ASIA/INDIA - Violence against religious minorities: the truth emerges

New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) – A publication on the Liberhan Commission Report regarding the events in Ayodhya, a town in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is causing an uproar throughout India. After a long investigation, the paper sheds light on the full and widespread brute violence carried out by Hindu extremist groups that, on December 6, 1992 destroyed a mosque and violently attacked the Muslim community, resulting in thousands of victims. In particular, the report clearly underlines the role of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist party currently in opposition in the federal government, and of flanking organizations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, World Hindu Council), the Bairang Dal, and the RSS who meticulously planned the destruction of the mosque and the massacres.
"The report rips the veil of impunity and indicates the precise political responsibilities that can not be ignored today," said Fr. Babu Joseph, spokesman of the Bishops' Conference of India, in an interview with Fides. "Today, some members of Hindu fundamentalist groups - who continue to terrorize religious minorities like Christians and Muslims – try to cover it up, saying that the facts are outdated, as it has now been 17 years. But this is a wound that is reopened, a question that can not be easily ignored.”
The report says that behind the violence was a desire for power: "The desire to gain more political power has caused the outbreak of civil unrest and religious publications," on which the BJP has built his political fortune. Fr. Babu asks: "How can it be then that in a democratic country, governed by the rule of law, such serious events can occur with total impunity?"
The "Sangh Parivar" (movement that brings together various organizations involved) "has been asked to give account of its actions publicly. Its violent ideology wants to polarize the nation on the basis of religious belief. As citizens of India, as a nation, we cannot tolerate this threat to unity and national integrity," says Father Babu.
The debate in India is heated and will continue, but "one thing is certain: we are in a crucial moment in the history of contemporary India," the spokesman told Fides.
Recently, also in response to the massacre of Christians in Orissa in 2008, the Prime Minister of the State of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik, has officially recognize the direct involvement of Hindu radical organizations.
The Catholic Church hopes that these public declarations may lead to the marginalization of nationalist movements and Hindu extremists from society and from India's politics. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2009)