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April 5, 2007   Further delay in Indian Supreme Court case on equal rights for Dalit Christians

On Tuesday, April 3, 2007, the Indian Supreme Court again postponed proceedings in the case, filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, on equal rights for Dalit Christians with other Dalits (formerly known as ‘untouchables’). The hearing was adjourned until mid-July 2007.

The delay is due to the failure of the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, mandated by the government in 2005 to examine this issue, to submit its long-awaited report. This report will inform the official response of the Indian government to the court.

The case, filed in 2004, challenges the legality of excluding Dalits who adopt Christianity or Islam from the affirmative action system of ‘reservation’ in place for ‘Scheduled Castes’. This system of benefits was designed as a measure to redress the socio-economic exclusion of Dalits, known officially as the Scheduled Castes.

The latest delay by the government in stating its position on this issue has been attributed in some sections of the Indian media to its reticence to generate political controversy in the lead-up to elections in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: “Observers around the world are watching this case carefully, and it is disappointing that proceedings have been postponed yet again. We urge the Indian government to bring an end to this major restriction on the religious freedom of Dalits, who face losing significant benefits if they adopt Christianity or Islam. This is inconsistent with India’s own constitutional protections against discrimination on the basis of religion, and with international standards on religious freedom”.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The case was filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation in writ petition no. 180 of 2004.
At the court hearing on August 23, 2005, the government announced its appointment of the Justice Ranganath Mishra National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities to investigate the socio-economic circumstances of Dalits not belonging to the Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh religions.
The case has been the subject of widespread lobbying by Dalit and Christian groups, including a large rally organized by CSW partners, the All India Christian Council (AICC) and the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations on 11 December 2006 (see: http://www.csw.org.uk/latestnews/article.php?id=581).

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February 21, 2007  Himachal Pradesh anti-conversion bill becomes law

On 19 February, the governor of Himachal Pradesh state, Shri Justice Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, gave his assent to the anti-conversion law passed by the state legislature on 29 December 2006. The bill has now passed into law.

Minority groups had expressed grave concern that the ‘Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2006’ was passed by the secular Congress Party, after similar laws were passed and strengthened in states ruled by the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year. CSW partner organization, the All India Christian Council (AICC) is considering a legal challenge to the law at the Supreme Court.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) previously reported that Christians faced a fresh wave of harassment by Hindu extremist groups after the bill was passed (see ‘Christians harassed in latest Indian state to pass anti-conversion law’, 25 January 2007). Further attacks have subsequently taken place.

Dr Joseph D’souza, President of the Dalit Freedom Network and the All India Christian Council, said, “It is highly regrettable that the secular Congress government in Himachal Pradesh has chosen to pass this law, which severely undercuts the fundamental right to freedom of religion, particularly for exploited Dalits and tribals. The assent of the governor amounts to an endorsement of the discrimination and persecution against religious minorities in that state, which has already begun since the bill was passed on 29 December.”

CSW’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said, “Hindu extremist groups already seem to have been bolstered by the passage of this law, encouraged by the state-sponsored religious freedom restrictions which are becoming ever more common across India. This is a very troubling trend, and we urge the international community to make urgent representations to the Indian government about the proliferation of anti-conversion legislation.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

Representatives of the AICC have consulted legal experts, who gave their opinion that the law may now be enforceable, even though its rules for implementation are yet to be framed. The Himachal Pradesh state legislative assembly reconvenes tomorrow (22 February) and it is expected to quickly pass the requisite set of rules.

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July 26, 2006   Anti-conversion legislation enhanced in Indian state as new report condemns abuses of the laws

The Madhya Pradesh government has strengthened the state anti-conversion legislation to force potential religious converts to give one month’s notice before conversion or face fines and imprisonment.

The amendment to the law stipulates that ‘prospective converts’ and religious priests must notify a district magistrate of the intent to change religion one month before a conversion ‘ceremony’. According to reports, the law was passed without a debate, despite uproar from opposition Congress Party members.

The decision coincides with the release of the Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) Quarterly Report into violence against Christian in India. The report details examples of violence against Christian minorities in Indian states where anti-conversion legislation has been enacted and highlights the abuse of these laws to protect the perpetrators of this violence.

The report suggests that ‘not only does anti-conversion legislation appear to create a hostile climate for minority religious activities, but there also remains a broader assumption across other states about the illegitimacy of religious proselytism’. The report also highlights the failure of the justice procedures in protecting Christians in some states, and the complicity or even involvement of police in some attacks.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, ‘This report of anti-Christian violence implicates some authorities for failing to protect the rights of the Christian minority. Even the existence of anti-conversion legislation appears to give confidence to the perpetrators of violence against religious minorities. It is therefore deeply disturbing that the Madhya Pradesh state government has signalled its intent to continue obstructing the religious freedom of its citizens, in violation of international standards. We call on the government of India to intervene for the repeal of all state anti-conversion laws across the country.’

NOTES TO EDITORS

1 The report “Attacks Against Christians In India: Quarterly Report, April-June 2006” is available on request from CSW.

2 Sixteen MPs last week signed a letter encouraging the Indian government to address concerns about anti-conversion legislation raised by leaders representing a range of religious communities in India. The letter was presented to the Deputy High Commissioner by Andy Reed MP and Gary Streeter MP.

3 The amendment to the Madhya Pradesh anti-conversion law must still be ratified by the state governor. In May, the Rajasthan state governor refused to ratify the anti-conversion law passed by the state legislature in April.

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July 7, 2006   Pastors attacked for preventing child prostitution in Rajasthan

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June 26, 2006   Urgent Action - Dalit Christians in India 

Dear Friends,

The campaign for equal rights for Christians of Dalit background is entering another crucial phase.  We are writing to communicate the request of Indian Christians for your support in urging the Indian government to correct this historic injustice.

Our partners in India, the AICC, have launched a letter-writing campaign addressed to the Justice Mishra Commission which is investigating this issue, and have asked that letters also be written from abroad.

All the details of this case, together with contact details for the Mishra Commission, are outlined below.

In your letter, please include the following points:

• Set your request in the context of mutually respectful and cooperative relations between India and the US;

• Politely request that the Commission consider your expression of support for the Christian community in India;

• Commend the government for its efforts to address the problems of caste discrimination;

• Set out a belief that since Dalit Christians often face the same social and economic deprivation as other Dalits, they should receive the same benefits;

• Suggest that the current lack of rights for Dalit Christians is unfair discrimination on the basis of religion, and that it is denying the freedom of Dalits to adopt and practice a religion of their choice, because they would lose their benefits by embracing Christianity;

• Point out that similar changes have been made in the past, in 1956 to extend reservation to Dalit Sikhs and again in 1990 to Dalit Buddhists;

• Thank the Commission for giving this issue due consideration.

Many thanks for your support, which will be a great encouragement to your brothers and sisters in India.

God bless you,
CSW Advocacy Team

Background

About 17 percent of India's population (around 180 million people) are Dalits (formerly known as 'untouchables'), and around 60 percent of India's estimated 25 million Christians are Dalits. 

Dalits have faced centuries of oppression at the hands of the upper castes.  They perform the most menial and hazardous jobs in India, and many Dalit women are sold into prostitution.  Many restaurants keep separate drinking vessels for Dalit use, and Dalits often live downstream of the higher castes, as they are considered a polluting influence.  This segregation even extended to the relief camps set up in south-east India following the 2004 tsunami.

For further background information on the Dalits, see our India Country Profile:

http://www.csw.org.uk/Countries/India/Resources/IndiaCountryProfile.pdf

In 1950, in an effort to address some of the injustices faced by the Dalit community, the government introduced an order which bestowed Scheduled Caste status on Dalits.  As a result, Dalits have been given some benefits such as quotas of reserved places in government, in employment, education, housing and the distribution of agricultural land.  This system is known as 'reservation'.

However, the 1950 order contained the proviso that if Dalits converted from Hinduism to another religion, they would lose their Scheduled Caste status.  The law has been altered once in 1956 to include Sikhs, and again in 1990 to include Buddhists, but Christian and Muslim Dalits are still denied equal rights even with other Dalits.

This is a religious freedom issue.  Dalits must be free to embrace the Christian faith without the fear of losing benefits.  CSW has therefore joined with Christians and civil rights groups in India to campaign for a change in the law.

Although some have argued that Christianity does not involve a concept of caste, and that therefore Dalits who embrace Christianity should not be given the rights reserved for other Dalits, Christian leaders are insisting that the socio-economic status of Dalits does not automatically improve by their adopting a new religion.  It is therefore appropriate for them to receive the 'affirmative action' benefits enjoyed by other Dalits.

Dr Joseph D'Souza, President of CSW partner, the All India Christian Council (AICC), has said, "The fact is that Dalit Christians are indeed Dalits and suffer the same humiliation, discrimination, ostracism and poverty experienced by Dalits of other faiths.  To deny Dalit Christians benefits because of their religious affiliation is to discriminate against them on the basis of religion and deny them fundamental constitutional rights."

Government Commission Investigation

The legality of excluding Dalit Christians from the 'reservation' system is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court by a civil rights organization, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL).

During a hearing on 23 August, the government announced it was handing responsibility for the decision on this issue to the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities.  The Supreme Court case has now been adjourned several times, as the Commission continues its investigation.

Despite several adjournments, it is hoped that the Commission will present its opinion to the Supreme Court during the next hearing on 12 July, and a decision should then be taken regarding whether or not a change should be made to the law.

In the meantime, the Mishra Commission has asked the public to make their feelings known and has held public meetings in many of the country's cities to help facilitate this.  The Commission has also listened to the arguments of a number of major Christian groups.  A large-scale counter-campaign has been launched by Hindu extremist organizations to protest any proposed change to the law.

Our partners in India, the AICC, have launched a letter-writing campaign, and have asked that letters also be written from abroad.

Mishra Commission Contact Details

Mrs. Asha Das
Member Secretary
National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities
Gate 30, II Floor, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Lodi Road
New Delhi - 110003
India

Email: ncrlm2005@rediffmail.com

Writing to Senators/ Representatives

Alternatively you could write to your Senator or Representative to explain these points, and to ask them to raise the issue with the Indian government.

Write to your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510, or your Representative at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.  (Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to find out your Congressperson’s name). Ask your Congressperson to raise your concerns with both the Congress and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and to additionally raise this in appropriate international forums. You can address this issue with the Secretary of State as well by writing to:

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June 5, 2006   CSW condemns violent attack on Christian women in Madhya Pradesh, India 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) strongly condemns the gang rape of two Christian women in Nadia village, Khargone district, Madhya Pradesh, and the attempts to force Christians in the village to surrender their faith.

