By Dr. A. C. Das, Lucknow
Taking advantage of the anti Christian attitude of the Govt. and the ruling Congress in particular, Nazi forces in the country like the RSS, Hindu Vishwa Parishad and Bajrang Dal have committed aggressions against the Christian community in general and Christian institutions and their property in particular. The following are the proofs:
The illegal construction of a temple on the Darbari Lal Sharma Marg, Lucknow near the Pratibha Cinema and opposite the house a noted Christian leader.
Dhanbad:
As a protest against the violent attack on the Damien Welfare Association here (ihar) and its Director, all Christian institutions here remained closed on Nov. 18, 1988. On Nov. 2, Mahendra Singh of the VHP led a 150 strong Bajrang Dal mob armed with deadly weapons, ransacked the office and attacked Fr. Francis D’Souza Asst. Director, including a woman officer. The Damien Social Welfare Centre is 24 years old, working for the eradication of leprosy in the district in collaboration with the Central and State govts. It has 270 persons working as doctors, nurses, paramedical and other staff, treating 26,000 patients including those from adjoining districts and states. It has three leprosy hospitals with 210 beds and 62 mobile clinics in different parts of the district. A local Hindu daily, Awaaz has been instigating violence against it.
On Oct. 12, 1988 a gang of 16 “‘dacoits” ransacked the bungalow at Tinpahar Parish and stole some money. They hit Fr. Raphael Tudu and Ruben. They exploded a small bomb in a room where children were seeing a slide show.
Bhubaneswar:
Christian families in the Pulbani district of Orissa were frequently attacked by a gang of miscreants on Oct. 2 and 3, 1988. Their houses were damaged, property looted and many injured in the attacks. The series of attacks on the church, convent and the lay people followed the disappearance of a sword from a temple. Eyewitnesses said a gang of 20 people on Oct. 2, entered Khattingya and started firing indiscriminately. They alleged that the injured were tortured under police custody. Next day about 300 armed men entered the village and continued attacking and looting Christian families. Women and children who ran to the nearby convent were chased and injured by the attackers. The invaders threw stones at the girls hostel and convent. The authorities did not give protection even though the situation was tense. The police arrived only in the evening and hospitalized nine injured.
No Bank Loans To Minorities:
The Thane district Shiv Sena Chief, Anand Dighe, on Jan. 2, 1989, asked the State Govt. to revoke its directives to nationalize banks in Greater Bombay to provide financial assistance to at least 300,000 minorities before March 1989.
Ranchi;
The Christians in Sihar are puzzled over the conflicting orders issued by the Divisional Commissioner of Ranchi, B. K. Shinha open the commercial complex being built by the Gasnor Evangelical Lutheran Church on its land. The Church had the permission to construct a building complex. On Feb. 18, Sinha rejected the demands of the local BJP and asked the church to go ahead with the work. Later, he reversed his stand and ordered demolition of the complex.
Conversion Charge: The Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act is a gross violation of India’s secular Constitution and the Christians in that State have been for long discriminated against. This deplorable situation still persists and that the govt. has not only no mind to bring it to an end but would rather want to enforce it still more rigorously. This is evident from the article by Ramesh Menon. Guwahati:
A member of the Assam Assembly, B, K. Basumatary, MLA of the United Tribal National Liberation Front (UTNLF) who hails from the district has alleged that the State police recently desecrated a church in tribal dominated Darrang district and beat up the priest, two brides, besides children during a double marriage ceremony being solemnised there. The incident occurred on Oct. 13, 1988 at the Jhakara Baptist Church under the Paneri police station in Darrang dt. The district is part of the area claimed by the leaders of the Boda movement for a separate state.
Anti-Christian Bills:
Because of the aggressive attitude of communal parties in India against the Christian minority community, the Govts. of Arunschal Pradesh, Assam, Orissa and MP have passed anti propagation and anti-Christian Bills thus strangulating the fundamental rights as provided in Art. 25 and 26 of the Constitution.
Anti Minority Stance Of RSS Chief:
Bala Saheb Deoras, the RSS chief at a recent meeting at Lucknow criticised the creation of the Minority Commission at the Central and State level. Members of the Indian Christian Community should raise their united voice as they did at the time of Tyagi Bill and at the same time condemn the anti Ghristian attitude of the powers that be and the communal parties.
Several persons from the Dakha area of Ludhiana District reported to Head Office of the Punjab Human Rights Organization, Head Office that the Central Reserve Police Force and the Punjab police themselves were involved in unlawful and criminal activities in that area, while the rural masses had joined hands to resist and expose the forces, The PHRO asked Principal Sant Singh Sekhon, a veteran intellectual, who lives at Dakha, journalist Sukhdev Singh and advocate Mohinder Singh Grewal to investigate the matter and prepare a report.
The members of the inquiry committee met a cross section of the public.
The committee came across an interesting aspect of the working of the security forces in Punjab namely the men in uniform today are free to plunder, to adjudicate upon private disputes and administer their own set of unwritten rules. An equally interesting aspect of the matter which the committee found was that the rural masses made a common cause to resist and expose the official agencies functioning as private sen as (armies).
Article extracted from this publication >> July 21, 1989
