Attacks on Indian Christians Rapidly Increasing
Pastor Dale Morgan
Attacks on Indian Christians Rapidly Increasing*
Reports surpass 1,000 for 2007, worst toll ever for nation
Posted: January 11, 2008
Compass Direct
A new report confirms what Christians in India already feared: 2007 was
the worst year since their nation's independence in 1947 for attacks on
Christians.
The report from Compass Direct cited statistics compiled by the All
India Christian Council in confirming that the number of attacks on
Christians in 2007 surpassed 1,000 for the first time in India's history.
At least 200 anti-Christian attacks, including four murders, had been
documented before the recent violence erupted in Orissa State's
Kandhamal district, the report said. There, at least another four
Christians were killed and about 800 attacks were reported. At least 730
homes and 95 churches were burned, the report said.
"It is a matter of serious concern to the country that violence has been
widespread in different parts of the country in general and against the
Christians in particular," said Babu Joseph, a spokesman for the
Catholic Bishops Conference of India.
"In all the villages we have visited, people testify that the attacks,
destruction and looting was done in the presence of the police," the
report continued, with Hindu extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
suspected in many of the gun, knife and bomb assaults.
There exists a "conspiracy to hide the bodies of Christians killed by
VHP cadre to destroy evidence … Many are missing – both adults and
children – in every village," the report said.
In one area around the Barakhama village, 415 of the 450 homes belonging
to tribal Christians were burned, the AICC wrote. A Christian, Bhogra
Naik of Barakhama, was "cut into three pieces" by attackers after his
house was destroyed, the report said.
Compass Direct reported between 1950 and 1998, government figures show
there were only 50 anti-Christian attacks. In 2000, that reached 100,
and the tally has been continuing to rise.
"What is most distressing is the regularity at which these attacks are
meticulously planned and almost clinically executed in order to hurt the
Christians," Joseph told Compass Direct.
"In all these instances of atrocities against Christians, it proved
beyond doubt that some right-wing Hindu organizations were behind them;
they indulge in unhindered hate campaigns creating bad blood between
communities of different faiths, and that has caused immense social
rupture in India," he said.
Compass Direct News earlier reported on the surge of attacks that
started on Christmas Eve, when members of the extremist World Hindu
Council launched their assaults.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, a leader of the World Hindu Council (VHP),
told local reporters that the violence was triggered by Hindus who
converted to Christianity. The violence apparently erupted as members of
the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in one small village were preparing
for their Christmas celebration.
A Hindu mob, upset with Christianity's beliefs and the apparent choice
by some Hindus to follow Christianity, attacked the Christians and their
shops, the Compass Direct agency reported.
The blame, the report said, rests with Saraswati, who has opposed
Christians and their work in India for more than a decade.
"It was Saraswati who instigated the mob to attack us," one Christian
villager told Compass Direct on condition of anonymity. "Later,
Christians learned that Saraswati was coming to launch more attacks.
Sections of Christians tried to stop him on the way, which resulted in a
clash between the two groups, following which the VHP claimed that their
leader was hurt and announced that now Christians would be attacked as
revenge."
The series of attacks earlier prompted Christians to stage a rally to
demand government intervention to halt violence against members of the
minority religion.
The recent rally in Delhi drew an estimated 1,000 Christians and was
organized by the All India Christian Council.
A message was delivered to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after officials
met with Union Home Minister Shivraj V. Patil, as well as the head of
the National Commission for Minorities.
According to Gospel for Asia, another Christian ministry working in
India, the violence has amounted to a virtual terror campaign against
Christians.
"This violence against believers in Orissa breaks my heart," said K.P.
Yohannan, founder and president of GFA. "This is the same state where
missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were martyred. The believers
know they will face opposition, but this outburst of persecution at
Christmas time is especially disturbing."
GFA said a project on which its missionaries had worked in Orissa was
destroyed, and its missionary leader Matish Junni attacked.
"The mob beat Matish and shaved his head. Then they mockingly paraded
him around the village, shouting slurs against him and other
Christians," the report said. "They also forced Matish to go to their
religious temples. When the mob finally released him, they warned him
not to continue the construction."
Religious radicals threatened to burn a Christian church's pastor and
his family, and the church building was vandalized with a Hindu "Om" symbol.
Even within the United States, there have been attacks, although verbal
instead of physical. The Hindu American Foundation has attacked
Christian organizations ranging from the Southern Baptists' missions
board and Gospel for Asia to Olive Tree Ministries, which aims to teach
Christians about their beliefs.
"The proliferation of websites promoting religious hatred is an
unfortunate consequence of the universality of access to the Internet,"
said Vinay Vallabh, the lead author of a report that attacked the
Christian groups for their expression of their beliefs.
"We must vigorously identify, condemn and counter those who use the
Internet to espouse chauvinism and bigotry over the principles of
pluralism and tolerance," Vallabh said.
Vallabh's report, called "Hyperlink to Hinduphobia: Online Hatred,
Extremism and Bigotry Against Hindus," expresses his hope that Internet
Service Providers will start censoring Christian postings of their
beliefs, "a necessary step as we continue our balancing act between free
speech and licentious speech that leads to violence in the electronic age."