Christian leaders in New Delhi condemn the recent three-day communal violence that resulted in at least 32 deaths in the country's capital and urge churches to make way for victims of the riot.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) called the "reprehensible violence" as the "work of vested political interests and forces of hate."
In a EFI statement signed by General Secretary Reverend Vijayesh Lal, he asked the people of Delhi to maintain peace and not to give in to vicious vitriol fed by rumours and spread through social media. "We must not let hate win," he said.
He encouraged the congregations affiliated with EFI to open their hearts and facilities for the afflicted and to come to the aid of the helpless and distraught. "This would be our act of service unto our Lord, this Lenten season," the Christian leader said.
Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi appealed in a letter that "At this trying moment when communal riots have suddenly gripped Delhi, let us come forward with our prayers and every possible effort to bring relief to the affected people in terms of shelter, food and clothing."
The Christian leader has indeed asked his parish priests to open their premises for a noble cause in the Lenten season.
The National Council of Churches in India's (NCCI) statement signed by General Secretary Reverend Asir Ebenezer on February 26 said that "Humanity has been knocked down one more time, our houses burned, our kindred killed, our peace destroyed, and future betrayed."
"We appeal to members of the different Christian traditions to facilitate each other, and all others of different faith traditions and ideological persuasions in their neighbourhoods, to rise from the ashes," the statement said.
Furthermore, the statement condemned the dastardly attack on the vulnerable and the weak in different locations of Delhi, the explicit or implicit complicity and tacit approval of those in power and authority.
The organization has requested Christian organizations and churches in affected areas to respond to people in need.
