Bhopal June 6: BAJRANG DAL activists on Monday prevented two Christian rape victims from narrating their woes to journalists and threatened in full media glare that they would not tolerate “any attempt to malign Hindu organisations”.
MP State Minority Commission (MPSMC) member and prominent Christian leader Indira Iyengar accompanied the two women from Nadia village in Khargone district, who had allegedly been gangraped on May 30, to the Apsara restaurant in the city where they were to speak to the media.
Even as the press conference was on, