Over 4,000 cases of Anti-Christian Violence Reported in the country in 2013

There were more than 4,000 cases of attacks on Christians in the country in 2013, which include attacks on 400 clergy and 100 churches, according to a recently-released report by the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), an organisation chaired by Justice Michael Saldanha, former judge at the Bombay and Karnataka High Courts.

The comprehensive report 'The CSF India Report on Christian Persecution 2013' authored by Mr. Joseph Dias, the general secretary of CSF pointed out that these attacks are not stray incidents but there is a "systemic and institutional persecution". The report thanked all those who reported on the persecution in the country and made a special mention of: The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), All India Christian Council (AICC), Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), and World Watch Monitor.

The report noted that attacks on Christians are on the rise and a new laboratory is opened up. It said Maharashtra has witnessed the largest number of attacks on Christians, second only to Karnataka.

Maharashtra is the next Hindutva laboratory, the report presented recently to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Episcopal Conference of India stated.

The comprehensive report which is also sent to the Christian Today India detailed all the attacks on Christians in the country, accompanied by the related photos as proofs and witnesses of them. However, "Many pictures are too gory to be shown," the report said.

The detail report highlighted the murder of a 7-year-old boy Anugarg also known as Anmol on November 17, 2013 from the Believers Church, Gamidi village, Dungerpur district, Rajasthan. His mutilated face and boy beyond recognition was found later. Yes, the police refused to take action, the report alleged.

In Tripura, Mr. Tapas Bin, a 35-year-old man from Teliamura village in West Tripura district was killed in June 3, 2013 by his own father-in-law after he refused to convert to Hinduism; and the deceased wife is living in fear.

In Uttar Pradesh, a believer named Basir Ali's body was found in Alvi Nagar, Loni, Ghaziabad by unknown people for his faith in Jesus Christ. His body was brutally cut into piences. Ali was survived by his pregnant wife and two daughters.

In Odisha, Pratap Nayak, a 26-year-old Christian, son of a retired soldier who died under mysterious circumstances one day after he was kept in police custody. Sarfraz Nawaz of the Bhubaneswar-based Civil Society Forum on Human Rights (CSFHR) alleged that Nayak was tortured to death. The police had failed to inform Nayak's family about his arrest and subsequent hospitalization, violating the Supreme Court guidelines for arresting a person. No compensation was granted to the victim, who belonged to a poor dalit Christian family.

Another incident in Odisha is of Dr. Jaishankar from Blessing Youth Mission, who went missing on 11th July was found dead after five days in a river near Jeypore, Odisha. The death of Dr. Jaishankar, a social worker in his mid-forties is survived by his wife and two young children.

In Madhya Pradesh, a 30-year-old woman was raped and killed on August 29 at Bakoudi village. Two suspects Mahesh and Durgesh, both Hindus have been arrested but were released. The local Christian community are apprehensive about this development.

In Andhra Pradesh, a 19-year-old nursing student was found murdered in a church in Dharoormandal in Vikarabad on February 18, 2013. The police suspect the girl might have been raped before being killed. Not only the murder but doing such inside a sacred place has left Christians very worried.

In Jharkhand, St. Joseph's Christian teacher, 57-year-old Rita Biswas was stabbed to death on January 11, 2013 by three students in Sahibganj town.

In Karnataka, 64-year-old Fr. KJ Thomas, Rector of St. Peter's Pontifical Seminary was beaten to death on April 1, 2013. The murder of Fr. Thomas has shocked the entire community, because he appeared to have no enemies, no problems.

The report also gave a detail and systemic attacks on Christian in various states while highlighting Maharashtra, the new epicentre of attacks on Christians, the report alleged that Hindutva outfits like Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Abhinav Bharat, Sri Ram Sene, etc continue to attack Christians. Sanathan Sanstha went to the point of providing military type of commando training through its armed wing Dharmakranti Sena.

What is surprising is that certain political parties are tactically supporting them, the report alleged.

The 200 major anti-Christian violence incidents across 19 states documented range from being murdered for the faith and being brutally assaulted to being raped and jailed for propagation of what one believes in. Other states from which are persecution hot spots include, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Gujarat, Manipur, Tripura and Assam.