At 10pm on 28 May, a group of five Hindu men dragged the wives of two Christians out of their homes, and gang-raped them. As the women's husbands tried to intervene, they were brutally beaten. Pastor Kailash Davar of Khargone described the attack as unprovoked.

The attack on the women came after the council of a neighbouring village attempted to force Gokharya Barela, the husband of one of the victims, to renounce his faith, and warned him to leave the village. According to a report by Compass Direct, the head of the Sirvil village council, Pandya Patel, then told villagers that they could rape the Christian women in the village, claiming that nobody would save them.

Nobody is known to have been arrested yet, although police are believed to be investigating the attack.

According to Dr John Dayal, Secretary General of CSW partners the All India Christian Council and a member of the government's National Integration Council, this attack "has to be seen both in terms of the religious intolerance of the Sangh Parivar and in the pattern of violence against women, the most vulnerable section of our society. On both counts, it must be condemned in the strongest of terms".

The attack is the latest example of the widespread and violent persecution of the Christian minority in Madhya Pradesh, which has continued unabated throughout 2006.

CSW's National Director, Stuart Windsor, said: "We strongly condemn this appalling attack against vulnerable Christian women, and our deepest sympathy goes to the victims. The pattern of violent attacks against Christians in Madhya Pradesh is a matter of grave concern. We call on the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice and that the Christian minority across the state is protected from further assaults."

NOTES TO EDITOR:

1. Sixteen Christians were last week acquitted by the courts in Alirajpur, Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh after facing charges including murder, attempted murder and arson following a week of communal violence against Christians in January 2004. Advocate Salavudeen Sheikh, counsel for the accused, outlined that Judge Shaida Bano Rahman had acquitted all sixteen Christians due to lack of evidence. He added: "It was a very tough case as the administration was hell bent on trapping the innocent victims."

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April 10, 2006   Anti-conversion law introduced in Rajasthan, India

On April 7, the Government of Rajasthan, India, became the sixth state in India to enact an anti-conversion law.

The law will be implemented as soon as its rules have been framed.  Christian, Dalit and civil rights groups are planning to challenge the law in the Supreme Court as soon as this happens.

The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya (Freedom of Religion) Act outlaws any attempt to convert a person from one religion to another ‘by use of force or by allurement or by fraudulent means’.  The punishments specified by the law are a prison term of ‘not less than two years’ or a fine of up to 50,000 rupees (approximately $1160).

The law is ostensibly intended to ‘maintain harmony amongst persons of various religions’.  However, it is feared the opposite will take place.

In other Indian states with anti-conversion legislation, Christians have been the targets of widespread attacks from Hindu extremists.  These extremists often accuse Christians of converting people by ‘force’ or ‘fraud’.  Laws such as this, which give credence to this rhetoric, make the Christians more vulnerable to accusations and attacks.

Critics fear that the law will seriously threaten the activities of religious minorities.  Although none are advocating the right to convert people by unscrupulous or coercive means, they feel that the law contains a number of deep flaws which will damage religious freedom.

The terms used in the bill are extremely vague and could easily be used to restrict a wide range of religious activities.  For example, the bill seeks to prevent people from attempting to convert others by ‘allurement’.  This could inhibit charitable work, especially among Dalits and the more vulnerable sections of society.  Additionally, the fact that even attempting to convert others is outlawed threatens any religious propagation.

Critics also claim the new law is targeted especially at Dalits, restricting their freedom of faith.  It defines a person’s religion as that of their forefathers, and therefore obstructs them from adopting a different religion from that of their parents.  Because Dalits are born into the rigid caste system, the law limits their freedom to adopt a religion according to choice, and thereby move out of the caste system.

Critics suggest that because this law threatens religious and charitable activities, it has serious implications for the freedom of faith for Dalits, and will contribute to their subjugation.

Alexa Papadouris, Advocacy Director at CSW-UK, said, ‘The introduction of this law is deeply concerning, and an affront to India’s constitutionally protected religious freedom.  We call on the international community to fully support those in India who are protesting against this law and other anti-conversion laws in India, to safeguard the full religious freedom of all India’s citizens.’ 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Christians are estimated to make up no more than 100,000 of Rajasthan’s population of 70 million.

This year has already seen widespread attacks on Christians in Rajasthan at the hands of Hindu extremists.

India’s constitution protects the right ‘to freely profess, practice and propagate religion’.

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April 4, 2006  India: Imminent Supreme Court case on equal rights for Dalit Christians 

On 5 April, the case for equal rights for Dalit Christians will again come before the Indian Supreme Court.  However, the Commission appointed by the Government to investigate this issue has stated that it will not release its report until the end of April.

At the upcoming hearing, former law ministers Shanti Bhusan and Ram Jethmalani will argue that because the Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, the adoption of the Christian faith by Dalits cannot be used as a basis for withholding the affirmative action benefits enjoyed by Dalits of Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh background.

However, former BJP law minister Arun Jaitley has been appointed by the Hindu extremist group, the RSS, to argue against extending equal rights to Dalit Christians.

The Supreme Court case, brought by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, had sought to remove decades of discrimination against Dalits who embrace Christianity.  The Supreme Court announced it would examine the constitutional validity of current legislation, which deprives Dalits who convert to Christianity or Islam of the rights afforded to Dalits of Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh background.

If the court finds in favor of Dalit Christians, the Government will be compelled to change the current legislation.  Following a court hearing in August 2005, the Government announced the appointment of the Mishra Commission to investigate this issue, but the Commission has stated it will not submit its report until late April 2006.

The Supreme Court said it would not link the findings of the Commission with the litigation before the court.

Members of all parties except the Hindu nationalist BJP have openly supported a change in the law.

Tina Lambert, CSW’s Advocacy Director, said, “This court case provides the Indian Government with an ideal opportunity to address a grave injustice suffered by Dalit Christians.  It is vital that the international community join CSW and others in calling for a change in the law to allow full freedom of faith to Dalits”.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About 17 percent of India’s population (around 180 million people) are Dalits (formerly known as untouchables), and around 60 percent of India’s estimated 25 million Christians are Dalits.

Dalits have faced centuries of oppression at the hands of the upper castes. They perform the most menial and hazardous jobs in India, and many Dalit women are sold into prostitution. Many restaurants keep separate drinking vessels for Dalit use, and Dalits often live downstream of the higher castes, as they are considered a polluting influence. This segregation even extended to the relief camps set up in south-east India following the 2004 tsunami.

In 1950, in an effort to address some of the injustices faced by the Dalit community, the Government introduced an order which bestowed Scheduled Caste status on Dalits.

As a result, Dalits have been given some benefits such as quotas of reserved places in government, in employment, education, housing and the distribution of agricultural land.  This affirmative action system is known in India as reservation.

However, the 1950 order contained the proviso that if Dalits converted from Hinduism to another religion, they would lose their Scheduled Caste status.

The law has been altered once in 1956 to include Sikhs, and again in 1990 to include Buddhists, but Christian and Muslim Dalits are still denied equal rights even with other Dalits.

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March 10, 2006   CSW meets pastor assaulted in Andhra Pradesh, India 

CSW recently met with a pastor in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh state, who was brutally assaulted by Hindu extremists on February 28, resulting in his hospitalization.

The attack on Pastor Lavete Jacob took place during the fourteenth birthday party of a church member.  A group of around 15 Hindu extremists entered the family home in which the celebration was taking place, locked the doors and began to beat him with sticks.  He sustained a head injury and broken ribs during the assault, which lasted 20 minutes.

Jacob’s wife and daughters, together with the girl celebrating her birthday, were beaten while trying to defend him.

The attackers also tore down Christian posters, took away Bibles and threatened the Christians, saying they should leave the vicinity.

A complaint was lodged with the police, who arrested five men.  All were subsequently released on bail.

This attack was not the first which Pastor Jacob had faced.  After preaching a sermon during the Hindu festival of Bonalu in 2005, he was accosted by Hindu extremists and warned not to continue preaching.  Then, on March 18, 2005, he was returning from a house visit, when he was confronted with a group of around 30 men, 15 of whom beat him with sticks and struck his head with a stone, leaving him unconscious on the road.

Pastor Jacob identified his recent assailants as the same as those who beat him 10 days earlier.  He was nevertheless determined to continue working in his church, despite the attack.

Andhra Pradesh saw relatively few attacks against Christians in 2005, despite the murders of pastors K. Daniel and Isaac Raju.  However, 2006 has already seen a number of violent atrocities against Christians.

Alexa Papadouris, CSW-UK’s Advocacy Director, said, “We strongly condemn the repeated violence which Pastor Jacob and his family have suffered.  We call on the Indian authorities to ensure that all members of this mob, which has carried out a serious of brutal attacks on innocent Christians, be called to justice, in order to restore the faith of the community in their freedom to worship, as guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.”

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February 15, 2006  Hindu extremists' mass rally calls for nationwide anti-conversion law 

Speakers at a mass rally held in the Dangs district of Gujarat State, western India, have called for a nationwide anti-conversion law. Organizers estimated some 300,000 Hindu activists and fundamentalists from outside the district gathered at the Shabri Kumbh for the ‘reawakening’ event. About 185,000 people, mostly tribals, live in the area, and the festival was organized to encourage them to “re-convert” to Hinduism. 

While calling for a ban on conversions seems inconsistent with this aim, the Hindu fundamentalists believe that conversion to Hinduism is a ‘homecoming’, rather than conversion per se. Their actions are to some extent motivated by alarm at the number of people embracing Christianity or Islam. Praveen Togadia, General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) said the conversion of tribal people was part of a plot to abolish the Hindu faith, and that this would no longer be tolerated. 

On the last day of the event, February 13th, the organizers passed a resolution which called on the national government to pass a nationwide anti-conversion law. State anti-conversion laws are currently in place in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states. A law has been enacted in Gujarat, though it is not yet in force, and similar laws are expected to be proposed in Rajasthan and Jharkhand states. 

The former BJP Government had promised to introduce a nationwide law, but lost power at the 2004 General Election. Compass Direct also reports that speakers called on tribal Christians to revert to Hinduism and that speakers from the VHP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shouted slogans calling on Hindus to take up arms against Christians. The run-up to the event had been characterized by inflammatory anti-minority propaganda, and organizers used the slogan “Hindu Jago, Christi Bhagao” (“Arise Hindus, throw out the Christians”) to stir up inter-communal tensions. 

Groups such as the All Indian Christian Council had been concerned about outbreaks of violence and had met with the Indian Home Office Minister to express their fears. So far no violence has been reported, with a heavy military presence in the area to keep the peace. Riot police had been posted outside churches and temples and many local people stayed well away from the area where the event was held. 

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January 10, 2005  Indian priest attacked in church on Christmas Eve

An Indian priest needed 17 stitches after being attacked at the altar of his church on Christmas Eve.

