Gujarat tops list on Christian attacks

NEW DELHI, FEB 24: A total of 116 incidents of attacks on Christians including five killings were reported across the country since Janua...

NEW DELHI, FEB 24: A total of 116 incidents of attacks on Christians including five killings were reported across the country since January last year, Rajya Sabha was told today. While Gujarat reported a maximum of 94 such incidents including violence against Christian missionaries, Maharashtra reported 10 and Orissa seven, Home Minister L K Advani said in a written reply.

To another question, Advani said the Justice D P Wadhwa inquiry commission set up to probe the murder of Australian missionary Graham Steward Staines and his two sons in Orissa has been asked to submit its report within two months.

He said Government was of the view that acts of violence against any community must be dealt with sternly and exemplary punishment awarded to the perpetrators.

He claimed that Chief secretaries of the concerned states have been advised to issue suitable instructions to respond immediately to complaints regarding harassment of minorities and initiate action against the guilty.

About the reports receivedfrom the National Minority Commission on violence in Gujarat, he said those had been forwarded to the State Government.

Conversions: Some states have enacted legislation providing for prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by use of force, allurement, inducement or by fraudulent means, Advani said. He said the Centre did not maintain any data on the number of tribals and other people converted to Christianity.

Missionaries: Advani said there were 1,085 foreign missionaries, most of them from Australia, US and UK, as per latest information. To another question, he said there was no proposal to probe foreign funding received for conversions.

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Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976, associations covered under the Act are required to furnish information regarding receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution by them on yearly basis, he said.

NHRC: Centre has no proposal to amend the law to make setting up of State Human Rights Commissions mandatory, the Home Minister said,adding that nine states have already set up SHRCs.

Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Tripura and Goa are among the states which have not set up the state level human rights commissions till now.

The NHRC has handled 1.05 lakh cases since its inception in 1993, including a maximum of 45,551 cases in Uttar Pradesh and 10,416 in Bihar, the Minister said.