘utter lie’ on Christian persecution

New Delhi, April 16: Christian leaders today condemned Narendra Modi’s statement in a television interview last week that he was unaware of any attacks on members of the community and their places of worship in India.

“What he said was an utter lie. The onslaught against Christians by Right-wing groups has always been cause for concern. The Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has been attacking members of the Christian community and vandalising churches across India,” said Richard Howell, general secretary, Evangelical Fellowship of India, which represents about 45 thousand churches across the country.

Expressing shock and dismay at Modi’s statement, the community leaders said the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate cannot win their trust if he feigns ignorance about their sufferings.

“How can he forget the gruesome attacks on tribal Christians in Gujarat’s Dangs district in 1998 during the NDA regime when members of the Right-wing cadres burnt down churches? Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minster, himself had visited the district to take stock of the situation,” Howell told a news conference in Delhi today.

He said 22 churches were burnt in 2002 in Gujarat and several members of the community were attacked by VHP cadres. The VHP is part of the Sangh parivar.

Replying to a question from a member of the audience who asked him what steps he would take to ensure no churches are broken down if he becomes Prime Minister, Modi said: “I have never heard of such incidents taking place.”

Vijayesh Lal, national director, Religious Liberty Commission, said Christians continue to be attacked and their places of worship are being vandalised over the past few years in states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.

“Surprisingly, Modi pretends to be ignorant and unaware about such attacks on Christians. If this is the case then why should we trust his promises of a secular India as mentioned in the BJP’s election manifesto,” he asked.

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Indian Elections: What Could They Mean for Minority Christians?

India is gearing up for the largest show of democracy on earth. Ahead of the national elections, the silent Christian community in India has become restive and alert.

An electorate of 814 million, a number greater than the entire population of Europe, is eligible to cast the ballot in the staggered polls (scheduled in nine phases from April 7 to May 12) to choose India's 14th Parliament.
The national alliance of all the mainline churches, the National United Christian Forum, has come out with an appeal. The Catholic Church (which accounts for two thirds of the 28 million plus Christians) has issued a voter guideline, and regional ecumenical Christian bodies have recently come out with similar advisories.
Two major alliances-the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the "secular Congress Party (that has ruled the nation for the past two terms) and the National Democratic Alliance, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-are the main protagonists.
Apart from these two main alliances, 25 or so regional parties make the combat tougher for each of the 543 seats in "Lok Sabha ("House of the People-the lower House of the Indian parliament) that will decide who will rule India for the next five years.
With the opposition alliance led by the BJP (known for espousing a Hindu nationalist agenda) being projected by the pre-poll surveys as the front-runner in elections that many expect to produce a fractured verdict, the Christian community has grown increasingly uneasy.
The Catholic Church issued a call for prayer "for divine assistance for all the citizens of India so that we may elect the best persons... uphold the democratic and secular character of our great nation and selflessly work for the peace and prosperity of all the people of India.
BJP's intense campaign for the 2014 elections has been built around Narendra Modi, chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, who is expected to become the prime minister in waiting. While the Hindu nationalist lobby hails Modi as an able administrator who can accelerate India's sagging economy, secular parties claim he is a polarizing personality. He carries the stain of the 2002 slaughter of over 1,200 Muslims in Gujarat-the homeland of Mahatma Gandhi-when Hindu mobs targeted Muslims following the torching of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims.
The inaction and even collusion of the police under Modi's command, coupled with his persistent refusal to express regret for the deaths, has made Modi the target of many secular groups.
"There is (also) a fear in the minds of (Christians), admitted Rev. Roger Gaikwad, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), a network of 30 Orthodox and Protestant churches. "Some fear that difficult are days ahead.
The BJP has campaigned to foster better relationships with the Christian community, trying desperately to shed its "anti-Christian image. Two Bishops of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church praised Modi and his Gujarat model of development, but most Christians were angered by their support of Modi. Despite conciliatory gestures by the BJP, many Christians remain skeptical. States under BJP rule have historically witnessed a rise in incidents of anti-Christian violence, and some BJP State governments have been eager to push through anti-conversion legislation. BJP leaders are also known to have defended the assailants in brutal attacks on Christians and the rape of nuns.

Christians in southern India urged to boycott Hindu nationalist party

Christians in southern India have been urged to boycott the Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, in the country’s parliamentary elections in an unprecedented pastoral letter from church leaders including the Archbishop of Hyderabad, Thumma Bala.
The letter to Christians in southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India’s fifth most populous, was read in hundreds of churches on Palm Sunday and will be read out again before polling begins there on 30 April.
In the letter, the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches (APFC), an ecumenical council of bishops and church leaders, called on Christians to “elect leaders who are close to people and their needs, and only vote for those who uphold secular character and promote communal harmony”.
The letter was signed by Archbishop Thumma Bala and the moderator of the Church of South India, Anglican Bishop Govada Dyvasirvadam.
The BJP is the leading party in the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), whose prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat state, sees India as a primarily Hindu nation.
The NDA is currently leading the election and is the major non-secular party. All Christian and Muslim parties are considered secular, and most Christians and Muslim voters support the incumbent Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi.

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Hindu American Foundation exposed as foe of human rights and religious freedom

Indian American coalition condemns HAF's sophistry "explaining" Hindu nationalist violence against minorities in India
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Washington DC, Monday, April 7, 2014

The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG - http://www.coalitionagainstgenocide.org/), today condemned the Hindu American Foundation for opposing the Congressional hearings on the plight of religious minorities in India and for obfuscating the issues around violence against minorities. As CAG has established in its recent report titled "Affiliations of Faith (Parts I and II)," HAF is primarily a front for the Hindu nationalist movement (also known as Hindutva) led by the RSS in India. Contrary to its claims about being a human rights organization, HAF has consistently served as apologists for the violent politics of the Sangh Parivar (the broad family of RSS organizations that includes HAF and its US based affiliates such as the VHP-A).

HAF's position on the plight of religious minorities in India is diametrically opposite to that of USCIRF, Human Rights Watch, Advocates for Human Rights, and also notable human rights activists like John Dayal. On its website and in social media, HAF has attacked the integrity of prominent organizations like HRW and USCIRF. This fits a pattern followed by Hindutva organizations where concern for minorities in India is projected as "bias" against Hindus.