The Reverend Father Saji Abraham was preparing to conduct a service at St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Banswara, Rajasthan. When he went to the sacristy to put aside the holy bread for use during the worship, he was followed by three men.

He asked them to remain outside, but was attacked with metal rods. The priest fell down under the force of the blows, suffering heavy bleeding from his head injuries. When he regained consciousness, he rang church members for help on his mobile phone. He was taken to hospital where he was last reported to be in a critical condition.

On the same day, a Christian driver in Ahmedabad, Gujarat , was reportedly attacked when he asked for a salary advance to celebrate Christmas. Robinson Joseph had petrol poured over him and was set on fire. He suffered about 26 percent burns and was admitted to hospital. The All India Christian Council (AICC) took up his case with the local police, but was told the accused had fled.

There have been a number of other incidents in India over the last few weeks where Christians have been threatened or attacked. Again in Gujarat , anti-Christian pamphlets and books accused Christians of forcibly converting Hindus from poor backgrounds in the south of the state. On December 18, the police arrested a man allegedly working for an organization linked to the militant Hindu Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) after he was found distributing such leaflets.

In Rajasthan, two Christian pastors were attacked on December 10 on their way to a prayer service by a group which accused them of converting others. The police protected the men from the attackers who reportedly belonged to the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) group.

Also in Rajasthan, a Christian orphanage in Baran reported in early December that it may have to relocate because of anti-Christian threats. Despite police protection, tensions in the region have forced the orphanage to relocate the children.

Dr Joseph D'Souza, President of the All India Christian Council, said: "On behalf of the All India Christian Council, I want to express my deep concern and sorrow for this type of persecution against Christians and other minorities that continues across the nation of India .  Despite a new and secular government elected in 2004, we maintain our outcry against the activities of extreme Hindutva followers who insist on inciting violence.  The All India Christian Council stands by those who have been attacked and will do everything within our power to bring justice in these situations."

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October 14, 2004   Indian Christians attacked in ongoing campaign of violence

Indian Christians continue to be attacked in India on an almost daily basis.

On October 5 two Indian missionary pastors serving with Gospel for Asia (GFA) were beaten and kidnapped by a group of militant Hindus in Chattisgarh state, central India .

The two, named Tulsiram and Vijay, were preparing to baptize 32 new believers when they were attacked. After beating the two missionaries, the attackers dragged them out of the village and took them to an unknown location. It is reported that the kidnapping was part of a plan to stop them from continuing ministry in the village.

Vijay managed to escape and ran nearly 25 miles to tell the GFA district leader about the incident. The 32 believers whom they were planning to baptise were the first converts of his ministry in the village, so the attack seems to have been deliberately timed.

After being badly beaten and threatened, Tulsiram was released the next day.

At the end of September, a group of Hindu militants in India 's southern state of Karnataka threatened to kill an Indian pastor in front of his family and to torture church members as part of a widespread campaign against missionaries.

Pastor Kumar had received threats from anti-Christian groups over the past few weeks in the village where he and his family arrived two years ago to preach the gospel and to establish a church. The militants had also threatened that anyone who went to the church - including the 40 new believers over the last two years - would be killed.

On October 1 they threatened Pastor Kumar that if he went to church to lead the service that Sunday (October 3) they would kill him in front of his family. In the end the pastor and the other believers, following police advice, stayed away from the church and met elsewhere in secret.

These attacks follow other disturbing incidents in late September. On September 25 a group of nuns and priests from Mother Teresa's order, the Missionaries of Charity, were attacked by suspected militant Hindus in the state of Kerala, southern India .

They had been visiting a slum area on the outskirts of the city of Kozhikode to bring food for the inhabitants.

They were attacked by a small group suspected of belonging to Hindu militant groups. The group was shouting slogans in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has links with Hindu militant groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

According to reports, the City Police Commissioner confirmed he believed that RSS and BJP activists were behind the attack. Although the culprits escaped at the time, by October 7 the police had made 12 arrests in connection with the attacks.  

The RSS issued a statement denying any involvement. It did, however, take advantage of the situation to demand a probe into alleged conversions by Christian groups - even though conversions are allowed by the Indian constitution.

These two incidents follow on from a spate of others around India over the last months. Despite victory for the Congress-led coalition in May's general election, which many believed would be beneficial for non-Hindus, attacks from those believed to be Hindu militants have continued unabated.

Sam Paul of the All India Christian Council said: "The previous BJP-led regime had been indifferent to the attacks on the minorities by groups like the RSS.  This encouraged those groups to continue with their attacks. The current United Progressive Alliance government has promised to take action to prevent such attacks, and we are hopeful that it will do so".  

NOTES TO EDITORS:

On August 28, also in Kerala, a Roman Catholic priest, Father Job Chittilappilly, was killed. He had been threatened in the period leading up to the attack by phone calls because of his alleged spreading of the Christian message and his pastoral activities among Hindu families. The police ruled out robbery as a motive because nothing was taken. The crime investigators said the murder was likely to have been a deliberate execution. A 25-year-old man later arrested in connection with the murder is reported to have strong links to Hindu militant groups.

On August 22, armed assailants attacked and beat up a Father John Sunderam, in Jharkhand state. The attack left him in a coma. Another priest, Father Albanus Tirkey, was hospitalized.

On August 26, a group of 300 Hindu militants stormed the Church of Our Lady of Charity in the town of Raikia , in Orissa state. The attackers burst into the church and burned Bibles while tearing down the Tabernacle, destroying statues of saints, and damaging musical instruments, doors, windows, and other church property. Police were present but did not intervene.

Four young Christian women from a Bible college were attacked whilst handing out Gospel tracts in Orissa on August 13. Their attacker then tried to kidnap the wife of the pastor in charge of the team. When this failed, he went to the police and filed a false complaint against the Christians, leading the authorities to arrest the pastor and all four women. They were later released.

On September 12 a group of Hindu militants attacked a church in Udupi in Karnataka state. They attacked the Christians who had gathered to worship. Four Christians, including the church leader, Pastor Gopinathan, were injured and had to be taken to hospital. The militants also caused extensive damage inside the church.

On September 29 in Kerala, suspected militants vandalized the Saint Thomas Mar Thoma Church in the state capital Trivandrum .

Other minority communities have also suffered from violence recently. On August 28, six Muslims were hurt in blasts at two mosques in western India as unidentified men on motorcycles hurled bombs in two different locations in Maharashtra .

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September 15, 2004   Update on recent attacks upon Christians in India  

Dear Friends,

Several Christians have been murdered and others attacked during the last few weeks. This is despite the hopes many had had for a better future after the defeat of the BJP-led government in May's general election.  Would you join us in prayer and action on behalf of India 's Christians?

Father Job Chittilappilly
On 28 August, a Roman Catholic priest, Father Job Chittilappilly, was killed at his parish in the town of Thuruthiparambu in Kerala. He had received threatening phone calls in the period leading up to the attack because of his alleged proselytism and his pastoral activities among Hindu families. This suggests that the murder was premeditated and planned by Hindu militants. Furthermore, crime investigators said that the murder was likely to have been a deliberate execution.

Some days later a worker for the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party], which has close links with Hindu militants, was arrested for the murder.

However, many local Christians believe that there were others involved in the murder and have called for the "real culprits" to be brought to justice.

Dr Jeremiah Sunder
Meanwhile, several Christians were killed in the town of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh state, in north India , on 25 August. A mob of people burst into the house of Dr. Jeremiah Sunder, a 47 year old neurosurgeon and an active member of the local Christian community. The attackers killed Dr. Jeremiah along with his wife Hannah and his mother Pankajam.

The assailants also tried to kill Dr Jeremiah's two children who were at school, but were thwarted by the principal of the school who refused to let the mob have access to the children.

It is reported that the assailants had ties to a local politician belonging to the BJP.

The main reason for the attack appears to have been a dispute over land that Dr Sunder was trying to buy. However, since he was buying the land for Christian purposes (the land was to be for a nursing home), the incident may have had religious connotations as well.

Other Incidents
Other Christians have been attacked and at times severely wounded. On 22 August, armed assailants attacked and beat up a parish priest, Father John Sunderam, in Kubbu in Jharkhand state's Lohardaga district. The attack left him in a coma and another priest, Father Albanus Tirkey, hospitalised.

On 26 August, a group of 300 Hindu fundamentalists stormed the Church of Our Lady of Charity in the town of Raikia , in Orissa. The attackers burst into the church and burned Bibles while tearing down the Tabernacle, destroying statues of saints, and damaging musical instruments, doors, windows, and other church property. Police were present but did not intervene.

Other minority communities have also suffered from violence recently. On 28 August, six Muslims were hurt in blasts at two mosques in western India as unidentified men on motorcycles hurled bombs in Jalna town and the Parbhani district in Maharashtra .

There has been some good news. On 9 September three Gospel for Asia native missionaries captured by 'an anti-Christian mob' in the Indian state of Bihar , and threatened with death, were released.

New Law
The new Congress-led government has announced that it is planning a new law to protect religious minorities from communal violence and an initiative to establish a commission to enhance welfare, education and employment for minorities in India .

However, it remains to be seen whether the government, in the midst of its other commitments, and facing inevitable opposition from the BJP on the matter, will carry out its plan. CSW recently spoke with an Indian Congress MP and he was cautious about the chances of success.

Many thanks for your ongoing support and prayers.

Please Pray
Please pray for the safety of Christians in India , especially those who are particularly targeted by the Hindu militants - pastors, priests, evangelists, missionaries, and church workers. Pray that they will continue to go about their work boldly and that God will protect them.

Pray that the Government does have the courage to proceed with the two measures [see above] to help the minorities, even in the face of inevitable opposition from the militant Hindu elements, and that these measures prove genuinely effective.

Please Act
Please write to the Indian Government, thanking them for their intention to bring in a law to crack down on violence against minorities in India, but urging that it be brought in quickly, in light of the above incidents (you could refer to the incidents collectively, or mention a few of the key ones as examples).

