The spreading stain

The sense of insecurity among Christians is bound to increase as atrocities against their members continue unchecked. The shocking, premeditated rape of a Catholic nun and schoolteacher in Orissa occurs less than a fortnight after a Christian missionary Graham Staines and his small children were burned to death by an organised group of killers. It seems no one is safe and those living and working in rural areas are particularly vulnerable. One day it is a missionary who has devoted himself for three decades to the care of leprosy patients. Another day it is a pastor or a school teacher. As reports of physical attacks, arson, murder and rape come in from one or other area of the country, India8217;s small Christian community cannot but feel it is being singled out for persecution. That the incidents are part of a pattern of assaults on Christians which has its origin in the hate campaign organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is quite clear.

Although the Centre and state governments have promised to take sternmeasures and to protect all minorities, routine law and order measures will not be enough to prevent attacks on Christians in remote villages scattered across the country. Such is the atmosphere in the country today that organised gangs can strike anywhere at anytime. The only certainty is about their potential victims. J.B. Patnaik who is under pressure to take strong action against murderers and rapists in Orissa as well as chief ministers everywhere will have to do something about the instigators of hate. Patnaik is probably right to suspect political motives in the shift of scene from BJP-run Gujarat to Congress-run Orissa. But when it is open season on Christians, no state can be considered safe from organised gangs who have an animus towards minorities. It is therefore high time chief ministers met with the central government and decided together to proscribe organisations propagating hate against members of other religions.

It is high time too that the official machinery was cranked up to counterfalse propaganda against minorities. The nonsense about foreign conspiracies spewed out at the Dharam Sansad in Ahmedabad should not go unchallenged. There is no need to waste public money on a white paper on conversions. Better to let the VHP put its money where its mouth is and if it finds evidence of forced conversions, take the case to court. As for the rise in the proportion of Christians in the population, the facts will show it is a figment of the VHP8217;s imagination and a deliberate ploy to whip up mischief. It is well recognised that educational and health services run by Christian institutions as well as their work among the underprivileged make major contributions to society. Only those sharing the VHP8217;s rigid hierarchical views can feel such good work is a threat to them. Unfortunately, there are many who still believe that the place of dalits and adivasis is at the bottom of the social ladder. As has been seen in other contexts, every attempt to improve the life chances of the underprivileged isruthlessly opposed. That, at rock bottom, is what is being done in Dangs, Keonjhar and Baripada districts. It must be stopped.