State-backed, Hindu extremist violence fails to earn nation recommendation as a Country of Particular Concern
NEW DELHI, May 16 (Compass Direct) – Christians weary of a multifaceted, state-backed assault on them were disappointed by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) failure to include India in its 2006 recommendations as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
The USCIRF recommended the U.S. State Department keep India off the CPC list despite acknowledging that “concerns about religious freedom in India remain, particularly indications that attacks on Christian churches and individuals persist – in some areas at alarmingly high levels – without adequate prosecution.”
In a May 3 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the commission noted that the state of Rajasthan, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been the scene of recent, serious attacks on Christian individuals and institutions by members of extremist groups espousing Hindu nationalism.
The state department will make its 2006 CPC designations in September. Last year it removed India from the designation as a CPC made in 2004.
Pointing to at least 75 incidents of anti-Christian attacks so far this year, Dr. John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council (AICC), said religious freedom in India was far from satisfactory.
“It is time for all of us, in India and abroad, to fully understand the magnitude of the havoc that militant wings of the Sangh Parivar (family of Hindu extremist groups) are inflicting on the federal character of India,” he said.
Dayal said the BJP was clearly seeking to polarize religious communities and victimize minorities in the seven states ruled by it. This is “in violation of constitutional directives, against the policies of the federal government and in complete disregard of the secular character and heritage of the country.”
In the BJP-ruled state of Rajasthan, he said, there was hardly any law and order. “Action against Christians, including the passing of the so-called Freedom of Religion Bill, is just one of the many practices that crush human rights,” Dayal said.
The Rajasthan state assembly on April 7 passed the anti-conversion bill – similar legislation is used in other states to harass Christians legally sharing their faith – after accusing, prosecuting and harassing Emmanuel Mission International (EMI) in Kota district for publishing a book, Haqeekat (The Truth), which allegedly denigrated Hindu gods.
EMI president Bishop Samuel Thomas and several other EMI workers were arrested and later released on bail. The Registrar of Societies also cancelled the registrations of all EMI institutions on the pretext of procedural violations. Bank accounts were also frozen and remained so at press time.
Archbishop M.A. Thomas, EMI’s founder, has been underground ever since Hindu extremists offered a reward of $26,000 each for the heads of Thomas and his son Samuel Thomas.
The BJP and its political allies still control state governments in Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Bihar, where incidence of anti-Christian violence has reportedly increased over the past two years.
A survey conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Christian Association and the National Forum for Reconciliation, Religious Liberty and Social Justice early this year noted that violent attacks against Christians had increased by 45 percent during the last two years of the rule of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.
Dr. Babu Joseph, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, told Compass, “The decision of the U.S. [commission] to exclude India from the list of CPCs is based on their reading of the situation in India. But, given the totality of the religious freedom picture of India, there are still areas of serious concern to minority communities.”
