12-21-2005, 03:15 AM
http://in.christiantoday.com/news/gen_618.htm
Anti-Christian violence on the rise in India
Indian Christians have expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on Christian community
Posted on: Dec 16, 2005 08:04:28 AM
New Delhi â The minority Christian community of India has expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on Christian churches by violent mobs across India.
On December 4, an unidentified mob attacked a Catholic Church called Jalalkhali in Nadia district of West Bengal, destroying furniture, tearing pages of the Holy Bible and setting them on fire.
The assailants also desecrated the communion bread and stole silver chalices, Reuters reported.
The objective behind the attack is unknown, but it is probably related to a recent anti-crime campaign led by the priests of the Church, a local police officer, Biswarup Ghosh, told the Reuters.
Despite having been threatened by the attack, the head of the Church has not given up the initiative. As Fr. Antony Kariyattil told the Associated Press (AP), "Some of the local youths used to get drunk and trespass on the church compound. They also teased the girls in the village. I tried to put an end to all that and sought cooperation from local village leaders."
Exactly one week before this attack in West Bengal state, three Bible distributors were brutally attacked in Panvel district of Maharashtra, a report by the Pakistan Christian Post unveiled.
The three members from the Panvel Brethren Church â Biju Jacob, Reji Paul, and Shaji Samuel â were beaten up by over 30 young people. They were distributing Bible and Gospel tracts on the street in Panvel district from their vehicle on the evening of Nov. 26.
According to the Pakistan Christian Post, the beatings lasted for over 15 minutes. Shaji was seriously injured on his face and was unable to talk or breathe. Later, it was found that all the Christian literatures were missing from the vehicle as well.
In speaking with the Pakistan Christian Post, Shaji explained that the Bible distribution was not illegal by the Indian law: "No one is compelled to buy it. We are sorry that the attackers have misunderstood us as anti-nationals. As Indian citizens the constitution has given us rights to âprofess, practice and propagateâ our faith. We are doing it like any other religious groups."
Shaji added that the church members had already forgiven the attackers and had made no complaint to the police, according to the Pakistan Christian Post.
In another incident, on December 4, at least 25 members of the Hindu extremist group Dharma Sena attacked a church in Raipur, Chattisgarh, "severely" beating five Christians, Compass Direct reported.
After beating Christians in the church, the attackers took four believers and a pastor from another congregation into a Hindu temple, where they tried to force them to bow down to idols.
The same day, a group of 15 activists from the right-wing Hindu outfit, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), reportedly attacked a pastor in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Police declined to arrest the militant Hindus and instead detained the pastor, Anil Mehra of Indian Evangelical Team, for several hours on charges of "disrupting public peace," Compass Direct reported.
The attacks on individuals or churches across many states of India have been worsening, forcing the human rights groups and church advocacy organizations to urge the central government to protect the Christian community.
The motives behind the crimes are often being reported as religious hatred, given the evidences that the hard-line Hindu political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been tying to restrict Christian minorities by implementing some anti-conversion laws.
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has already sent an open letter to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in September, urging the Indian government to launch urgent measures to curb the alarming trend.
According to a statement from GCIC on its website, the organization is "anxious about the trends of intolerance triggered by religious fundamentalists in the Indian society."
GCIC has added that these incidents of anti-Christian violence "have been happening in various parts of the country" and the culprits invariably are "religious fanatics."
Surojit Chatterjee
surojit@christiantoday.co.in
Anti-Christian violence on the rise in India
Indian Christians have expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on Christian community
Posted on: Dec 16, 2005 08:04:28 AM
New Delhi â The minority Christian community of India has expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on Christian churches by violent mobs across India.
On December 4, an unidentified mob attacked a Catholic Church called Jalalkhali in Nadia district of West Bengal, destroying furniture, tearing pages of the Holy Bible and setting them on fire.
The assailants also desecrated the communion bread and stole silver chalices, Reuters reported.
The objective behind the attack is unknown, but it is probably related to a recent anti-crime campaign led by the priests of the Church, a local police officer, Biswarup Ghosh, told the Reuters.
Despite having been threatened by the attack, the head of the Church has not given up the initiative. As Fr. Antony Kariyattil told the Associated Press (AP), "Some of the local youths used to get drunk and trespass on the church compound. They also teased the girls in the village. I tried to put an end to all that and sought cooperation from local village leaders."
Exactly one week before this attack in West Bengal state, three Bible distributors were brutally attacked in Panvel district of Maharashtra, a report by the Pakistan Christian Post unveiled.
The three members from the Panvel Brethren Church â Biju Jacob, Reji Paul, and Shaji Samuel â were beaten up by over 30 young people. They were distributing Bible and Gospel tracts on the street in Panvel district from their vehicle on the evening of Nov. 26.
According to the Pakistan Christian Post, the beatings lasted for over 15 minutes. Shaji was seriously injured on his face and was unable to talk or breathe. Later, it was found that all the Christian literatures were missing from the vehicle as well.
In speaking with the Pakistan Christian Post, Shaji explained that the Bible distribution was not illegal by the Indian law: "No one is compelled to buy it. We are sorry that the attackers have misunderstood us as anti-nationals. As Indian citizens the constitution has given us rights to âprofess, practice and propagateâ our faith. We are doing it like any other religious groups."
Shaji added that the church members had already forgiven the attackers and had made no complaint to the police, according to the Pakistan Christian Post.
In another incident, on December 4, at least 25 members of the Hindu extremist group Dharma Sena attacked a church in Raipur, Chattisgarh, "severely" beating five Christians, Compass Direct reported.
After beating Christians in the church, the attackers took four believers and a pastor from another congregation into a Hindu temple, where they tried to force them to bow down to idols.
The same day, a group of 15 activists from the right-wing Hindu outfit, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), reportedly attacked a pastor in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Police declined to arrest the militant Hindus and instead detained the pastor, Anil Mehra of Indian Evangelical Team, for several hours on charges of "disrupting public peace," Compass Direct reported.
The attacks on individuals or churches across many states of India have been worsening, forcing the human rights groups and church advocacy organizations to urge the central government to protect the Christian community.
The motives behind the crimes are often being reported as religious hatred, given the evidences that the hard-line Hindu political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been tying to restrict Christian minorities by implementing some anti-conversion laws.
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has already sent an open letter to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in September, urging the Indian government to launch urgent measures to curb the alarming trend.
According to a statement from GCIC on its website, the organization is "anxious about the trends of intolerance triggered by religious fundamentalists in the Indian society."
GCIC has added that these incidents of anti-Christian violence "have been happening in various parts of the country" and the culprits invariably are "religious fanatics."
Surojit Chatterjee
surojit@christiantoday.co.in