Write to:

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
Government of India , South Block, New Delhi-110001, INDIA
Fax: (91) 11 23016857

Write to your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510, or your Representative at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.  (Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to find out your Congressperson’s name). Ask your Congressperson to raise your concerns with both the Congress and Secretary of State Colin Powell, and to additionally raise this in appropriate international forums. You can address this issue with the Secretary of State as well by writing to:

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Fax: (202) 261-8577 
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Email: secretary@state.gov

-----------------------------

July 8, 2004   Urgent action to protect Indian Christians

Dear Friends,

You will probably be aware, from CSW and other sources, that the Government headed by the BJP (a party which has close links to militant Hindus) lost the recent Indian elections. Many Christians believe that this is an answer to prayer. Under the BJP-led Government, persecution of Christians and other minorities had increased dramatically. The BJP had also been reportedly planning to bring in a national anti-conversion law. In the wake of the election result, other positive events have happened, including the repeal of the state anti-conversion law in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. However, it would be a mistake to believe that all is now flourishing for Christians in India. Serious problems remain. The first of these is the continuing persecution and intimidation of Christians and other minorities in states where the BJP still hold power, notably Gujarat. Reports indicate that the Gujarat government has been misusing state apparatus, including the police, the Charity Commissioner and other bodies, to interrogate and harass human rights activists. One of these is the veteran campaigner, Fr. Cedric Prakash, the head of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). He has recently received personal threats and was interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) Crime Branch, Gandhinagar three times between June 12 and 14, 2004. The authorities are apparently trying to "prove" that he is "anti-national" (a favorite charge that hard-line Hindus like to throw at non-Hindu minorities).

Attempts have even been made to impound his passport. This would be a grievous blow to Fr. Prakash as he frequently travels abroad to highlight the plight of the minorities in parts of India today. Prashant, the organization he founded and runs, has been vocal in the past and continues to campaign for justice for the victims of the Gujurat massacres of 2002. Their work continues even now under the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government and it is for this reason that Fr. Prakesh is currently believed to be at risk from militant groups. The other main threat to Christians is that the attacks upon them, often by members of militant Hindu groups such as the VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal continue. These organizations have not been cowed by the result of the election. One recent example of this comes from Tamil Nadu. About 50 Bajrang Dal activists stormed into the Independent Church at Berikkai in Hosur district and attacked Pastor Govindraj on May 5 2004. After ransacking the place of worship, they left, shouting a triumphant Hindu slogan. In Tripura state, on April 19, a missionary of the Evangelical Congregational Church of India, Letthang Gangte, and his family were attacked and badly beaten in their own home by a gang of assailants, in the village of Rajghat, West Tripura. The attack is believed to be in response to a propaganda campaign by local militant Hindu groups against conversions to Christianity. The attackers are thus likely to be either members of those groups or at least inspired by their rhetoric. Across the country, the RSS and other militant groups are expanding. For example, the RSS and its front organization Dharma Jagran Vibhag (religious awakening department) have decided to set up youth cadres in every village of the tribal Chhatisgarh state in Central India. These will be called the Raksha Sena or Defense Army, and their declared aim is to prevent conversions to Christianity.

This is bad enough, but it is also feared that cadres such as these, containing trained, enthusiastic volunteers who are zealous advocates of the militant Hindu doctrine of Hindutva, could be used to attack Christians and other minorities. Similarly the VHP plans to triple its presence within two years in India's highly sensitive tribal belt that spans the six states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand. All these states are still run by the BJP. The VHP is working in partnership with another militant group, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which is notorious for turning tribals against Christians and Muslims and for attacking Christian institutions and personnel.

Moreover, the RSS is suspected to be playing a major role in the launch of a new digital television channel, which, according to one observer, is intended to "whip 90 million television households into a patriotic frenzy." Anti-Christian messages continue to proliferate on Hindu militant e-mail and web forums. For example, a contributor to one of these claimed "if these missionaries aren't converting everyone they cross, they sure are poisening [sic] their mind into accepting Christianity as a great savior religion". Another was of the opinion that there was a Christian plot "to corrupt [us] and kill us off". A third suggested "I think the only way to stop this [Christian] invasion is to pressure the government/censorboard to instate laws that will ban agains [sic] anti-hindu content".

It has been seen in the past, in many countries, that such inflammatory language and views, when widely disseminated, are often the precursor to acts of violence against the target minority community. Let us pray that this is not the case in India.

Thank you for your support and for your ongoing prayers.

Action requested:

Please write polite letters requesting the Indian government to:-

1) protect human right activists in Gujarat, and to investigate the alleged misuse of local government resources

2) curb the growing power of the militant groups such as the RSS and VHP, and to investigate the overseas funding of such groups. Send letters to:

Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, President of India
Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi, INDIA
Fax: (91) 11 23017290, 23017824

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
Government of India, South Block, New Delhi-110001, INDIA
Fax: (91) 11 23016857

You could send copies to:

Chair of National Human Rights Commission - Justice Anand Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110001, INDIA
E-mail: covdnhrc@hub.nic.in CC: chairnhrc@nic.in

Sample letter:

Your Excellency,

We welcome the steps that the new Government of India has already taken to support human rights. However, we remain gravely concerned about a number of human rights issues. The first is that attacks against minorities in some states in India are continuing [you could give the examples given in the Urgent Action text above]. Some of these seem to have been undertaken by members of militant groups such as the Bajrang Dal. The second is that there are concerns for the safety of human rights activists in Gujarat, who have been defending the secular nature of the Indian Constitution. We are particularly concerned by threats made to Fr. Cedric Prakash. It is also disturbing to hear allegations that the Gujarat government has been misusing various government bodies such as the police and the Charity Commissioner to harass human rights defenders and organizations. We hope that the new United Progressive Alliance government will uphold the rights of the people, especially in troubled states like Gujarat.

India is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states [article 18] that "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion". Article 25 of the Indian constitution also guarantees this right. I am concerned that the activities of extremist groups such as the VHP and the Bajrang Dal are jeopardizing these freedoms in parts of India. Therefore, we kindly ask your government to:

1) Take appropriate action to protect human right activists in Gujarat.

2) Investigate the alleged abuses at state and local government level and take appropriate action against anyone found to have done wrong.

3) Investigate the abuses committed by the VHP, the RSS, and the Bajrang Dal.

Yours respectfully and sincerely,

---------------------------------

May 20, 2004   Repeal of anti-conversion law promised after shock Indian election result

The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has announced she will be repealing the anti-conversion law which she introduced less than two years ago. Ms Jayalalitha said she was repealing the law of October 2002 having listened to the request of the minority communities, most of whom had opposed it all along. She added that she hoped it would also "clear any misconception" which had been caused. Some observers have linked her sudden decision to the poor showing of her party in the Indian election. State elections in Tamil Nadu are due in two years, and on the current showing of her party's electoral fortunes, Ms Jayalalitha would lose those elections. CSW was among the many organizations which opposed the anti-conversion law when it was brought in, and has welcomed this announcement.

India's Christians have naturally welcomed the news as well as the surprise election result, which saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Vajpayee removed from office.

Dr Joseph D'Souza, President of the All India Christian Council, described how having the Hindu nationalist BJP in control was a "grim situation". He explained how they had taken control of the education system in India, rewriting textbooks and history books and getting control of universities.

He added the BJP was a large funder of the schools run by the Hindu militant group the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to promote the Hindu religion. In addition he said that the BJP had been planning to introduce a nationwide anti-conversion law. This law has already been enacted in five states, banning conversions by 'force, fraud or allurement'. While innocent sounding, the legislation has meant that in practice humanitarian initiatives have been endangered and even those who freely convert in these states are at risk under this law.

Dr D'Souza said: "Civil society is now looking forward to the rejection of the Hindutva agenda that has affected many areas of Indian life. A national anti-conversion law is now out of the question. Most certainly, there will be a review of the anti-terrorism laws that have been used to victimize the innocent. Civil society wants an immediate review of the education policies adopted by the outgoing dispensation. Most importantly more attention needs to be given to the oppressed people, the Dalits.

"We expect the national government not to condone harassment of minorities and the Dalits. We also expect the processes of justice to be expedited. We expect the government to protect our religious freedom and the freedom to exercise all our spiritual and social rights. Let us pray for India."

Tina Lambert, CSW-UK's Advocacy Director said: "CSW welcomes the Chief Minister's promise to repeal this discriminatory legislation. It comes just after an election result which clearly demonstrates voters' rejection of the hard-line Hindu nationalist agenda pursued by the BJP in recent years. We hope and expect that the new Government will support the constitutional right to freedom of religion and bring to justice those responsible for acts of violence against minorities. Prayer and campaigning is still needed to ensure human rights are respected at the state and local level."

------------------------------

April 21 2004  Correction to Indian missionary killer contests Indian election

Although an agent for the nationalist Hindu Mahasabha party announced the candidature of Dara Singh, this was never formally filed.

A spokesman for the party said he was preparing to submit an application for the convicted killer of missionary Graham Staines. CSW has since learned it was never actually filed.

CSW apologizes for any confusion caused.

Graham Staines and his sons, aged ten and eight, were murdered in a remote village on January 22, 1999. Dara Singh was sentenced to death in September last year. The judge also sentenced 12 of Singh's associates to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killings.

---------------------------

April 20 2004   Missionary killer Dara Singh contests Indian elections

The man convicted for killing an Australian missionary and his two sons in Orissa in 1999 is contesting parliamentary elections in India.

Dara Singh, who was sentenced to death in September last year, will stand for the Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist party. Orissa has an allocation of 21 seats on the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Singh is standing for election for Puri, a town on the eastern coast, which has one of these seats.

Singh is currently in Cuttack Circle Jail, Choudwar and is to have his appeal heard in Orissa High Court. Indian election rules allow prisoners to stand for seats, but not to vote.

Graham Staines and his sons, aged ten and eight, were murdered in a remote village on January 22, 1999.The judge also sentenced 12 of Singh's associates to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killings.

Polls opened in the Indian elections today and more than 600 million voters will elect 543 members of parliament for another five years, with the results known on 13 May.

Tina Lambert, Advocacy Director of CSW, said: "To put up for election a man convicted of murdering a Christian missionary and his young family is at best distasteful and at worst a deliberately provocative move.

"CSW hopes and prays that local voters will send a strong message to Dara Singh and those he represents by overwhelmingly voting against him and thus against the militant Hindu movement."

For more information, please contact Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager, CSW at richard.chilvers@csw.org.uk or ring 020 8329 0045 or visit www.csw.org.uk CSW is a human rights charity working on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs. We also promote religious liberty for all. NOTES TO EDITORS: India is officially a secular state, where all religions have freedom of worship. However, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians have all faced discrimination at different times since independence. Since the hardline Hindu BJP assumed power at the head of coalition governments from 1998 onwards, persecution of Christians has increased significantly in certain parts of the country. Extremist Hindu groups, along with state and local governments, have usually been held responsible for the persecution, rather than the national government.

However, the BJP's emphasis on Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) has helped to create a climate in which the persecution of Christians can flourish. The BJP is also linked with some of the extremist Hindu groups that have been implicated in attacks on Christians and Muslims. Furthermore, as the US State Department's 2000 Annual Report on International Freedom: India states

(p.1): "ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities is interpreted by some extremist elements as a signal that such violence is likely to go unpunished." This situation is partly due to the weaknesses in the legal system, but many observers attribute it in large part to the links between these groups and the BJP.