The report also pointed out that many of the attacks and persecution go "unreported for various reasons". "Often the police refuse to record it as such, as it would show them in bad light. For the media, its not "news" and there are instances of the local media being biased or taking sides," it stated.

The report also blamed on the systemic and institutional persecution like the Presidential Order of 1950 in which if any scheduled castes converted to Christianity or Islam, they will cease to be Scheduled Caste and lose all the benefits accorded to them.

The second factor is Anti-Conversion Law which is existing in seven states of Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, which recently repealed it. These are used to persecute Christians on false allegations that conversions are undertaken by force or inducement. The report found is surprising that the BJP is on record saying it will pass a national legislation on the subject.

Over 4139 NGOs have losted their Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) permit causing much inconvenience to their important works.

Another factor is Land Allotment for Religious Needs. The report pointed out that it is "impossible to construct a Church or a Christian prayer hall. Not only is there no government provision for land allotment for such purposes, but even to bury the dead, it stated. The report cited an example of the Evangelical Church of India, who bought land in Melamcode, Memom village and applied to both the District Collector and the municipal corporation of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. However, they were unable to build despite approaching the High Court for relief. This is just one case, but elsewhere also it is more or less the same.

The report also came down heavily on State Minorities Commissions (SMCs) and the existing ones as 'toothless'. "Almost half of the states do not have State Minorities Commissions (SMCs). Among the 14 states that do not have SMCs are included - Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Kerala, Goa and six north-eastern states. Gujarat, has been persistently refusing to set up a SMC, despite repeated prodding by the National Commission for Minorities. In states where SMCs do exist, their effectiveness is open to serious questioning," the report stated.

The comprehensive report also blamed various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). "Blasphemy sections of the law, such as 295 A for hurting religious sentiments and others like 153 for creating enmity between groups are often used to arrest Christians by the majority, with police and political support. On the other hand, hate speech and anti-Christian propaganda in Hindutva publications like the Organiser and the Panchjanya or on television channels, like those of Zakir Naik, go blatantly un-noticed," it stated.

The report also said that among Christians, tribals are the worst victims. "Tribals who convert are denied rights and even forest, adivasi land on the ground that the church needs to meet their needs," it stated. "Christians are denied government scholarships for education. There are many instances of tribal certificates being denied to Christians under pressure by the majority on local self-government authorities," it added.

The report also alleged that there is an infringement of Minority Rights under Article 30 of the Constitution. "Minority educational institutions are often targeted not just by extra-constitutional and non-state players, but also by government departments. In most states, the Education and Minority Affairs ministers are non-Christian politicians who have attempted to make rules encroaching on the rights of Christians to manage their institutions. A case in point is St. Xavier's College or St. Mary's School in Mumbai, who have had to repeatedly approach the High Court for justice. In view of rampant rivatization of sectors like social services, education and medicare, the government auctions land, which Christian institutions or NGOs can ill afford. Thus, depriving the lesser privileged sections of education or medicare, which the Christian community has focused on.

Mr. Joseph Dias, CSF General Secretary pointed out that Christians are looked at as easy targets as they do not fight back. "We are compelled to turn the other cheek because our religion teaches us not to resort to violence," he said referring to the teaching of Jesus on Sermon on the Mount.

Justice Saldanha feels that the attacks on Christians is a cause for great concern, especially in the run up to the General Elections. "No party says they stand for communal violence, and yet such attacks continue unchecked," he said.

According to Harsh Mander, social activist and former member of India's National Advisory Council, who has worked extensively with victims of communal violence said, "Growing attacks on India's Christian minority form the unreported story of communalism in India," he told told the Times of India newspaper.

"Unlike pogroms targeted at the Muslim community, attacks on Christians are of a low intensity, though very widespread. You don't have the sort of large outbreaks that you see in case of Hindu-Muslim clashes, and hence attacks on Christians often do not attract the same attention. However, there is a pattern emerging when it comes to attacks on Christians. Much of it is a result of Hindutva propaganda over what is perceived to be mass conversions. Like much hate propaganda, however, it is not backed by evidence to show any large increase in India's Christian population," Mander says.