Attacks on Christians increase in UP

Asian Age April 25, 2000
Attacks on Christians increase in UP
By Amita Verma, Lucknow, April 24
It began in Lucknow in February, when the principal of St. Paul?s school, Father Simon Fernandes, was charged with molestation by a teacher who also happened to be a Bajrang Dal activist.

The Bajrang Dal activists staged a dharna in the state capital and demanded the principal?s arrest. The harassed principal wrote a letter to the district magistrate asking for security. ?I have been receiving threatening calls from the persons who claim they are from the Bajrang Dal.

The callers have informed me that they would burn down the church in the school premises,? the letter said. The district administration turned a blind eye to the content of the letter, asked two unarmed policemen to guard the school and forgot about the incident. The principal still lives under the shadow of fear.

On March 31, in Agra, a school teacher accused three priests in St. Johns college of attempting to molest her. The teacher had been dismissed from the school in 1992 and she claimed that she had returned to plead her case - eight years later - when the incident occurred. The incident led to communal tension in the city but the police remained indifferent till a stern note from the Prime Minister?s Office arrived on UP chief minister Ram Prakash Gupta?s table, asking him to act sensibly in such sensitive matters. The UP government on Sunday asked the commissioner of Bareilly division to investigate the allegations and counter allegations in the case.

Earlier this month unidentified persons attacked three Christians schools in Mathura and two nuns were among those injured in the incident. The government claimed that two of the incidents were a result of the schools? decision to raise fees without telling the parents. In the third incident, the UP government maintained that it was a case of robbery.

A week ago another Christian missionary school was attacked in Bijnore district and the UP police dismissed it as a case of dacoity. On Saturday, a group of Bajrang Dal activists attacked Christian missionaries who were selling Biblical literature and burnt pamphlets in the Jagdishpura police circle in Agra district.

Five persons were arrested on Monday and the home department spokesman claimed that there was no need for an enquiry into the incident since the culprits had already been arrested. Attacks on Christian institutions and individuals in UP are registering an alarming growth but the UP government, in general, and the chief minister, in particular, seem to be in no mood to take effective steps to check the trend.

Except for a press note issued by the state information department in which the chief minister has asked all district magistrates and police officials to be vigilant about such incidents and take steps to prevent any disruption of social harmony, the state government has not bothered to evolve mechanisms and check such attacks.

The state department press note, however, was promptly faxed to the PMO on Monday as a proof of the UP government?s good intentions. Bajrang Dal activists and other Sangh Parivar leaders, on the other hand, maintained that they are being unduly blamed for attacks on Christians

A Bajrang Dal spokesman said, ?For anything that goes wrong with Christians and Muslims we are blamed. No one blames the Christian missionaries who are trying to forcibly convert poor Hindus to Christianity. We are keeping a low profile but if the non-BJP parties continue to blame us, we shall expose them all.?

Christians leaders, meanwhile, admit that a feeling of insecurity engulfs them because the government ?seems non-existent.? A spokesman for the Christian missionary institution in Lucknow said that despite several requests, they had not been granted an appointment with the chief minister.

?The government does not seem interested in protecting us. They want our services only when their children come for education,? the spokesman said. The state legislature, too, seems completely insensitive to the issue and the Opposition parties, too have remained indifferent to the issue so far.

Asian Age April 25, 2000
Attacks on Christians increase in UP
By Amita Verma, Lucknow, April 24
It began in Lucknow in February, when the principal of St. Paul?s school, Father Simon Fernandes, was charged with molestation by a teacher who also happened to be a Bajrang Dal activist.

The Bajrang Dal activists staged a dharna in the state capital and demanded the principal?s arrest. The harassed principal wrote a letter to the district magistrate asking for security. ?I have been receiving threatening calls from the persons who claim they are from the Bajrang Dal.

The callers have informed me that they would burn down the church in the school premises,? the letter said. The district administration turned a blind eye to the content of the letter, asked two unarmed policemen to guard the school and forgot about the incident. The principal still lives under the shadow of fear.

On March 31, in Agra, a school teacher accused three priests in St. Johns college of attempting to molest her. The teacher had been dismissed from the school in 1992 and she claimed that she had returned to plead her case - eight years later - when the incident occurred. The incident led to communal tension in the city but the police remained indifferent till a stern note from the Prime Minister?s Office arrived on UP chief minister Ram Prakash Gupta?s table, asking him to act sensibly in such sensitive matters. The UP government on Sunday asked the commissioner of Bareilly division to investigate the allegations and counter allegations in the case.

Earlier this month unidentified persons attacked three Christians schools in Mathura and two nuns were among those injured in the incident. The government claimed that two of the incidents were a result of the schools? decision to raise fees without telling the parents. In the third incident, the UP government maintained that it was a case of robbery.

A week ago another Christian missionary school was attacked in Bijnore district and the UP police dismissed it as a case of dacoity. On Saturday, a group of Bajrang Dal activists attacked Christian missionaries who were selling Biblical literature and burnt pamphlets in the Jagdishpura police circle in Agra district.

Five persons were arrested on Monday and the home department spokesman claimed that there was no need for an enquiry into the incident since the culprits had already been arrested. Attacks on Christian institutions and individuals in UP are registering an alarming growth but the UP government, in general, and the chief minister, in particular, seem to be in no mood to take effective steps to check the trend.

Except for a press note issued by the state information department in which the chief minister has asked all district magistrates and police officials to be vigilant about such incidents and take steps to prevent any disruption of social harmony, the state government has not bothered to evolve mechanisms and check such attacks.

The state department press note, however, was promptly faxed to the PMO on Monday as a proof of the UP government?s good intentions. Bajrang Dal activists and other Sangh Parivar leaders, on the other hand, maintained that they are being unduly blamed for attacks on Christians

A Bajrang Dal spokesman said, ?For anything that goes wrong with Christians and Muslims we are blamed. No one blames the Christian missionaries who are trying to forcibly convert poor Hindus to Christianity. We are keeping a low profile but if the non-BJP parties continue to blame us, we shall expose them all.?

Christians leaders, meanwhile, admit that a feeling of insecurity engulfs them because the government ?seems non-existent.? A spokesman for the Christian missionary institution in Lucknow said that despite several requests, they had not been granted an appointment with the chief minister.

?The government does not seem interested in protecting us. They want our services only when their children come for education,? the spokesman said. The state legislature, too, seems completely insensitive to the issue and the Opposition parties, too have remained indifferent to the issue so far.

http://www.dalitstan.org/journal/genocide/christians/upattkch.html