Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - A "strange" census regarding Bishops, priests, the homes of individual believers, Christian schools and institutions, is currently in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India, conducted by the local police. The event alarmed the Church and all Christian communities: "This is a measure of suspicion and is quite discriminatory. We are very concerned because we do not know the reasons and the consequences it could have. We remember the previous fact, a similar initiative was held in Gujarat in 1998 and it occurred on other occasions. These actions were preparing a massive offensive stratedgy and round-ups of radical Hindus against Christians”, said fr. Karakombil Babu Joseph , spokesman for the Bishops' Conference of India to Fides
Christian leaders were subjected to interrogation, without any justification, to provide information and details regarding the extension and the properties of the community : this, according to the Church, is “totally unacceptable and violates the constitutional guarantees”. "What must be underlined is that in Madhya Pradesh the leading government party is the Bharatiya Janata (BJP), which continues to pursue a nationalist agenda and supports radical groups”, explained the spokesman. The Catholic Church has asked the local government and federal authorities to stop this "ad hoc survey" and has received reassurance in this regard.
"The radical groups are very strong and receive funding from abroad to pursue their goals”, says fr. Karakombil. "With Easter coming up we are concerned that in states where the BJP is in power anti-Christian incidents could occur”.
A recent incident also happened in Delhi, where the violence " which are fortunately rare”, remarked fr Karakombil: on April 9 a crowd of more than 150 Hindu militants attacked a gathering of Christians in Bhajanpura, east of the capital. The faithful of the "Church Assembly of God" had organized a celebration outdoors, but a Hindu extremist group intervened with anti-Christian slogans, beating the faithful with sticks, including women and children, and making them escape. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 15/04/2011)
