ASIA/INDIA - Following attacks by fundamentalist Hindus in Madhya Pradesh, police mount guard in front of churches and schools

Thursday, 12 February 2004

Bhopal (Fides Service) - Concern is growing among Christians in Jhabua, western Madhya Pradesh on the border with Gujarat state. Following attacks by fundamentalist Hindus in recent weeks in Jhabua police positioned guards outside schools and churches but this is not enough to calm the worry of Christians and non Christians working in church centres or structures.
Local sources told Fides that tension in the area is still high and violence could explode any moment also because certain politicians tend to fan the flames of religious hatred.
Violence began with the murder of a girl in the grounds of a Catholic school on January 11: the police made an investigation and arrested the suspected murderer but a campaign of obvious manipulation and false propaganda blamed the girl’s death on the Christian community.
Father Babu Joseph spokesman of the Bishops’ Conference told Fides that politics are involved: on the one hand Uma Bharti chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and a member of Baratiya Janata Party BJP nationalist group took constructive and reassuring attitude saying he intends to work for harmony and holding two meetings 27 January and 9 February with Christian religious leaders. On the other, during a visit to Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh interior state minister Jagdish Muvel has fuelled violence by backing the claims and convictions put forward by the Hindu fundamentalists.
At the February 9 meeting with the chief minister Uma Bharti, Archbishop Paschal Topno of Bhopal recalled the contribution Christians have made to the progress of the state with their work in education, health care and social services. Assuring those present that Christians want only to work for the progress of the people, the Archbishop recalled that India’s Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of belief and conscience and that these rights must be respected. For his part the chief minister said he would do all he could to restore trust and peace in Madhya Pradesh and to protect and defend the Christian community.
There has been a Christian community in Jhabua for 100 years but today they are less than 1% of the population. Despite small numbers, Jhabua’s Christians, of various denominations, have always assured the development of the area with projects in social assistance, health care, humanitarian aid and education.
Aware of the Catholic Church’s mission to uphold the dignity of every person, missionaries and the local communities have always given special attention to Tribal peoples, often victims of discrimination and exploitation, to progress. This activity has often stirred resentment among large landowners and businessmen who use Tribals for cheep labour and deny them workers’ rights.
About ten years ago certain Hindu fundamentalists belonging to groups such as diverse the RSS began to promote hindutva ideology “one nation, one culture, one religion”, accusing missionaries and local Christians of destroying Tribal culture and causing social and economic inequality among the Tribal peoples themselves making some more active, educated and industrious than others.
These fundamentalist groups exploited the murder of the girl at the Catholic school in January in Jhabua to further discredit and insult the Christian community.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/2/2004 lines 47 words 564)


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