"While any situation involving millions of people professing diverse religions is necessarily complex, violations of human rights and religious freedom as a result of the increasingly hostile socio-political environment created by the Hindu nationalist movement deserve international condemnation," said Mr. Alex Koshy, a CAG spokesperson. "It is deplorable that an organization claiming to stand for pluralism and human rights stridently opposes any scrutiny of the situation of religious minorities in India," added Mr. Koshy. "While being vocal about the situation of Hindu minorities in other parts of the world, HAF appears to be considering Christian, Muslim and Sikh religious minorities in India as somehow less worthy of having their plight known to the American public," said Dr. Raja Swamy, also a CAG spokesperson.

HAF touts its mission statement as "Promoting Human Dignity, Mutual Respect and Pluralism." Yet HAF's concern about the effect the hearings may have on the upcoming elections betrays its real priorities. In echoing HAF's concern about the timing of the hearing, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard appeared to be reading from an HAF script. At the very least, she could have sought a briefing from her staff on the evidence based data about the condition of religious minorities in India, and that H.Res. 417 is in fact a pro-India resolution that celebrates India's long-standing pluralistic ethos.

HAF's posturing against the hearings is reflected in its written testimony, graciously added to the record by Rep. Joe Pitts. A monumental exercise in apologetics for majoritarian violence in India, HAF claims for instance that the massacre of Christians in Odisha by Hindutva organizations, is to be blamed on the murder of a prominent Hindutva leader Swami Lakshmananda (who was killed by Maoists). Furthermore HAF blames anti-Christian violence perpetrated by the Hindutva movement as a response to "aggressive proselytizing by Christian missionary groups." When it comes to anti-minority violence conducted by the Hindutva movement, HAF consistently blames minority victims and tacitly defends the perpetrators.

HAF's alacrity in protecting Hindutva organizations from any kind of international censure for violence against minorities in India stands in stark contrast to its vigorous efforts to highlight the plight of Hindu minorities in countries around the world. Far from being an organization committed to promoting human dignity and pluralism, HAF stands exposed as a foe of human rights, working to defend the Hindutva movement from much needed public scrutiny in the US.

The Coalition Against Genocide is composed of a diverse group of organizations and individuals in the United States and Canada that have come together in response to the Gujarat genocide to demand accountability and justice.


CONTACT:

1. Dr. Shaik Ubaid
   Phone: 516-567-0783
   
   
2. Dr. Raja Swamy
   Phone: 864-804-0216
   
   

Coalition Against Genocide
Phone/Fax: (443) 927-9039
Email:media@coalitionagainstgenocide.org
http://www.coalitionagainstgenocide.org

REFERENCES:

1. TLHRC Hearing: The Plight of Religious Minorities in India
   HEARING WEBSITE: http://tlhrc.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=1259
   RECORDING: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/45757005
   
   
2. Affiliations of Faith: Hindu American Foundation and the Global Sangh (Part 1)
   http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org/reports/2013/cag.15dec2013.haf.rss.pdf
   
   
3. Affiliations of Faith: Hindu nationalism and HAF - Joined at the hip (Part 2)
   http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org/reports/2013/cag.22dec2013.haf.rss.2.pdf
   
   
4. Hindu American Foundation reveals its supremacist ideology through smear campaign against CAG and Indian Muslims
   http://www.coalitionagainstgenocide.org/press/cag.pr.06dec2013.pdf
   
   
5. Hindu nationalism set to take over the world's biggest democracy, The Independent, UK, April 4th 2014
   http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/hindu-nationalism-set-to-take-over-theworlds-biggest-democracy-9238724.html
   
   
6. H.Res 417 -- Praising India's rich religious diversity and commitment to tolerance and equality, and reaffirming the need to protect the rights and freedoms of religious minorities.
   http://pitts.house.gov/sites/pitts.house.gov/files/documents/PittsEllison-IndiaReligiousFreedom.pdf
   
   
7. BJP-led government to be detrimental to religious minorities: Experts
   http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-04-05/news/48887988_1_uscirf-religious-freedom-religious-minorities
   
   
8. MN Rights Group Testifies at Congressional Hearing on the Plight of Minorities in India
   http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/254049571.html

US expresses concern for minorities under Narendra Modi as PM

Washington: Several US lawmakers voiced concern Friday for the future of religious minorities in India in a hearing critics denounced as an attempt to influence upcoming elections.

With polls starting Monday in the world's largest democracy, several activists testifying before the US Congress' human rights commission expressed fear for the treatment of Muslims and Christians if Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi becomes the next prime minister, as surveys predict.

Representative Joe Pitts, a Republican and conservative Christian, said India had a "climate of impunity" for perpetrators of violence against minorities and criticized laws against religious conversion.

"Clearly all of Indian society is being affected by an indisputable rise in religious intolerance at the very least and religious violence at the very worst," Pitts said.

Representative Keith Ellison, a left-leaning Democrat who is Muslim, said that he supported strong US relations with India and did not believe that the US record was faultless.


But he voiced alarm over what he said was continued polarization in the western state of Gujarat, which is led by Modi, since 2002 riots in which more than 1,000 people -- mostly Muslims -- were hacked, burned or shot to death.

Critics say Modi turned a blind eye or worse to attacks on Muslims, although he denies wrongdoing and investigations have cleared him of personal responsibility.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who is the first Hindu elected to the US Congress, criticized the timing of the hearing and said it could be used either to foment sectarian strife or to provide campaign ammunition for Modi's opponents.

"I feel that the goal of this hearing ultimately is to influence the outcome of this election, which is something that I don't feel is appropriate for us here in the United States Congress to do," Gabbard said.India is majority Hindu but secular and has historically been a safe haven for religious groups including Tibetan Buddhists, Jews and Zoroastrians.

The Indian government often expresses indignation at perceived foreign interference in its domestic affairs, although the Indian embassy did not return a message Friday seeking comment.

The United States has been seeking a warmer relationship with India and has generally avoided criticism on sensitive religious issues, but in 2005 it denied a visa to Modi on human rights grounds.

