Leaders of different Churches briefing the media on the ‘Ghar Vapasi’, the controversial re-conversation and declaring working day on Christmas, in New Delhi.
Leaders of different Christian Churches have called for strong political will and administrative action to check increasing attacks on religious minorities in India.
“We the Christians who are a small religious community need assurance from the government that we are protected and secure and safe in our motherland,” the leaders from Catholic and Protestant Churches told a press conference.
They also expressed grief over the killing of 141 people, including 132 school children in Pakistan’s Peshawar town. Such brutality, they said, indicates the dangers of fanaticism and extremism acting in the name of faith.
“We extend to the people of Pakistan and specially its children our heartfelt condolences. We remain in solidarity with them as we pray for the souls of the dead students,” they said.
The press statement said, “This Christmas season, therefore, we come to you with a heavy heart and great concern of the sense of apprehension and fear in our community at the incidents of violence against our Churches and personnel in various parts of the country, and specially in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and now in Delhi where the St. Sebastian’s Church was torched in what we think is an act of malicious arson on 1st December 2014.
“The gutting of the St. Sebastian’s Church, as well as the other incidents of targeted violence in other parts of the country, speak of extreme police and administrative impunity and disregard not only to the sentiments and religious feelings of our community but also the guarantees of the Constitution of India.
“These acts of violence do not stand alone, nor are they isolated incidents. They are quite part of a series of interconnected actions by various non-State actors closely associated with the ruling dispensation. The official celebrations of a good governance day on Christmas day as detailed in government circulars sent to educational institutions throughout the country to organize compulsory events on a day that is holy to us, Members of the Union Council of Ministers have called for national laws against conversion, and a Common Civil Code, politically targeting the Christian and Muslim communities without saying it in so many words.
“What is more dangerous, and threat to national peace and harmony, is the well thought out campaign in the name of Ghar Wapsi, which is organised not just by fringe elements, but by senior members of Parliament belonging to the ruling party. Their pronouncements question the identity and patriotism of India’s several religious minorities. The fact that people are being offered Below Poverty Line Cards and other privileges within the domain of government adds to our fear that these elements enjoy official patronage.
“It is being made clear to the minorities that while the Government won its mandate on a platform of “development and good governance”, the radical groups see it is an endorsement of their program of hate and religious nationalism which they call Hindu Rashtra. This is a blatant attempt to sabotage the Constitution of India that guarantees freedom of faith, adhering to the United Nations Bill of Rights. Article 25 (i) assures the freedom to every citizen of India to profess, practice and propagate one’s religion and beliefs. This was the result of a great debate that took place in the Constituent Assembly.
“With its wonderful diversity and ancient cultural, linguistic and ethnic identity, the State maintains equal respect for all faiths, and for people who profess no faith. In a secular and democratic India, there is no place for a state religion. India is not a theocracy. Religion has no place in the national political discourse.
“In the states where dubious and ironically named Freedom of Religion Acts have been used against minorities, their overwhelming powers have allowed the police and bureaucracy to harass, arrest and punish clergy, religious workers and institutions. If that was not enough, the non State actors and members of religious-political groups have felt empowered to coerce and terrorize the people, often settling personal scores or indulging in land grab.
“On Sunday, November 30, two house churches in Annupur district of Madhya Pradesh were attacked.
Chhattisgarh has particularly witnessed regular and repeated attacks on the fundamental rights of the minority Christian community. Most recently, according to the media and local sources, local Hindutva groups such as the VHP are pressurizing local Catholic missionaries to put up pictures of Goddess Saraswati in their educational institutions. The Catholic schools are also under pressure to rename the principals in their schools, as “Pracharya”, or “Up-pracharya”, instead of the term “Father”, which is usually used,” the statement added.