--------------------------

February 25, 2004   Urgent Action India: Persecution Escalates

Sadly, we have to report that since the middle of January there has been a further deterioration in the situation faced by Christians in parts of India. A number of incidents have occurred which show that militant Hindus seem to have intensified their anti-Christian campaign. Christians have been under the spotlight again after an "exposé" of them by an Indian news website, Tehelka. Two journalists from this organization interviewed several Christian leaders but did so using fake Christian identities and making false claims about their purpose. They then twisted what they were told about plans and strategies for evangelism and mission to conjure up a lurid picture of a sinister conversion 'master plan'. They claimed, without any foundation, that the plan was backed by the US Government.

The report has already engendered much interest and debate. In the very tense atmosphere prevalent in India at the moment, it is easy to see how it could provoke feelings of fear and hatred against Christians and could even incite more violence against them. Violence is certainly continuing, even before this latest controversy. One of the main targets of the Hindu militants, especially recently, has been those people who have converted to Christianity. Hindu militants claim that conversion is the "betrayal" of Hinduism and they have fears of an exodus from the faith, which would undermine their attempts to create a Hindu state.

Last month, again in Orissa, eight Christian converts, mainly women and girls, were seized, beaten up and then tonsured (forcibly had their heads shaven) by Hindu villagers in Kilipala village in Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa state, because they would not renounce their Christian faith. They were also forced to undergo a "re-conversion ceremony", despite remaining true to their new faith.

Also last month, in Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh state, Hindu militants used the murder of a nine-year-old girl as an excuse for anti-Christian violence. The girl's body was found inside a Catholic mission school compound, having been thrown there by the alleged attacker - a Hindu - who was later arrested by the police. However, this did not stop Hindu militants from claiming falsely that the Catholic school was responsible. A mob of nearly 500 attacked Christians and their property, causing widespread destruction and misery.

Some of you may remember that in a previous Urgent Action on India we noted that some of the main targets of the Hindu militants were missionaries, evangelists and Christian leaders. These, like converts, still remain vulnerable targets, especially in states like Orissa. Just last week, near Gopalpur in Ganjam District in Orissa, two evangelists and two others in their team were attacked and beaten up by Hindu militants. 

In Rajasthan state a few days ago, a mission team was attacked and their Christian literature destroyed by activists belonging to the militant Hindu group the Bajrang Dal. This group has strong links with the militant group the VHP, about which we have written before. Shockingly, the VHP UK branch still has charitable status. CSW is one of a number of organizations campaigning for it to be removed.

Last month, again in Orissa, six evangelists were attacked by Hindu militants and hospitalized. They had been warned to leave the area by Hindu militants, but they refused because they felt that God had called them there and they also had new converts to look after. Shortly afterwards they were beaten up. Even now, though, they are hoping to return.

Please Pray: 

• Pray for protection for evangelists, missionaries and converts.
• Pray in particular for the eight converts who were brutally seized, beaten, partially stripped and tonsured. Pray for their physical and emotional
  healing, and that they may know God's presence in a very real and comforting way.
• Pray that the anti-Christian rhetoric of Tehelka is exposed for what it is and that it doesn't inspire a fresh round of attacks upon Christians.

Please Act: 

Write to your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510, or your Representative at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.  (Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to find out your Congressperson’s name). Ask your Congressperson to raise your concerns with both the Congress and Secretary of State Colin Powell, and to additionally raise this in appropriate international forums. You can address this issue with the Secretary of State as well by writing to:

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Fax: (202) 261-8577 
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Email: secretary@state.gov

---------------------------------

September 23, 2003   Ringleader of missionary killers sentenced to death in Indian court

A group of Hindu militants who had been accused of murdering the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons have been found guilty by an Indian court. 

The ringleader of the group, Dara Singh, was sentenced to death, and 12 of his co-accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. They were found guilty of rioting, arson and culpable homicide amounting to murder. One other defendant was acquitted.

In January, 1999, Graham Staines and his two sons Philip, ten, and Timothy, eight, were burned to death in their jeep by a mob of militants. The murders took place in a remote village in Orissa state, mideast India. 

Dara Singh was not arrested until over a year after the murder, having fled into hiding. There were also delays in bringing the trial to court, and the trial itself has lasted over two years.

Although the verdict has been reached and sentence passed, all 13 defendants have the right of appeal. This could be a long process, as they can appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, and even if that fails, they can still hope for a presidential pardon.

Graham Staines had been working to help leprosy sufferers in India for over a quarter of a century. His widow, Gladys, still lives in India. She commented on the verdicts: "I have no bitterness because forgiveness brings healing and our land needs healing from hatred and violence. But forgiveness and the consequences of the crime should not be mixed up... No individual is above the law of the land." 

While welcoming the guilty verdicts, John Dayal, Secretary General of CSW's partner organization the All India Christian Council, cautioned that neither the Government nor the court had sufficiently established the link between the murderers and the Hindu militant umbrella group the Sangh Parivar, despite evidence pointing towards this. Mr. Dayal noted: "The Parivar and its doctrine of hate against religious minorities is the ultimate criminal, and it remains unindicted, and unpunished."

CSW has been campaigning against recent legislation in two Indian states, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which has made it harder for people to convert from Hinduism to Christianity. There has been a growing number of attacks on Indian Christians and church property by Hindu extremists in the last few years. There have also been many attacks by Hindus on Muslims in India, notably in Gujarat last year, where some 2,000 Muslims were killed. 

---------------------------

January 17, 2003    American Missionary Attacked and Severely Injured in India

An American missionary was stabbed and several other Christians attacked by ten militants suspected to be members of a Hindu extremist group.

Joseph William Cooper and the Indians with him were assaulted by a gang armed with short sticks, swords and crowbars on their return from a gospel meeting near Kilimanoor in Kerala state in the south of India. 

Mr. Cooper, 68, a bishop from the New Jerusalem Universal Church in New Castle, Pennsylvania, sustained a serious hand injury, as well as severe bruising all over his body. Pastor Benson, an Indian pastor, and several others, received minor injuries.

The assailants were suspected of belonging to the militant Hindu group the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Police later took five RSS activists into custody in connection with the attack. The RSS has denied any involvement, but allege that Mr. Cooper made 'inflammatory' comments at the convention, a claim denied by those present at the meeting.

The attack happened on the night of January 13, when the group was returning from a meeting organized by the Protestant Friends of Bible Church. 

This is understood to be the first time bombs have been used by the RSS against Christians in India. The use of bombs by the RSS attackers was believed to have been to prevent other Christians from coming to the aid of the victims. 

Mr. Cooper, a former professional skydiver, was taken to hospital and required surgery. His condition is now said to be stable, but he remains in intensive care.

The attack took place in a state that has seen very few major incidents against Christians in the past. However, as CSW's partner organization, the All India Christian Council (AICC) points out, the fact that several recent minor incidents against Christians in the state have gone unpunished was probably an incentive for militants to try more extreme tactics.

The RSS has a counterpart in Britain, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which raises funds to send to India, and the incident is likely to lead to further calls for the HSS - and other militant Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) - to be investigated.

CSW-UK's Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: "This incident is the latest in a long line of attacks on Christians in India. Most go unpunished. It is time the Indian Government, proud of its standing as the world's largest democracy, cracks down on Hindu militants who choose violence and intimidation over democracy and justice."

December 9, 2002   Ian Stillman Finally Free!

Dear Friends,

Ian Stillman, the deaf and disabled Christian who has spent two years in prison in India for smuggling cannabis, has been freed.

Ian, 52, was released on Saturday December 7 at 1pm GMT from Kanda Jail in the north of India on health grounds. He spent the evening in Shimla (north of Delhi) and then traveled to Delhi with his family and an escort from the British High Commission.

He has not been officially pardoned for drug smuggling and intends to fight for a full pardon having served two years of a ten- year sentence. 

Ian, who has an artificial leg and diabetes, is due to return to the UK on Thursday or Friday.

He was arrested in August 2000 after drugs were found in a taxi he was sharing, but he has always maintained his innocence.

He has spent most of his life working for deaf charities in India, but the authorities at the original trial refused to believe he was deaf - a condition he has had since he was two.

Please continue to pray for Ian's health and also for him and his family's efforts to clear his name.

--------------------------------------------

December 6, 2002   Police Obstruct Mass Conversions of Untouchables to Buddhism and Christianity

Indian police have obstructed the mass conversions of an expected 10,000 Untouchables (Dalits) by beating up believers and blocking roads.

A mass conversion event was planned for December 6 in Chennai (formerly Madras), but the authorities in Tamil Nadu have taken repressive measures to stop it.

Police harassed and threatened Dalit Pastor Victor Dharmaraj, the owner of the land on which the event was to happen, and later returned to remove a thousand chairs and ejected the volunteer workers.

Eight of these volunteers were arrested and taken in for questioning where they were beaten up.

All the roads into Chennai were blocked and 60 truck loads of Dalits were stopped from coming in.

The Dalits were due to convert from the Hindu faith to Buddhism and Christianity in a bid to free themselves from the caste system. A few hundred did manage to get into the area where the event was due to be held and there were symbolic conversions to both faiths. Conversion events also took place outside Chennai.

In one moving public demonstration of the church's solidarity with the Dalits, Bishop M A Thomas from Rajistan washed the feet of two Dalit men and one Dalit woman, then embraced them.

Tamil Nadu and Orissa are the two states in India which have regulated conversions with the power to ban those alleged to be by 'by force or by fraud'. 

Militant Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have waged a growing campaign against Christian conversions. They have alleged that all conversion to Christianity happens 'by force or by fraud' and their influence can be seen behind the ordinances.

The leader of another militant group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), claimed recently: "No-one converts voluntarily. It is motivated by greed." This focus on conversions has had a knock on impact on some humanitarian groups who have faced allegations of providing aid as an inducement to conversion.

Groups such as CSW partner the All India Christian Council are concerned that this unconstitutional legislation will lead to further harassment of believers and the outlawing of all conversions.

The last mass conversion rally in Delhi on November 4 last year, which was also attended by representatives from CSW, saw 20,000 Dalits taking part.

Joseph D'Souza, President of the All India Christian Council, said: "This is very horrible. It is a clear violation of our constitution as well as the fundamental rights and religious freedom of the Dalits.

"Their conversion requires the approval of the state, but how is any Dalit going to go to report his conversion to the police or a magistrate when the state uses such brutal means to repress them?

"There is no way that a Buddhist or Christian leader is going to give a Dalit's name to the state if the Dalit requests him not to. They are going to have to break the law in order to obey their freedom of conscience."