In February, however, US ambassador to India Nancy Powell met Modi, a sign the US stance was softening towards the controversial politician. President Barack Obama's administration did not send a representative to Friday's hearing, which was sparsely attended.

John Dayal, an Indian Christian writer and activist, charged that a Hindu nationalist Indian government would target minorities by scrapping affirmative action plans and encouraging forcible conversions of Christians.

Dayal, who said he has received threats accusing him of treason for testifying before the commission, called for the United States to include human rights and religious freedom in talks with India, much as Washington does with China.

Katrina Lantos Swett, the vice chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom which has long been critical of Modi, voiced concern that his Bharatiya Janata Party would promote policies that portray non-Hindus as foreigners.

"Many religious minority communities fear religious freedom will be jeopardized if the BJP wins and... Modi becomes prime minister. We hope that is not the case," she said.

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Police in India rebuke, file case against Christians fleeing Hindu extremist attack

A police station official in India’s Jharkhand state this month reviled Christians who sought protection after Hindu extremists beat and threatened to kill them for refusing to convert to Hinduism, area church leaders said.

Accusing Christian leaders of forcible conversion, the Hindu extremists earlier this month attempted to forcibly convert several church members after disrupting a home worship service, beating them and parading them half-naked through the street, area pastor Rampath Nath told Morning Star News.

Police subsequently registered a case of forcible conversion against four Christians, he said.

Virender Singh, the police official at the station in Patratu Thana, Ramgarh District, verbally abused the Christians who fled their homes, rebuked them and sent them away without taking their complaint after the Hindu extremists beat them on two consecutive days, stripped off their clothes and chased them from Pali village, Nath said.

Some 10 Hindu extremists stormed into the March 4 worship meeting at the house of pastor Tilas Bedia at 7 p.m. and began beating the Christians, including the pastor’s 60-year-old mother, Christian leaders said.

“The extremists asked the Christians why they are following Christ when they should be worshipping their tribal god and threatened to kill them if they continued to follow Christ,” Nath said. “They left after they told the Christians that they will teach them a lesson the next day.”

On March 5 at about 11 a.m. a mob of extremists appeared, led by Suresh Upadia, leader of the local Vishwa Hindu Parishad, youth wing of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal, and village head Rohan Bedia. They dragged several Christians from their homes to the compound of the village head, who summoned a public meeting.

“The extremists dragged about 15 people who come to our prayer meetings,” said Jodhan Bedia, a pastor at the church. “They let us stand in the middle and started to verbally abuse us for following Christ, for being low-caste, and warned us to convert back to Hinduism or face harm.”

Several terrified church members denied they were Christians, pastors said.

“They ran off after saying they were Hindus,” Tilas Bedia said, “and two teenage girls who did not deny Christ were forcefully ‘converted’ back to Hinduism.”

Manita Kumari, 16, and Meenu Kumari, 17, refused to renounce Christ, he said.

“The extremists slapped them, verbally abused them for their faith in Christ, threatening them that they will never find a husband if they remain Christians, and forced them to worship Hindu idols at the spot,” he said.

The extremists continued to mock and beat Tilas Bedia, and his brother, Chandra Bedia, as well as the latter’s family; they also beat Jodhan Bedia.

“We told the extremists that we are ready to leave our house, but we cannot leave Christ,” Tilas Bedia said.

The Hindu nationalists slapped and kicked the Christians and struck them with their hands, slippers and clubs. The mother of Tilas and Chandra Bedia fell to the ground from the beating, spraining her ankle as her face swelled up from the blows, they said.

The extremists then dragged Tilas Bedia, Chandra Bedia and another Christian leader along a road, paraded them half-naked as they jeered and beat them, and dragged them to the outskirts of the village.

“They forced us to sign on a blank paper and told us that we will be cut into pieces if we ever return to the village,” Tilas Bedia said. “They said, ‘Those who worship Jesus cannot stay in the village.’”

The three Christians, who converted to Christianity about four years ago, sustained bruises and marks on their backs, and swelling on their faces and other areas, Nath said.

“On March 10, we received a copy of a First Information Report registered against pastor Tilas Bedia, Chandra Bedia, pastor Jodhan Bedia and myself by police officer Virender Singh of forceful conversion,” Nath said.

Singh was not available for comment, but Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Shri Ranjit Kumar Singh told Morning Star News that he had received the Christians’ police complaint and had sent a deputy to investigate.

“Nobody can say anything about the faith that a person chose,” the superintendent said. “The Constitution of India has given the right to each individual to follow the faith that he or she likes. Appropriate action will be taken against the culprits.”

The pastors were scheduled to appear before a judge on April 4. Area Christian leaders said there was no instance of forceful conversion by the accused.

Since Tilas Bedia, Chandra Bedia and Jodhan Bedia began following Christ, their families have been shunned and boycotted and have faced continual threats, Nath said.

“They are not allowed to fetch water from the public well, they are not allowed to walk on the main road and they were prohibited from buying and selling in the village,” Nath said. “They were often beat up and verbally abused and warned to renounce Christ or face harm.”

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154 cases of anti-Christian violence in 2013 according to EFI

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka top the list of Indian states in which Christians faced incidents of targeted communal violence in the year 2013, according to data collected by Evangelical Fellowship state offices.
Women, rural pastors and home churches were the main targets of mobs which were often led by members of the Sangh Parivar. Police impunity resulted in most culprits going unpunished, they claimed.

