Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to Emmanuel founder

New Delhi – Hindu fundamentalists were dealt a severe blow when the apex court of the nation, the Supreme Court of India granted an anticipatory bail to Bishop M.A. Thomas, the founder of Emmanuel Mission in Kota (internationally known as Hopegivers International) allowing him to come out of hiding after more than two months ever since Hindu radical outfits had laid a siege on Emmanuel Mission, Kota, accusing the mission authorities of publishing a controversial book that contains disparaging statements against Hindu gods, goddesses and spiritual leaders.

Since February 2006, Emmanuel Mission was under attack and the Rajasthan state government, besides freezing local bank accounts of the mission group, also issued an arrest warrant against the bishop, forcing the latter to go into hiding.

Local police authorities, meanwhile, arrested the bishop's son, Dr. Samuel Thomas, the present president of Hopegivers International and a few other mission staff members. Dr. Thomas continues to languish in jail, with his bail pending in the court.

The decision of the Supreme Court, April 21, was a welcome relief for the Christian community in Rajasthan who were living under a shadow of fear ever since the anti–Christian violence erupted in the state following complaints against the controversial book.

The apex court granted anticipatory bail to Bishop Thomas because he was more than 70 years old and had been awarded in 2001 the Padam Shri, the highest civilian award in the country, Lansinglu Rongmei, secretary of the Christian Legal Association of India, told Compass.

In the same Supreme Court hearing, bail was also granted to the Rev. V.S. Thomas (not related to Bishop Thomas), the executive director of the large orphanage supported by Hopegivers in Kota, Rajasthan.
Pastor Thomas was in jail for 61 days following the massive wave of arrests launched by the local authorities and the news of his release has come as a great relief to those who have been praying and writing letters to the Indian government for two months.

According to Hopegivers' Michael Glenn, the struggle for justice was a long one and the ministry members were happy that Bishop Thomas finally got the bail. "We did get his case up to the Supreme Court level and that's been one of our problems – getting things bogged down in a lower area where people in Rajasthan had more tighter control. We do rejoice we have been granted relief from his outstanding arrest warrant," he said.