-------------------------------

November 4, 2002   Dalits Protest Violence, Many Will Embrace Christianity

1.     DALITS OPENLY PROTEST AGAINST THE LYNCHING OF 5 DALIT YOUTH IN HARYANA,  
AND THE ANTI-CONVERSION ORDINANCE (LAW) IN TAMILNADU.
2.    TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DALITS WILL EMBRACE CHRISTIANITY IN DECEMBER.

DALITS STRONGLY PROTEST AGAINST THE LYNCHING OF DALITS:

The lynching of five Dalit youth in Jhajjar, Haryana on October 15th has sent horror waves among the 250 million Dalits of India. The Dalits were lynched because they were skinning a dead cow by a mob of several thousand people who were urged on by the fanatical, extremist Hindu group VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad). Police officials silently watched and supported the killings.

The skinning of dead cattle is the occupation into which the unfortunate Dalits were born into as untouchables. They were mobbed and killed for skinning a dead cow and transporting cowhide.   It did not matter that the Dalit youths who were under 22 years of age were doing this legally and with all the proper documents.

Adding insult to injury the VHP President Mr. Giriraj Kishore celebrated the killings saying that the cow was more valuable than a human being (read Dalit). Even as the All India Christian Council and many other human rights and liberal groups condemned and attacked the barbaric killings, the Dalits in Haryana went on a public protest and announced that they were revolting against the Hindu socio-religious system and would embrace other faiths on Sunday 27th of October.

Over 500 leaders of various Dalit groups gathered at a public meeting in Gurgaon, Haryana, at a highly emotionally charged meeting to conduct the symbolic and representative embracing of other faiths in full glare of the national electronic and print media. The relatives of the Dalits who were lynched were also on the platform expressing their grief.  

The Dalits embraced Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.    Present at the meeting were Mr. Udit Raj who led in the mass conversions just exactly a year ago today.  Mr. Mahesh Bhatt, famous film Director from Bombay,   Dr. Joseph D'souza from the All India Christian Council. The print and electronic media had also come in full strength.

DALITS EMBRACE CHRISTIANITY:

Rev. Dr. Joseph D'souza, President of the All India Christian Council and Rev. Lourduswamy initiated and received Mr. and Mrs. Chandra Bhan Mehra into the Christian faith. Mr. and Mrs. Bhan, who are Bank Officers, represented a number of Dalits in the area who had indicated that they wanted to embrace and be welcomed to Christianity.   When questioned by the media Mrs. Bhan replied, " I do not want to be treated less than an animal anymore. I am sick of the caste system. I have read about Jesus Christ and know that he offers equality, dignity and salvation. I want to follow Him as my Lord."     Mr. Udit Raj who organized the meeting led the symbolic conversions to Buddhism.

STRONG PROTEST AGAINST THE ANTI-CONVERSION LAW IN TAMILNADU: MORE PEOPLE TO EMBRACE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

The anti-conversion ordinance of the Tamilnadu government became law on Thursday, 31st October.   This law is anti-Dalit, anti-Christian and anti-minority. Its agenda is to carry forward the extremist Hindu agenda of the BJP Government and the agenda of extremist Hindu groups who want to create a Hindu India and impose Brahminism on all it’s citizens.   

The All India Christian Council statements and dispatches have been pointing out that the anti-conversion law is primarily anti-Dalit and anti-depressed castes.   Mr. M. Pandian said in the Hindu newspaper, that the anti-conversion law is intended to freeze the Dalits forever into the inhuman, oppressive socio-religious caste system.  It is in Tamilnadu, where, in the last couple of months, Dalits have been forced to eat human excreta and drink urine.

Dalit leaders in Tamilnadu are strongly protesting against the anti-conversion law and have announced that tens of thousands of Dalits will embrace Christianity in early December. Dalit leaders Mr. Thirumavalavan and Mr. Krishnaswamy have announced that this first phase of embracing the Christian faith will begin on the 6th of December, which is also the anniversary of the death of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the leader of the Dalits who fought for their emancipation. The Dalit leaders have announced that this is the first step of a massive exodus from the Hindu socio-religious system that has enslaved and dehumanized them for many centuries.

This move is unlike the conversions last November because this time the faith of first choice of the Dalits is Christianity.     However, some Dalits will also choose other faiths in a concurrent ceremony on December 6^th. The leaders of the All India Christian Council have supported the decision of the Dalit leaders and have announced that the member Churches of the All India Christian Council will always keep the doors open to the Dalits no matter what the price.  The aicc leaders are working with the Dalit leaders on the process of receiving the Dalits into the Christian faith.   The aicc leaders are working on an initiation ceremony on December 6^th that will receive tens of thousands of Dalits into the Christian community and faith. Thousands of Christian pastors and leaders will be on hand to witness the service along with personnel from the media, political leaders and international observers.

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIAN LEADERS AND CHURCHES IS EXPECTED:

Church Leaders in India know that the anti-Dalit, anti-Christian Chief Minister of Tamilnadu will unleash a fresh wave of harassment and intimidation against the Christian community. She is capable of going to any extreme to carry out her extremist agenda in a bid to achieve national prominence among the extremist Hindu groups. She has already issued a ‘show cause’ (reason for closure of institutions) notice to Christian institutions for closing door their schools on the protest day of October 24th.   She has never issued notice to the VHP and the other extremist groups that close down not only institutions but the whole State in pursuance of their extreme Hindu agenda. The terrorism unleashed by the VHP and other extremist Hindu groups on the Dalits and minorities is conveniently condoned by her.

Christians in Tamilnadu cannot expect the State to protect them as they respond to the cry of the Dalits. Last week one independent Church was burnt to the ground in Chennai by Hindu extremists.    Therefore the All India Christian Council calls upon all its friends, supporters and members overseas to stand with the Christian leaders in India and impress on the Government in Delhi and Tamilnadu that the world will not quietly watch this erosion of the fundamental rights of the Christians, Dalits and minorities.    India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Human Rights.

This brutal oppression of the Dalits and Christians needs to stop. The anti-conversion law in Tamilnadu is an insult to the Dalit intelligence and wisdom. It implies that their religious choice can be bought, that they are incapable of making a free decision and cannot discern the motive of those who serve them. It is paradoxical that the same Dalits' political choices during elections are free, fair and informed!

In a fitting reply to this mockery of Dalit intelligence the Dalit leaders have announced that they will challenge the unconstitutional anti-conversion law of Tamilnadu in the High Court and the Supreme Court. According to them the anti-conversion law is first of all anti-Dalit as it takes away the right to religion from the Dalits and brings the exercise of personal faith under the purview of the State.

Please write and fax your concerns to the Prime Minister of India and also to the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, as well as the following Indian newspapers.

The President of India:
His Excellency, 
The President of India                
Fax:  91 11 301 7290

The Prime Minister of India:
Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 
Honorable Prime Minister of India                
Fax:  91 11 301 6857

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu:
Miss J. Jayalalitha                                            
Fax:  91 44 5671440

Please also write to the Indian newspapers registering your concern with what is going on in India.

Please note the fax numbers of the following Indian newspapers / media:

Press Trust of India                            91-11-371-8714
The Hindu                                         91-44-841-5393                                     

For further information you can contact us at any of the following telephone numbers:

USA:                            cellphone:             (706) 888 5924 /  (303) 791 4500  x 525
UK and Europe:         cellphone:             44 (0) 771 007 7871
India:                           cellphone:             91 984 80 23132

Released by Dr. Joseph D'souza, President, All India Christian Council

---------------------------------

October 28, 2002  You can protest new Indian state law

The Chief Minister and the Governor of the state of Tamil Nadu issued an ordinance on October 5 which makes conversions to Christianity increasingly difficult.

The ordinance claims to ban only those conversions which are 'by force or fraud', but recently there has been a growing campaign against conversions to Christianity by militant Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The leader of another militant group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), claimed recently, "No-one converts voluntarily. It is motivated by greed". Such statements make it clear that militant Hindu groups see all conversions to Christianity as "by force or fraud" and their influence can be seen behind the ordinance. 

Militant Hindu groups across India have already claimed on many occasions that genuine conversions to Christianity have been fraudulent or induced. Commenting on the recent ordinance, an Indian pastor said: "It is apparent that even genuine conversions will be painted as those obtained with forcible allurement and fraudulent means." Indian Christians fear this ordinance will make it easier for militant groups to harass and obstruct Christians witnessing to non-Christians.

Other groups are also being targeted, such as the Dalits (untouchables), some of whom have converted to religions such as Buddhism to escape the oppression they encounter under the Hindu caste system.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide's partner organization, the All India Christian Council (AICC), plans to challenge the ordinance in court. The Council noted that "forcible or induced conversion...is rejected by the church" and that voluntary conversion is "a basic human right and is guaranteed in the Indian Constitution and by the United Nations".

Only one other state, Orissa, has a similar law in force. Now that Tamil Nadu has enacted an ordinance, there are reports that other states may follow suit. There is a similar bill pending in the national Parliament, which even claims that provision of free education by Christians and others is an "inducement" to conversion, and will incur heavy penalties.

Please Pray

 - Pray that the AICC will be successful in their court action against this restrictive new ordinance. 

 - Pray that other states will not follow suit

 - Pray for wisdom and guidance for AICC leaders such as John Dayal.

 - Pray for protection for Christian evangelists and mission workers, who witness for Christ and show His love in locations that are often remote or
dangerous.

Please Protest

We would be grateful if you were able to contact either the chief minister of Tamil Nadu or the President of India, expressing your concern at the
passing of the ordinance.

The President of India: 
His Excellency Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam, The President of India Rastrapati
Bhavan, New Delhi, India 
Telephone: 91 11 301 5321
Fax: 91 11 301 7290

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: 
Selvi (Miss) J. Jeyalalitha, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Secretariat, St
George Port, Chennai 1, Tamil Nadu, India
Telephone: 91 44 567 2345 ext 666 or 91 44 467 0215
Fax: 91 44 5671441

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October 22, 2002   Anti-Conversion Ordinance Blatantly Anti-Dalit, Says Christian Council

Text of Press Statement released by Dr. Joseph D'souza, President, All India Christian Council and

At the start of the All India and Tamilnadu agitation and protest on October 19 against the anti-Christian ordinance, the leadership of the All India Christian Council announced to a packed press conference in Chennai, Tamilnadu that it was very obvious that the anti-conversion ordinance was directed primarily against the Dalits who would face stiff penalties if they exercised their right to freedom of conscience.   Therefore the Dalit groups were in the forefront of the opposition to the ordinance.

Mr. Udit Raj, President of the All India SC/ST federation who led the mass conversion movement last November 4^th, also addressed the conference and said that the ordinance was to force the Dalits to continue in the socio-religious system that had enslaved them for centuries. " If anyone is using force and allurement it is the government" said Udit Raj referring to the law of 1959 which offers Dalits who convert to Hinduism the full benefits of the reservation system which is not available to Christian and other minority Dalits.