General Secretary the Evangelical Fellowship of India, Rev. Dr. Richard Howell and Religious Liberty Commission Secretary Rev. Vijayesh Lal held a presss conference today in Delhi to release the 2013 partial list of violence meted out to the minority Christian community across the country.
As many as 154 incidents of anti-Christian violence were reported in the year, with Andhra Pradesh registering 42 cases, Chhattisgarh 28 and Karnataka 27. Karnataka had been wrecked by extreme violence during August and September 2008 in the wake of the pogrom against Christians in the Kandhamal district of Orissa.
This list does not include large numbers of cases reported from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, which could not be immediately verified as being motivated by religious prejudice. These include at least three cases of murder, including one of a child of a pastor in Rajasthan.
The Evangelical Fellowship also received a very large number of complaints of structural and institutional violence from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat. Most of these pertain to Tribals being deprived of their land f they convert to Christianity. In Gujarat, the computerized registration systems have been so engineered that Tribals have mandatorily to fill their religion as Hindu.
This is in violation of the Constitutional provisions for Scheduled Tribes. The matter is to be taken to the High courts of the respective states. The most shocking aspect of the anti-Christian violence is the targeting of women. This emerging pattern of violence is seen with great concern by the Christian leadership. Christian groups now plan to bring this issue to the notice of national and state political leaders soon.
In one horrendous case on 12th September 2013, a Christian woman, Sanamma, a helper in Anganwadi School was caught by a mob of 40 people when she was inviting children to join the school after the summer break. The mob accused her of forceful conversion, beat her up severely and took her to a temple where they poured water on her as a form of religious cleansing and thereafter applied "kumkum" on her forehead, a sign of Hindu married woman. Local Christians rescued her later and took her to a hospital for treatment.
In another shocking case in Taragoan, Lohandiguda, Hindutva extremist activists forcefully took a Christian widow to the temple and tried to sacrifice her to the idols. Her daughter and relatives rescued the widow.
The Evangelical Fellowship, in association with other Church groups, has consistently demanded that the Central government enact suitable legislation to end communal and targeted violence. We had hoped that Parliament would pass the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill in the last session. It did not happen. We hope that the government formed after the 2014 General elections will take it up in earnest.

Three convicted over India nun rape

A court in India has found three people guilty in connection with the rape of a Catholic nun in Orissa state in 2008.

The nun was raped by a Hindu mob in Kandhamal district, days after riots between Hindus and Christian there.

Riots began after a Hindu religious leader was shot dead.

Although left-wing Maoist rebels in the state claimed responsibility for the killing, hard-line Hindu groups blamed the minority Christian community for the death.

More than 30 people were killed in the violence and dozens of churches and Christian institutions were vandalised.

Police had arrested nine people in connection with the rape of the nun. One accused is still being sought.

On Friday, Judge Gyana Ranjan Purohit found Santosh Patnaik guilty of rape, and Gajendra Digal and Saroj Badhei guilty of molestation.

Patnaik was sentenced to 11 years in prison, while Digal and Badhei were each sent to prison for 26 months.

Six of the other accused were acquitted by the court in Orissa because of lack of evidence.

The Catholic nun, working with the Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre at Kanjemandi village, alleged that she was dragged out of a Hindu man's house where she had taken shelter along with a 55-year-old priest, Father Thomas Chellantharayil.

She was taken to an abandoned house where she was raped by a mob on 25 August 2008. She also alleged that she was paraded naked through the streets.

Hindu groups in Kandhamal had accused Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity.

Christians said lower-caste Hindus converted willingly to escape the Hindu caste system. 

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BJP Going All Out to Woo Christians

Pursuing prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s strategy of using development and corruption as the main poll plank without invoking the Hindutva slogan, the state BJP is making a vigorous bid to reach out to the Christian community ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The party is all set for an open interaction with the community leaders and intellectuals to dispel the negative image in their minds about the BJP.  The first of this interaction with the theme ‘BJP’s Vision for Christian Brethren’ will be held on Tuesday evening in Bangalore. Retired High Court judge MF Saldanha and retired IAS officer Lucas Vallatharai among others are scheduled to participate in the event.
State BJP leadership has invited its Deputy Chief Minister in Goa, Francis DSouza to use his goodwill at the interaction.  Former  minister Suresh Kumar will explain BJP’s commitment to secularism and programmes implemented by the previous BJP government for the welfare of the community.
General Secretary of BJP Minority Morcha, Kennedy Shantakumar told Express: “Christians are a highly educated community. The previous BJP government had launched several programmes for the welfare of this community. Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had for the first time allocated `50 crore for their development. He had also set up Karnataka Christian Development Council. The community has many prejudices and misconceptions about the BJP. We will try to remove them through open interactions with prominent leaders of the community.”
Similar interactions would be organised in regions where there  is a significant concentration of Christian population. “The Christian community has organised an interaction with leaders of all the prominent political parties at St Mark’s Cathedral in Bangalore on March 1. The BJP wants to understand the aspirations of the Christian community,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy pointed out at  the recent developments in Kerala, where orthodox Church leaders had appreciated Modi’s development agenda.
However, the party still has a long way to go in its endeavour. This was evident when Express contacted Lucas Vellatharai, who is one of the guest listed in the BJP’s invite. “Attacks against Christians and Churches had seen a rise during the BJP regime. There are many good leaders in the BJP too. But it is the writ of the lower level leaders that runs. It will be difficult to believe the BJP unless it severs its ties with hardcore Sangh Parivar,” he said. Vellatharai also said that he could not confirm his participation at Tuesday’s interaction as he has to attend another programme on the same evening. “I will turn up only if the other programme, which I have to attend, ends early,” he said.
Counting on Community
Christians constitute about 3.1 per cent of the state’s total population. The community is in a position to play a decisive role in Bangalore Central and Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJP had fielded H T Sangliana, a Christian as its candidate from Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency in 2004.

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The secret 'crusade'

Religion and violence cross paths again in small-town Andhra Pradesh as right-wing fundamentalists target the local clergy, allegedly to arrest conversions

On January 10, at around 8:30pm in Vikarabad, 69km from Hyderabad, a group of men knocked on Pastor Sanjeevulu’s door. They said they had come to offer prayers. When Pramila, the pastor’s wife, opened the door, she was struck on the forehead with an iron rod. The assailants then marched into the house and stabbed the pastor, repeatedly. He was beaten with clubs and hit on the head with the iron rod. The attack barely lasted 10 minutes but Sanjeevulu sustained severe injuries to his liver, spleen and intestines. Three days later, he succumbed to his wounds at the Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad.

