ASIA/INDIA - New violence against Christians, "for political reasons", says a Bishop

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The new violence against Christians that takes place in Indian states like Madhya Pradesh or Karnataka (south-central India), are carried out "for political reasons," says. His Exc. Mgr. Chacko Thottumarickal to Fides, Bishop of Indore, in Madhya Pradesh. As reported to Fides by the "Global Council of Indian Christians" (GCIC), an ecumenical organization that monitors the condition of the faithful, episodes of violence continue to occur in central and southern India. Yesterday, September 16, two episodes in Karnataka: in the Belgaum district a group of Hindu extremists prevented the Baptist Pastor Santhosh Naganoor, to hold a prayer meeting with 25 Christian believers. The Pastor was accused of carrying out fraudulent and forced conversions, and therefore was taken with force to the police, arrested and then released thanks to the intervention of the GCIC. Also in Karnataka, in the district of Hassam, Daniel Raghu, another Protestant pastor who was visiting the homes of some faithful, was stopped by Hindu militants and taken to the police station, where he was arrested with the accusation of "forced conversions" .
"Incidents like these occur in countries where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governs, the nationalist party, that believe in an extremist hindu ideology, explains the Bishop of Indore to Fides. "The problem is essentially political. With the BJP in government, the Hindu fundamentalist groups have the freedom to act as they want, without respecting the law, and are not stopped. The authorities and the police provide a substantial coverage", adds Msgr. Thottumarickal.
The response of the faithful, the Bishop concludes, has several aspects: patience and nonviolence, in the face of the abuse they suffer; the complaint to ask for the rights enshrined in the Constitution; dialogue with the Hindu religious leaders to condemn extremism; the promotion of common good at a social and political level, to build a country that guarantees full religious freedom and harmony. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 17/09/2011)