When asked by reporters whether Mr. Raj would be open to a national debate on conversion he said that first of all there should be a national debate on the caste system and the socio-religious system that supported it.    Dr. K. Rajaratnam of the NCCI replied that a full debate on conversion took place in the constituent assembly prior to the the formation of the Indian Constitution. The present fundamental right to religion in Article 25 of the Constitution came as a result of that national debate.

Meanwhile the brutal treatment of the Dalits continues unabated in different parts of the nation. Last week the nation was shocked to hear that 5 Dalits were lynched in Jhajjar, Haryana because they were transporting cowhide. The Dalits were doing this legally and with supporting documents.   The VHP, the militant arm of the BJP publicly defended the killings and the President of the VHP, Mr. Girilal Kishore said to the reporters that the cow was more valuable than a human being.   This statement was widely carried by the national press.

Several weeks ago the national press reported that 2 Dalits in Tamilnadu were made to eat human excreta when they defied the upper castes.

The Tamilnadu anti-conversion ordinance comes against this background and newspaper reports that Dalits are turning to Buddhism, Christianity and other belief systems. The ordinance is clearly designed to close the doors of the Church and Christ to the Dalits, said Dr. Joseph D'souza. The Church cannot be forced to close it's door to anyone who freely knocks at the door and wants to come in. The free right to practice our faith in Article 25 and the teachings of Christ require us to receive all those who freely come to us in their time of need, oppression and humiliation. We will do this no matter what the cost, said the President of the Christian Council.   It is also our moral duty to support the Dalits in the free choices they make. That is why the Christian leadership supported their right to choose Buddhism last November.

The Christian Council appeals to the Global community to write to the President of India and to the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu registering their protest to the anti-conversion ordinance.

Dr. Joseph D'souza,

President,
All India Christian Council.

For further specific information you can phone the following numbers:

a)      001 706 888 5924

b)      0771 007 7871

The President of India:
His Excellency
The President of India
Rastrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi, India

Telephone:  91 11 301 5321
Fax:  91 11 301 7290

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: 
J. Jayalalithaa
Telephone:  91 44 567 2345 ext 666
Residence:  91 44 467 0215
Fax:  91 44 5671440

------------------------------------

October 10, 2002  New Law in Indian State Threatens Christian Conversions

A new law in the southern state of Tamil Nadu is being seen as a direct threat to Christian conversions in India.

The Chief Minister and the Governor of the state together issued an ordinance on October 5 which claims to ban only those conversions which are 'by force or fraud'. However, it is being widely viewed as an attempt to prevent all conversions to Christianity in the state.

Militant Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have waged a growing campaign against Christian conversions. The leader of another militant group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), claimed recently: "No-one converts voluntarily. It is motivated by greed."

Militant Hindu groups have alleged that all conversion to Christianity happens 'by force or fraud' and their influence can be seen behind the ordinance. So far only one other state, Orissa, has a similar ordinance in force, but Christians fear this will spread to other states.

There is a similar bill pending in the national Parliament, which even claims that provision of free education by Christians and others is an 'inducement' to conversion, and will incur heavy penalties.

There are many precedents across India of militant Hindu groups claiming that genuine conversions to Christianity have been fraudulent or induced. An ordinance such as this will make it easier for such groups to harass and obstruct Christians witnessing to non-Christians.

Christian evangelists are among those most targeted by militant Hindus already. With such an ordinance in force, it gives all the more excuse for mobs to attack evangelists, on the pretext that they are breaking the law.

Other groups are also being targeted, such as the Dalits (untouchables) and other marginalized groups, some of whom have converted to religions such as Buddhism to escape the oppression they encounter under the Hindu caste system.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide's partner organization, the All India Christian Council (AICC), plans to challenge the ordinance in court. The Council noted that "forcible or induced conversion...is rejected by the church" and that voluntary conversion is "a basic human right and is guaranteed in the Indian Constitution and by the United Nations."

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: "This is a very worrying development for religious minorities in India. This legislation means that genuine conversions will be viewed as having taken place under duress. 

"We are right behind the AICC in their bid to overturn this ruling as it represents a very serious threat to religious liberty in India."

---------------------------------

June 7, 2002   GFA Student Murdered In Kashmir

Gospel for Asia

With deep sadness we inform you that a student from our GFA Bible school in Indian-controlled Kashmir has been murdered. Details are still sketchy, but our missionaries and field leaders believe that local Muslim extremists are responsible for his death.

The slain brother belonged to a group of GFA Bible school students who are ministering among the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the Pakistan/India border under the threat of war. Although the senior GFA leader who oversees the Kashmir region had instructed all of our missionaries and students to leave the area, 47 of them chose to stay behind and be a witness for the Lord. Even now they are scattered along the border areas of Kashmir, preaching the Gospel to the refugees and assisting them in practical ways.

These students are studying at a GFA Bible school located just five kilometers from the Pakistan border, where there has been much unrest almost daily. Before the Afghan war prompted by 9/11, few Muslim extremists were creating strife in the area. Since then, however, dozens of groups like Al-Qaeda have moved in and are causing much unrest. Recently some GFA missionaries narrowly escaped death when a bus they had just stepped off of exploded.

To date, GFA native missionaries have planted many churches and mission stations in Kashmir, a predominately Muslim area. Please pray for God's protection for these dear believers and our GFA brothers as they face strong persecution. And continue to pray for peace between India and Pakistan. Millions of lives are at stake.

Grace and peace,
Dr. K.P. Yohannan
President, Gospel for Asia
http://www.gfa.org
1.800.Win.Asia

----------------------------------

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

June 5, 2002   New Evidence on Mass Killings in India Prompts Commission to Hold Hearing

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal agency advising the Administration and Congress, today announced that it will hold a hearing to examine evidence suggesting that recent communal violence in the Indian state of Gujarat, which has killed at least 1,000 Muslims, was carefully planned and involved the state government's officials and police. This hearing will assist the Commission in developing further recommendations for U.S. policy. The hearing will take place at 9:00 a.m. June 10 in the Longworth House Office Building, Room 1302, Washington, D.C. A witness list will be released shortly.

"The extremist violence in Gujarat, a state located on the border with Pakistan, threatens to exacerbate the already inflamed tensions between India and Pakistan," said Commission Chair Michael K. Young. "The Commission is very concerned that the United States government has not spoken out forcefully against the attacks on Muslims in Gujarat."

In a press release dated March 12, 2002, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed its alarm over the recent violence and killings in Gujarat. After the killing of approximately 60 Hindu activists in the town of Godhra, retaliatory violence against Muslims left at least 1,000 people dead. Reports cite numerous persons shot, stabbed, raped, mutilated, and/or burned to death. Hundreds of mosques and Muslim-owned businesses were looted or destroyed. More than 100,000 persons have fled their homes and now are in makeshift refugee camps. The violence has yet to be contained.

In announcing the hearing, the Commission, referencing its previous recommendations, calls upon the U.S. government to press the government of India to provide security for those people who remain under threat of attack, including Muslims and Hindus who may be subject to retaliation, and to see that those responsible for violent acts targeting members of religious groups are held accountable. In its May 2001 Annual Report, the Commission identified the need for India's government to do more to protect religious minorities and to bring those responsible for violence to account. The Commission further stated its serious concern about the association of increased violence against religious minorities and the rise in power of Hindu nationalist groups in India. Recent violence underscores the need, expressed previously by the Commission, for the U.S. government "to urge the government of India to speak and act in ways that make clear its lack of support for religious intolerance and persecution."

Recent reports implicate the government of Gujarat and some members of the police force in the recent violence in that state. According to India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), an official body, the events leading up to the Godhra tragedy and the killings and destruction that followed were marked by a "serious failure of intelligence and inaction by the [Gujarat] State government." The NHRC noted that there are "media reports attributing certain statements to the Police Commissioner and even the Chief Minister which, if true, raise serious questions?." The NHRC also noted "widespread reports and allegations of well-organized persons, armed with mobile telephones and addresses, singling out certain homes and properties for death and destruction in certain districts sometimes within view of police stations and personnel," suggesting the attacks may have been planned in advance.

Officials have publicly reported that 443 "major communal incidents" have occurred in Gujarat since 1970. Given the region's history, the number of deaths and other reported abuses, the reported impunity of perpetrators of such violence poses a continuing threat of recurrence.

In 2001, the Commission noted that although reports do not implicate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in organizing or carrying out violence against Christian and Muslim religious minorities (which has grown since the BJP-led government came into office nationally), there is serious concern that the central government is not doing all that it could to pursue and punish the perpetrators of the attacks and to counteract the prevailing climate of hostility, in some quarters in India, against these minority groups.

The preliminary report by India's National Human Rights Commission contains several recommendations to the government of India, including the restoration of the "integrity of the process" of police investigations; the establishment of "Special Courts" to try these cases under judges handpicked by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat; the prompt restoration of destroyed places of worship; and the immediate implementation of reforms of the police.

On June 10, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom will hold a public hearing to examine the information about the situation further, look into new evidence of possible involvement of local officials and police in the incidents in Gujarat, and consider the NCHR recommendations and other measures that could be effective in response to the communal violence.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to give independent
recommendations to the executive branch and the Congress on policies to promote international religious freedom.

Visit our Web site at www.uscirf.gov
800 NORTH CAPITOL STREET, NW SUITE 790 WASHINGTON, DC 20002 202-523-3240
202-523-5020 (FAX)

--------------------------------------------

April 26, 2002   All India Christian Council and CSW call for resignation of Gujarat chief minister over failure to control riots

The AICC and CSW are jointly calling for the resignation of Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Rev Dr G Samuel, President of the Andhra Pradesh chapter of the AICC, called on the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, President of the Telegu Desam Party, the main ally of the coalition NDA government, to demand Modi's resignation over his "blatant connivance in communal violence".

He added: "Mr Modi has fulfilled the task entrusted to him by his bosses - to radicalize the state and to increase militant Hindu influence - at the cost of several thousand Muslim lives.

"History will hold the Chief Minister responsible if he does not act now, because he is the one person in the government who has the power to stop the violence and constitutional breakdown in Gujarat.

"The AICC hopes that he sees beyond politics and understands the mood of the nation which cuts across all religious and caste lines. We also trust that he will fight the emergence of extremist Hindu terrorism, which has caused such trouble in this region and brought such shame on our country."

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Indian Prime Minister, has so far resisted calls to remove Modi, who belongs to his BJP party.

The Indian Parliament is due to debate the violence in Gujarat next Tuesday, with some of the BJP coalition partners threatening to vote against the government, potentially causing them great embarrassment.