By the end of January, State police had arrested seven of the eight accused. All of them have been linked to Hindu Vahini, a right-wing organisation described as an affiliate of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, with its State unit located in Hyderabad. G Sreenu, alias Rama Krishna, was identified as the leader of the group formed by youth from the Nalgonda district. He had been working at Hindu Vahini as a full-time pracharak for the last few years.

In December 2013, three other attacks on clergy members were reported in the same district. These four incidents have revealed a chilling pattern — the same modus operandi, the same right-wing outfit behind the attacks, conversions as the alleged motive. In what appears to be a series of planned attacks, churches in Andhra Pradesh are increasingly being targeted by right-wing assailants. In 2013 alone, the State witnessed 72 incidents of anti-Christian violence, with several more unreported, say local residents. According to a report released by Catholic Secular Forum last year, AP had the second highest incidence of cases of persecution against Christians after Karnataka. In total, around 4,000 Christians, were targeted, 400 clergy members among them. About 100 churches were also attacked. In Nalgonda district alone, more than 1,000 churches are now living in fear.

On December 29, at 11:45pm, four men came knocking at Pastor Nama Moses’s door in Narketpally town, Nalgonda. Suvartha, the pastor’s wife, opened the door, thinking it was an acquaintance. She was struck on the head with an iron rod and Pastor Moses was hit repeatedly and stabbed nine times — a chillingly similar sequence of events echoing the assault on Pastor Sanjeevulu. Nearly two months later in February, when BLink contacted Pastor Moses, he had survived the brutal attack but was in no condition to talk. “The pastor has been here for two decades now and I’ve never known such enmity. I don’t understand why we were attacked. He has never forced anyone to convert,” says Suvartha. Her daughters, she says, have been unable to go to school out of fear. And attendance at his church has dwindled. “A few of them were local youth,” says Suvartha, “and they had recently attacked another pastor as well.”

“People are afraid of persecution,” says Kavitha, a resident of Nalgonda town. “The pastor’s children were in the room when the attack happened. It was only the morning after when they got any help.” Four weeks ago, a meeting was held at the Church of South India — Kavitha’s church — to discuss the violence targeting the community. “There have been many attacks here,” Kavitha says, “but most of them don’t make news.” If aggressively campaigned conversions are being cited as the reason for the attacks, locals at least, dismiss the idea. “I was the first in my family to turn to Christianity 13 years ago,” says Kavitha. “Nobody forced me to. Nobody offered me anything in return. My mother was a staunch Hindu, she didn’t approve of it. But today my family has converted.”

“The attack on Pastor Moses might have been personally motivated,” says Nalgonda’s Deputy Superintendent Ram Mohan Rao. “G Raju, one of the group’s members, was known to have a personal grudge. Someone in his family had a bad experience two years ago and he had contacted Sreenu to do something about religious conversions.”

However, Pastor Talla Christopher was attacked on the same day as Pastor Moses in another village of the same district. And, in yet another incident in December, Pastor Neeladri Pal was also attacked. While the police have made some arrests, the accused have apparently revealed a larger, systematic plan of Hindu Vahini to eliminate members of the clergy all over AP. Pastors in other districts — Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak — have also received death threats.

“There is no personal angle in these attacks,” says Father Sudhakar, pastor of Telugu Baptist Church in Warangal, who is involved in documenting anti-Christian atrocities in the State. “It is politically motivated and it is right-wing terror against minorities. Hindutva elements have been attacking in three ways — attacks on the clergy, implicating church officials in false cases of hate speech and demolishing churches and burning Bibles.” In 2013, he says, there was a 70 per cent increase in the attacks. This year has already seen four attacks. “We have also documented 22 false cases against pastors.”

In an election year, the threat to Christian minorities has acquired a serious political colour; various church associations have written to the CM seeking a ban on Hindu Vahini. MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi has also demanded immediate action against Hindutva elements in the legislative assembly.

“You know, it’s not only SCs, other communities have also started turning to Christianity,” says Kavitha, “and it has not gone down well.” The base is definitely growing, says Father Sudhakar. “We don’t call them conversions, 90 per cent of SCs in AP are Christians spiritually, if not on paper.”

Pastor Jayraj still doesn’t know why he was attacked. On August 9, 2011, in Narketpally, he was attacked by a 10-member mob at his home. He was hit on the head and left to die. “I’ve heard of Hindu Vahini but I don’t know what they do. I couldn’t identify them, they had masks on. The police never caught them.”

With the violence directed towards Christian minorities only growing, older, unsolved cases like that of Pastor Jayraj are being revisited to look for possible links to right-wing terrorism. “After Pastor Moses, other cases that were undetected have come to light,” says DSP Mohan Rao. “Cases from 2011, even 2009, are being reopened too.” Even as investigations are on, the fear of being attacked continues to haunt AP’s Christian community.

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Attacks Against Minorities in India Increased Last Year

Attacks against India's minority communities, particularly Muslims and Christians, have increased in the past one year, US lawmakers were told today.

During this period, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) received reports that communal violence and attacks against religious minorities increased in India despite its status as a pluralistic, secular democracy, USCIRF Commissioner Elliott Abrams told lawmakers.

"NGOs and religious leaders, including from the Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities, attribute the increase to India's upcoming 2014 general election and politicians' use of religiously divisive language, and they fear that incidents will become even more frequent as the general election nears and immediately thereafter," Abrams said during a Congressional hearing.

He said Christian NGOs and leaders had reported that Christians experience "more harassment and violence in states that have anti-conversion laws". He added, "In addition, India's record in investigating and prosecuting religiously motivated crimes remained mixed."

Testifying before the Congressional committee, Tehmina Arora from Alliance Defending Freedom-India alleged that attacks have been reported across the country over the past five years, though primarily concentrated in states where the main opposition BJP has been in power and where groups associated with it are active.

"Violence is fuelled primarily by non-state actors who are guided by the Hindutva ideology, which sees India as a Hindu nation, where religious minorities are second-class citizens," said Arora, who flew in from New Delhi for the hearing.

"India, in spite of its long tradition for religious tolerance, finds itself in the throes of religious fundamentalism and violence against religious minorities for the past few decades," she said.

Reports by faith-based rights agencies showed that Christians had suffered about 150 violent attacks on an average in the past few years, Arora said.

These attacks include physical and sexual assaults, murder and desecration of places of worship and graveyards, she said.

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Christians, Sikhs lobby U.S. Congress to defend India’s persecuted

Washington, USA (February 10, 2013): According to certain media reports Indian Christians and Sikhs united last month to urge California Congressmen to support a House resolution that would make human rights and justice for religious minorities a priority in U.S.-India talks.

HR 417 is waiting on hearings in the U.S. House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees, which must approve it before it can come to the House floor for a vote. The annual talks, which President Barack Obama began in 2009, last took place in June 2013.

“This is a particularly concerning issue at the moment because India is going to elect a new prime minister in May,” said Pieter Singh, executive director of Sikh Information Centre and Advisor to the Organization for Minorities of India.

Singh said both candidates, Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, are linked to past attacks on religious minorities, including Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians. Gandhi is the grandson of Indira Gandhi, who led a military assault on the Golden Temple, a Sikh holy place, in 1984. Modi has been accused of being complicit in the 2002 massacre of Muslims in Gujarat state, according to Agence France Presse. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata party, a Hindu nationalist political group.

“This is where religious minorities in India are at the moment,” Singh said. “These two men are fighting to rule India and look at their records.” The union of Christians and Sikhs, was a “natural alliance” given their religious motivation to help the oppressed, he said.

In 2009, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) put India on a “watch list” for its inadequate response to anti-Christian violence in Orissa (now Odisha) in 2008, and the Gujarat killings of Muslims in 2002. In 2013, USCIRF’s annual report placed India in Tier 2 status, noting that Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims said intimidation and harassment had increased, especially in states with laws against “forced” conversions.

William Stark, International Christian Concern’s Regional Manager for South Asia, said most persecution in India stems from Hindutva, the ideology that to be Indian is to be Hindu and that other faiths are foreign. Authorities said Hindu extremists were part of the group that stabbed a Christian pastor to death on his doorstep in early January, Morning Star News reported.

Hindu extremists use anti-forced conversion laws, which makes it illegal to “induce” someone to convert, to arrest Christians because the interpretation of the word “induce” can include the promise of eternal life, Stark said. In 2013, the Catholic Secular Forum counted 4,000 offenses against Christians, including attacks on clergy and churches.

“Passing HR 417 means valuing peace and the preservation of human life over political gain, and supporting the resolution is one of the key ways Christians can act to relieve the oppressed,” Singh said in a statement.

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Dalit Christians renew demand for scheduled caste status

KOLKATA: Despite their decades-long demand, the central government is yet to decide on giving scheduled caste status to Dalit Christians. The National Council of Churches in India (An umbrella organization of 30 churches in the country - feels that it is time the government addressed the issue and provided justice to them.
The community here considers the demand for SC status to Dalit Christians the "the longest struggle in independent India". The call surfaced once again as National Council of Churches in India observed its centenary celebration.

"Reservation should not be affected by religious status. Dalits who converted to Sikhism and Buddhism are given Scheduled Caste status. This is discrimination against Christians," said Sunil Raj Philip, convenor of NCCI centenary celebration.

Earlier last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Christian leaders and promised to resolve the issue, after Christians and Muslims protested in New Delhi demanding SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims as recommended by Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission.

"There has not been any progress after that and we are awaiting responses from the government," Raj Philip said.

The government referred the issue to the national Commission for religious and Linguistic Minorities or Ranganath Mishra Commission in 2004. The commission submitted its report in 2007 and the report was tabled in the parliament in 2009. According to Raj Philip,12 state governments and Union Territories have recommended the issue of granting SC status to Dalit Christians. Responding to a petition filed in 2004 Supreme Court had also asked the central government for its response. But it is yet to respond to that," he said.

Meanwhile, the national councils of churches in the neighbouring countries have decided to start dialogues with administrations in respective countries to address the issues affecting Christians. "We will campaign for protection of human rights in all of the neighbouring countries. We will also try to provide help wherever possible. We will initiate dialogues with the administrations to reach a solution," said Roger Gaikwad, general secretary of NCCI.

NCCI has denied reports that the NCCI president and member churches endorse the leadership and candidacy of Narendra Modi. "NCCI, being the ecumenical body of member churches from different traditions, does not endorse any political party or leader," a statement said.

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India: Court Asks Christians To Wait One Year To File For Divorce

The separation period required for a Christian couple to file a petition for dissolution of marriage by mutual consent will be one year, the Karnataka high court ruled on Monday.

The court disposed of public interest litigation relating to Section 10A (1) of the Divorce Act, 1869, (applicable to Christians) in the light of a 2010 verdict of a division bench of the Kerala high court.

The Kerala court had read down the ‘two years’ separation period in Section 10 A to ‘one year’ so as to bring the same in conformity with Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, Section 32B of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and Section 28 of the Special Marriage Act.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice DH Waghela noted that the Kerala court judgment has become the law of land in the light of an apex court judgment which says that any verdict of a high court holds good for the entire country unless the same is challenged in the apex court.

The bench also noted that the Centre, which was a respondent before the Kerala court, did not challenge the said judgment.

During the hearing, counsel for the Archdiocese of Bangalore said that the dissolution of a Christian marriage by divorce by mutual consent or by decree of court is not at all recognized by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC).

“But realizing that a ‘marriage’ could be brought about with underlying defects or shortcomings or other disqualification, the RCC has procedure for annulment of marriage. Annulment by church is the only way of termination of marriage recognized by the RCC,” he said.

The PIL was filed by Shivakumar, who challenged the norm under Section 10A of the Divorce act prescribing a two-year period prior to filling of petition for divorce by Christians.

The petitioner contended that a two-year separation period is arbitrary as the Special Marriages Act, the Hindu Marriage Act and the Parsi Marriage Act have a one-year separation period clause.

The Kerala high court had said: “Having considered all the relevant circumstances, we are of the opinion that the stipulation of a higher period of two years of mandatory minimum separate residence for those to whom the Divorce Act applies, in contra-distinction to those similarly placed to whom Sec 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, Sec 32B of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and Sec 28 of the Special Marriage Act would apply, offends the mandate of equality and right to life under Arts14 and 21 of the Constitution.”

