New Delhi: Thousands of Christians, representing nearly 79 denominations, staged a protest march in India’s capital New Delhi against growing number of hate crimes against them.
Any religion other than Hinduism has become a liability in Modi’s India. Vicious Hindutva ideology, seeking Hindu domination in India, is the chief guiding principle for BJP-led Indian government. Under the patronage of Indian government, Hindu terrorists threat and kill Christians and vandalize their places of worship with sheer impunity.
The Christian community will send a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, asking for a National redressal Commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to address the issues of “targeted” violence against the community.
The memorandum, which was signed by the community members said, “continued waves of vile hate speech and targeted violence have buffeted the Christian community in recent years, and in particular in 2022-23. The violence seems to have reached a crescendo in January and February 2023”.
It said that of particular concern were the States of Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Jharkhand. It flagged registration of malicious FIRs, non-registration of FIRs despite complaints filed by victims, lack of CCTVs in police stations and illegal detentions as chief concerns.
The memorandum sought the strengthening of human rights monitoring mechanisms, including the National Commission for Minorities and National Human Rights Commission, speedy closure of cases where false allegations had been leveled against Christians.
One of the protesters said: “We are being accused of forcibly converting people to Christianity. Churches are being attacked, our people are being beaten up and arrested.
The community members are living in a constant state of panic.” In a press release, the community said that “The United Christian Forum, a human rights group based in New Delhi that monitors atrocities against Christians in India, has recorded a total of 598 incidents of violence against Christians from 21 States till the end of December 2022”.
According to Indian Constitution citizens have the freedom to “profess, practice and propagate” any religion. But during seven years of Modi, eight BJP-ruled states have passed these discriminatory laws which have led to increased violence against Christians in India.
The world must act now to halt Christian persecution; otherwise, another genocide is in making and this time Indian Christians will be the target.
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