More than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in the violence since it flared up again in February this year. Over 100,000 Muslim refugees are staying in makeshift, totally inadequate relief camps.

The recent outbreak of violence, which continues to claim lives and which has displaced thousands of people, began after an attack on a train carrying Hindu activists from the Ayodhya temple site.

More than 2,000 people were killed in nationwide riots in 1992 after a mosque on the site was torn down by supporters of the VHP, the Shiv Sena party and the BJP.

Eyewitnesses have suggested that the violence has been part of a systematic campaign of slaughter and many claim that the police have not intervened on behalf of Muslims who have been attacked.

Two British Muslims also visiting Ahmedabad were lynched by the extremist Hindus. A third Muslim escaped under the protection of the British High Commission. The Commission also has its own report on Gujarat which condemns the local government's part in the violence.

Although Muslims have been the main victims, moderate Hindus who tried to save Muslims from the mobs have also been killed. There have been reports of Christians being threatened and their property stolen.

A manual, which was apparently written by Hindu militants, shows how to make calculated acts of violence look spontaneous and urges the harassment of Christian missionaries.

Rev Stuart Windsor, National Director of CSW, said: "We call for even-handed and decisive action by the Indian government to put an end to this violence.

"Along with our partners, the AICC, we are calling for the resignation of Mr Modi, for his marked failure to act to halt the violence against Muslims in Gujarat".

--------------------------------------------

April 4 2002    Continue to Prayer for Ian Stillman, Jailed in India

Dear Friends,

Please continue to pray for Ian Stillman, the British Christian jailed in India on trumped up drugs charges. As many of you will know, Ian's appeal was turned down in January by the High Court in Himachal Pradesh after they decided that he wasn't deaf. His family is working on an appeal to India's Supreme Court following this extraordinary decision.

A couple of weeks ago Ian was finally taken to a hospital for a check up - vital because he has been suffering from major health problems. In hospital he was treated by a wide range of specialist doctors, and they should now be able to devise a treatment program for Ian.

Ian was also visited by a couple of consular officials from the British High Commission, which will hopefully lead to renewed interest from the Foreign Office.

A fresh appeal, and application for bail pending an appeal, is due to be lodged in the Supreme Court imminently.

The British media continues to show a helpful interest in the case. In the political arena, too, Ian's MP, Sandra Gidley, has secured a half hour
debate in Parliament for 11 April. Many MPs have also signed an Early Day Motion tabled by Sandra Gidley, which has also helped to raise awareness of Ian's plight.

Ian's family has also set up a petition which they are encouraging concerned members of the public to sign. It can be accessed on the internet on
http://www.ianstillman.fsnet.co.uk/html/petition.html

Please do pray for the Lord's abundant blessing upon Ian at this time, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Pray for the success of the fresh appeal, and that bail will be granted.

Thank you in His name,

Dr Alan Hobson
Parliamentary Officer and India Country Officer, Christian Solidarity Worldwide

------------------------------------

November 5, 2001   Thousands gather in Delhi for mass conversion rally

India's dalits were out in force on the streets of Delhi on November 4, as many thousands met to embrace Buddhism in a mass conversion ceremony. 

The event, which attracted significant police opposition, represented the rejection by the dalits - also known as the untouchables - of the Hindu caste system, which has oppressed them for centuries. In observance of the Biblical mandate to "set the oppressed free", Christian leaders stood in solidarity with the poor and downtrodden. 

A number of international observers, including representatives from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, were there to offer support. 

Participants were invited to shave their heads, adopt a new name and destroy their idols. Dalit leader, Ram Raj, became Udit Raj under the watchful eye of thousands of supportive dalits. 

Many followed his example, although Udit openly spoke of their right to choose any religion. Buddhism has been the most popular initial choice of most as it does not totally jeopardize their rights to reserved employment and education. This is not the case for Christian and Muslim dalits who, in addition to a loss of all these rights, can also suffer persecution at the hands  of Hindu militants in the country.

The All India Christian Council (AICC) has been notable in its support of this event, which has also recently received backing from the Roman Catholic's Bishops Conference and the National Council of Churches of India. Speaking from the platform, AICC President Joseph D'Souza affirmed Christ's love for the dalits and expressed the total support of the church body. Whilst the event was advertised as a Buddhist event, it has opened the door for conversions to other faiths. 

AICC Secretary General, John Dayal added: "The dalits have never been treated as human beings - their demand for human dignity is a revolution." 

Perhaps mindful of this, police opposition was clear. Their permission was withdrawn just 48 hours before the start and organizers were forced to change location. Many tens of thousands of would be participants were turned away as they attempted to board buses and trains outside of Delhi, some were reported to have been arrested and falsified posters announced that the event had been cancelled. However the event passed peaceably at Ambedkar House, named after the man who led a similar conversion event in 1956. An estimated 20,000 later marched to the original event location.

Support was strong from both Indian nationals and a handful of international observers. Stuart Windsor, CSW's National Director who was attending the event with Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, remarked: "On the day that we remembered the persecuted church around the world, it was a privilege to be with the poor and oppressed of India and to offer our solidarity to them in their struggle for basic dignity and human rights."

Tina Lambert added: "This event was as political as it was religious and could be just the beginning of an incredible movement to challenge the caste system and offer hope to the poor and oppressed in India."

-----------------------------------------

August 2001    New All-India Christian Council Website

Dear Friend, 

Greetings to you from the All India Christian Council. We are pleased to inform you that we have recently launched our website. The name of the website is Indian Christians and its address is www.aiccindia.org. It can also be accessed from  www.indianchristians.org..

As part of our effort to keep Indian Christians informed about the happenings in the Christian community in the country, we shortly intend to add a section entitled ‘Christian News,’ for which we would be requiring feedback from Christians organizations, missions and groups in the country. 

This is, therefore, to kindly request you to keep us regularly informed (at least weekly) about the activities of your organizations, no matter how small or big they may be. Also kindly immediately inform us of all cases of atrocities, attacks, victimization etc of your workers at the hands of the fundamentalist elements in the country.

Kindly mail all such information to globusmedia@hotmail.com .

Kindly also visit our website and encourage your friends to do the same. The website contains daily updated information regarding Christians and about matters affecting Christians and the larger secular Indian society. It also contains ‘World Religious News’ and ‘Dalit News.’ Regular articles and write-ups on a wide range of pertinent issues too are featured in the website. You will also find detailed reports of the recent conversion of Dalits To Buddhism.

You are also welcome to contribute your views, comments, opinions on matters pertinent to or affecting the Christian community. Such material sent by you will be posted on the website. Photographs too are welcome. 

Thanking you for your cooperation in contributing to Indian Christians-- your website.

With blessings and warmest regards

Indian Christians

----------------------------------------

August 21, 2001    Update on Ian Stillman (Deaf Charity Worker Jailed For Ten Years in India on Drug Trafficking Charges) 

Dear Friend,

We thought we’d update you on the situation of Ian Stillman, the 50-year-old charity worker who has been in prison in India since August last year after being arrested by police on drug trafficking charges. (Mailing on July 28)

If you remember, police claimed to have found cannabis in the taxi in which he was traveling and after a short trial in which he was denied an interpreter, he was sentenced to ten years in prison. It was a trial which has outraged justice groups around the world, as no credible evidence was offered to support the allegations against a man who is known internationally for his work with the deaf.

Ian, who is himself deaf, has been working in India for the last 25 years, setting up the Nambikkai Foundation and helping
many deaf children.

He is currently in prison in Kanda, North India, where he is only allowed one 20 minute visit a week. Ian lost his leg in a road accident and the stump has shrunk while he has been in prison. This is causing him discomfort and he hopes to be allowed a visit from specialists who can fit a new false leg.

When the British High Commission met with the prison authorities, they agreed to let him have more visits and a wheelchair, but this has failed to materialize.

CSW is encouraged to hear that more than 200 British MPs have written to the Foreign Office to express their concern about Ian. We know many were written to by CSW supporters and we thank God for your help.

The amount of mail he gets is making a great impression on the prison authorities and his family encourage people to carry on writing to him with their support.

If you wish to write directly to Ian, his address is: Ian Stillman, Model Central Jail, Kanda, District Shimla 171 011, Himachal Pradesh, India.

You might also write to the Indian Ambassador to the US. Politely express your concerns about the nature of the trial and imprisonment and the unfair reporting on Ian in the Indian press (sections of the press are incorrectly reporting that he is a wanted criminal in the UK). Please politely reassure the Ambassador that many will be watching the appeal proceedings on September 24 with great interest and concern.

To keep up to date on Ian’s situation, look up www.ianstillman.fsnet.co.uk

-----------------------------------------------------------

August 10, 2001    Nun Shot in Face As Threats to Indian Christians Grow

A NUN from Madya Pradesh has been shot in the face at point blank range by four men believed to be militant Hindus. Leena Vellampuniyel, 30, who worked at Nirmala Hospital in the village of Chandera, is now in hospital in a critical condition after the shooting which happened on August 7.

The incident happened just a day after a priest was attacked in Thane near Bombay. Father Mendonca was attacked by more than 40 activists believed to be from the Sangh Parivar militant group and suffered serious injuries.

The Sangh Parivar is the main militant Hindu group in India and activists from this group are suspected of being involved in the murders of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in Orissa in January 1999. These militant activists are believed to be behind an increasing number of incidents against Christians in India, including threats to orphanages, church groups and traveling evangelists.

The All India Christian Council (AICC) has urged Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to recognise these attacks as
being not just isolated incidents, but part of a deliberate targeting of Christians. Two recent bills introduced to the national Parliament have also caused concern not only to Christians, but also to Muslims in India. The first, an anti-conversion bill, was introduced on July 27 by an MP from the militant Hindu party Shiv Sena. If passed, this bill would make it easier for opponents of Christianity to accuse Christians of forcing people to change their faith from Hinduism. The second bill, which is believed to be much more likely to be passed, is set to tighten up the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. This Act purports to control all foreign charitable donations, but in reality has been used to restrict Christian giving from abroad. Christians fear a stronger bill will hamper aid and charity organizations yet further. A spokesman for the AICC said: “This bill is without doubt aimed at cutting the social involvement of Christian groups among the weak and marginalized and thus reduce the impact of the gospel.” Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of CSW-UK said: “These horrific and violent incidents represent further proof that Christians are being singled out for mistreatment in India. If these two bills become law, life will become even harder for believers and give yet more power to militant Hindus.” 

CSW is calling on the Indian Government to clamp down on those who single out Christians for mistreatment and to reject any legislation which threatens the fundamental right, outlined in the Constitution of India, for the freedom of individuals to choose their own religion.