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Hindu extremists accused of killing pastor in India

The gang that knocked on the door of a pastor’s home in Andhra Pradesh state and stabbed him to death earlier this month consisted of Hindu extremists, authorities said.

State police have arrested seven of the eight members of the Hindu Vahini group accused of attacking pastor Orucanti Sanjeevi on Jan. 10 at his home in Vikarabad, 64 kilometers (39 miles) from the state capital of Hyderabad, Area Deputy Superintendent of Police J. Ram Mohan Roa told Morning Star News. The other suspect is absconding, he said.

Pastor Sanjeevi, 48, succumbed to his injuries on Jan. 13.

“The key member of this module is Gandikota Srinu, alias RK, a full-time member of the Hindu Vahini, and these same people attempted to kill another pastor in Narketpally,” Roa said.

The Rev. Madhusudan Das of the Evangelical Fellowship of India said the Hindu extremists were upset about Christian growth in the area.

“The area where the pastor was killed was a strongly Hindu-dominated area,” Das said. “However, the church has seen growth as many people decided to follow Christ. The extremists harbored strong resentment against the pastor for the same reason.”

A large throng of Christians had besieged the state chief minister’s office on Jan. 14, protesting the killing and demanding justice, with police detaining some of the protestors.

At about 8:30 p.m. on the night of the attack, the Hindu extremists knocked on the door of the pastor’s house, claiming they wanted to pray with him, sources said. When his wife, Pramila, opened the door, they hit her with an iron rod, they said.

The Hindu extremists then stormed into the house, stabbed the pastor, beat him with clubs and hit him on the head with an iron rod. His wife managed to run out and call for help.

“The pastor was lying in a pool of blood when some people came to help him,” area Christian leader Franklin Sudharkar told Morning Star News. “The attack lasted only about 10 minutes, but the pastor sustained severe injuries as he was stabbed in the liver, intestines and spleen.”

He was rushed to a hospital and put on ventilator, but he succumbed to his injuries at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 13.

Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Churches, told Asia News that members of a Hindu extremist group had engaged the pastor in a heated discussion about three months ago and threatened him.

Pastor Sanjeevi had overseen the 250-member Hebron Church in Vakirabad.

The attack appeared to be well-planned, and police believe the extremists have made a hit list of targets, Roa said.

On Dec. 29, he said, the same Hindu extremists knocked on the door of the house of Baptist pastor Nama Moses in Narketpally, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) from Vakirabad, and attacked him in a similar way. The pastor opened the door thinking the person knocking was seeking shelter, said Moses Vatipalli of the All India Christian Council (AICC).

“One extremist with a knife barged into the house and started stabbing the pastor and the wife while two were standing outside,” Vatipalli told Morning Star News. “The pastor received nine stab wounds, and his wife sustained seven stitches on her head where the extremist hit her with an iron rod.”

The couple received hospital treatment for 15 days, and the pastor was still on bed-rest at press time.

Roa added that the assailants “held grudges against the Christian couple, as his grandparents started attending Christian meetings regularly.”

In the same area on Aug. 9, 2011, masked Hindu extremists attacked pastor Jaya Raj and an unidentified church member at midnight at the pastor’s home. The assailants broke Raj’s left hand and broke his nose, and the other Christian sustained severe injuries to his head, reported the AICC. Both of them received hospital treatment.

Source: Christian Today

Christians below political radar: Council ‘Contribution overlooked’

Calcutta, Feb. 2: Christians in India have not been included in the mainstream political discourse despite substantial contributions to society and sustained efforts in nation-building, a national council of Protestant churches said today.

“Some people still think we are not Indians…. Christians are not present in the political discourse of mainstream parties today. Despite helping give the country some of the finest schools, colleges and hospitals, our efforts in nation-building and contributions towards society have been overlooked,” said Bishop Taranath S. Sagar, president of the National Council of Churches in India.

Kicking off its year-long centenary celebrations from Calcutta on Sunday, the council also referred to the Bengal government’s decision to provide doles to Muslim clerics. “If the government is handing honorariums to Muslim clerics, I would request the chief minister to also extend the honorariums to Christians as well. This act (giving doles to one particular community) is simply pleasing a section of society for votes,” Bishop Sagar said in response to a question after a news conference at Calcutta Boys’ School in the afternoon.

The Mamata Banerjee government gives an honorarium of Rs 2,500 a month to imams and Rs 1,000 a month to muezzins in Bengal.

The council is an ecumenical body of 30 Protestant and Orthodox churches across India and a slew of Christian councils and organisations.

It is the second largest body of churches in the country and includes the Church of North India and Church of South India as member churches. Nearly 50 per cent, about 12 million of the total Christian population of 25 million in India, are Protestants.

Calcutta was chosen as the first stop in a series of countrywide celebrations because on February 2, 1914, it was at the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) building on S.N. Banerjee Road that the body held its first meeting and formed a council.

The celebrations will move to Aizawl, Hyderabad and Mumbai among other cities in the coming months and culminate at the headquarters in Nagpur in November.

As the centenary year coincides with the Lok Sabha polls, the council articulated its concerns. The existing political establishment, it felt, had failed to acknowledge or address the needs and aspirations of the Christian community and largely overlooked its contributions to the nation.

The YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) building at Corporation Place (now SN Banerjee Road) in Calcutta played host to church leaders and missionaries from across the country on February 2, 1914, where they held their first meeting and formed a council. On Sunday, the National Council of Churches in India chose Calcutta as the first stop to kick off their countrywide centenary celebrations, which will culminate in November at their headquarters in Nagpur. Picture by Anup Bhattacharya

Bishop Taranath S Sagar (third from left), the president of the National Council of Churches in India, at the media conference at Calcutta Boys’ School on Sunday. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

The council lamented that the term “minority” had become synonymous with just one community, overshadowing the others.

“If we look historically, Christians are the true minorities… but today (the word) ‘minority’ has become attached with just one community. There is no Protestant representation in Parliament from West Bengal,” said Suman J. Biswas, vice-president of the council.

