Delhi: After latest church attacks, Christians say there’s no party which speaks of religious harmony

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At the Church of Resurrection at Sector-6, Rohini, where a Christmas crib was set fire on January 4, Father Cyril Patrick says, “We don’t encourage or get involved in politics. Police are doing their job and we can’t ask them for more. We can’t blame any political party either. We just want to be safe”.

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For some like government school teacher Joane Sundaram, attacks have now become “the order of the day”. “A while ago, women’s safety was the big issue. Now religion is under attack. No one takes a stand, everyone just condemns the attacks,” she said.

Another issue the community is now acutely conscious of is how no candidate belongs to their community. Cyril Jacob, a businessman from Okhla, said, “Every time there are elections, all other communities, be it Muslims, Hindus or Sikhs, find representation. We are scattered across the city and are not concentrated in certain areas. But that does not mean that we don’t count.”

Political parties, however, claimed that religion was not considered while fielding or recruiting members and that it was a coincidence that no Christian was contesting in the elections.

BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said, “We condemn these attacks. Whether it’s a church, a mosque or a temple, no religious place should be attacked. We will request the Home Ministry to increase security.”

AAP spokesperson Raghav Chaddha said, “We do not look at religion while giving tickets. The issue of security for minorities is very important and it is unfair that there have been a spate of attacks on churches. It shows how other parties are trying to communalise the situation.”

Congress spokesperson Mukesh Sharma said, “Such attacks happen only around elections. We are a secular party and we do not allocate seats on the basis of religion.”