Indian prime minister tells Christians he shares their agony at

[John Dayal <johndial@del2.vsnl.net.in>]

right wing fundamentalist violence
Sender: owner-india_policy@cinenet.net
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: debate@indiapolicy.org

FROM JOHN DAYAL
------------

UNITED CHRISTIAN FORUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
(Representing the CBCI, NCCI and  EFI churches and Institutions)
CBCI Centre, 1 Ashoka Place, New Delhi, India


4 December 1998

Indian prime minister tells Christians he shares their agony at right
wing fundamentalist violence

Nation-wide Christian Protest draws world attention to atrocities on
Minorities

Hindutva leaders critics missionaries as Christians protest 90 cases of
violence in 1998


NEW DELHI,  December 4

Indian prime minister  Atal Behari Vajpayee today told anguished
Christian leaders he shared their agony at the recent rash of violence
against the community.

The prime minister sought to assure the community that government would
ensure their safety and security. But members of his BJP party
maintained an aggressive posture in Parliament which saw noisy scenes
this afternoon as Christian and Left wing MPs demanded urgent government

action to end the terrorisation of priests, nuns, schools and preachers
who have been target of communal violence in several states,
particularly in Gujarat.

Christian leaders who took out a major rally to Parliament in New Delhi
said they would wait for the government to take the action it has
promised and bring to book those guilty in the organised  violence.
`This  is the beginning of the protest," Delhi Bishop Karam Masih told
the media.  Karam Masih was part of the 8-member delegation which called

on  prime minister Vajpayee , and Lok Sabha speaker Balyogi. The
delegation, led by Forum president Archbishop Alan de Lastic consisted
of Bishop Masih, Bishop Issac Mar Philoxenos, Fr George Pereira, Fr PA
Philip, Dr Richard Howell, Air Marshal Denzil Keelor  and Forum convenor

John Dayal. Some members of Parliament also accompanied the delegation.

Protest rallies were held in  major states and metropolises in the
country today as a deeply hurt community rose in protest against almost
90 violent incidents this year, almost a half of them in Gujarat.

The prime minister denied newspaper reports that the Gujarat government
had said it would stop state assistance to Christian schools which
closed for the day on the call of the United Christian Forum. The
Hindustan Times, the country's largest English language newspaper  had
reported that  the Gujarat government had also said it would not allow
Christian employees to take a day's leave to join the national protest.

The violence on Christians has agitated Parliament for much of the week
since the Winter session began this Monday. A day earlier, Muslim member

Arif Mohamed Khan had created a furore in the Lok Sabha, the lower house

of Parliament, when he displayed a portion of one of the 400 bibles
which were burned by members of a Hindutva gang in a Christian school in

the metropolis of Rajkot in Gujarat.

The Lok Sabha is to discuss the issue later next week. The Rajya Sabha,
the upper house, too saw heated exchanges today between members of the
ruling right wing Bharatiya Janata party and the opposition. Opposition
members were angered by the remarks of a treasury member  Praful Goradia

who said Christian missionaries were indulging in large scale
conversions. The church has denied there have been any illegal
conversions and the Hindutva Parivar has so far been unable to adduce
any evidence of forcible conversions to Christianity.

Garodia was challenged by Congress leader Manmohan Singh who said the
BJP was trying to  justify the increasing number of atrocities on the
Christian community.

The community has presented Parliament a 10 point charter of demands.
These include the call for a white paper on anti Christian violence,
legislation to strengthen watchdog agencies such as the Minorities
commission and strengthening the secular and pluralistic character of
the nation.


(Index to Unofficial White Paper also submitted to Parliament. See Next
Despatch)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the National Debate on System Reform.       debate@indiapolicy.org
Rules, Procedures, Archives:            ../debate/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------