Accusing politicians of consistently using religion for political gains, the council rued how issues like poverty had remained sidelined and religious minorities had rarely been acknowledged as anything but a vote bank.

Speaking on the community’s preferences for the upcoming elections, the Bishop said in response to a question that Christians were “highly divided” in their opinion on Narendra Modi.

“Modi played the development card in Gujarat and is playing the same card nationally now. But even if he becomes the Prime Minister and acts secular, he might face pressure from the lower cadres of the party. We are highly divided in our opinion of Modi and I cannot make one general statement on behalf of the Christians. Christians have traditionally been followers of the Congress… but it might be time for some change,” Bishop Sagar said.

He added that the council did not “endorse any particular party”. “We need a leader who is strong and understands the needs of the minorities and works for grass-roots development,” the Bishop said.

The theme of the celebrations “towards integral mission and grassroots ecumenism” was explained as one that was aimed at motivating people to go back to the grassroots of the society and work towards its development.

“In recent times, the development of the country has only been measured by political parties in terms of bridges, high-rises and metro rails. Grassroots development of the marginalised has remained neglected and that is why growth has not been uniform,” said Reverend Sunil Raj Philip, the executive secretary of the council.

The news conference was followed by a worship service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in the evening.

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MP Christians fast for stable govt post elections

Bhopal: Around 70-80 members of Christian community began their 72-hour-long fast at a church in Govindpura area here praying for stable government at Centre post elections.


The members representing different denominations began the fast last evening under Father Anil Martin.

The exercise is organised under the banner of National Prayer Alliance of Christian Community, which is undertaking similar fasts across as many as 72 districts in various parts of the country.

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Karnataka, Maharashtra top attacks on Christians

MUMBAI: Maharashtra has witnessed among the largest number of communal attacks on Christians in 2013, second only to Karnataka, says a recently-released report by the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), an organization chaired by Justice Michael Saldanha, former judge at the Bombay and Karnataka high courts. Across the country, the report points at 4,000-odd offenses aimed at Christians, with 400 clergy and 100 churches attacked in a year.
While Karnataka may have had a higher number of attacks on Christians over the last year, the report suggests that Maharashtra is the next Hindutva laboratory. "The new government in Karnataka is sensitive to the attacks on Christians. However, in Maharashtra, the police and the lower levels of state administration are highly saffronized," said Joseph Dias, author of the report and general secretary of CSF.

From the desecration of a heritage cross in Mumbai and a statue of Jesus at Mangaon to violent

attacks on priests and nuns across the state, Dias says few other minorities would have been as tolerant to such attacks as Christians have been. "We're looked at as easy targets as we do not fight back. We are compelled to turn the other cheek because our religion teaches us not to resort to violence."

Growing attacks on India's Christian minority form the unreported story of communalism in India, says Harsh Mander, social activist and former member of India's National Advisory Council, who has worked extensively with victims of communal violence. "Unlike pogroms targeted at the Muslim community, attacks on Christians are of a low intensity, though very widespread. You don't have the sort of large outbreaks that you see in case of Hindu-Muslim clashes, and hence attacks on Christians often do not attract the same attention. However, there is a pattern emerging when it comes to attacks on Christians. Much of it is a result of Hindutva propaganda over what is perceived to be mass conversions. Like much hate propaganda, however, it is not backed by evidence to show any large increase in India's Christian population," said Mander.

Saldanha feels the onslaught against Christians is a cause for deep concern, especially in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. "No party says they stand for communal violence, and yet such attacks continue unchecked," says Saldanha. In addition to violent attacks, Dias points to discrimination against the church in cities like Mumbai where the civic administration is ruled by the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. "There have been instances where Christian burial grounds were destroyed to widen nullahs on one side of the road, leaving the other side of the road untouched," says Dias.

Persecution of Christians in 2013

(Report by Catholic Secular Forum)

*Instances of persecution against Christians were highest in Karnataka, followed by both Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh at no. 2.

*Odisha, Chhattisgarh, MP, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi were among the top ten states where persecution occurred.

*Around 4,000 Christians were targeted in anti-Christian violence across India.

*Over 1,000 women and 500 children were victims of violence.

*Over 400 clergy and community leaders were attacked.

*About 100 churches and places of worship were attacked.

*7 were killed for their faith, including a 7-year-old child in Rajasthan.

 

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Over 4,000 cases of anti-Christian violence: the "Report on persecution" presented to the Bishops

Mumbai (Agenzia Fides) - There are over 4,000 registered cases of anti-Christian violence in 2013, carried out mostly by Hindu extremist groups who are active in the country. The incidents include the murder of 7 faithful, including a minor; 1,000 women, 500 children and about 400 priests of different confessions suffered abuses and beatings; attacks against more than 100 churches and places of Christian worship. These are the figures in the new "Report on persecution in 2013" prepared by a forum of organizations and Christian organizations in the Indian civil society, and sent to Fides Agency.
The Report was presented recently to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Episcopal Conference of India. As reported to Fides, the document was drawn up thanks to the collaboration among the associations "Catholic Secular Forum" ( CSF), "All India Christian Council", "Evangelical Fellowship of India", "Global Council of Indian Christians", "World Watch monitor". The Report was delivered to the Bishops by the two lay Catholics Joseph Dias and Judge Michael Saldanha, respectively Secretary and President of CSF.
Out of 4,000 incidents, described in detail in the text sent to Fides, over 200 are severe cases of persecution which occurred mainly in some states: especially in Karnataka where, despite the change of government, Christian persecution is widespread, and Maharashtra that "seems to be the next laboratory of Hindu extremism", notes the text. Other states in the "top ten" of persecutions are: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Orissa , Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
The Report also examines the flaws in the Indian legal system, which allow the spread of violence and the impunity of the perpetrators. The laws "under fire" are the Presidential Order of 1950, which denies Dalit Christians and other minorities the rights granted to Hindu Dalits; the anti-conversion laws in force in seven Indian states like Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh.
The Report points out that a comprehensive law to stop violence, presented last year, has not yet been examined and discussed in Parliament. In most of the cases examined, "the police refuse to register complaints" and the Indian media fail to report the news or minimize it, the text concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 23/01/2014)

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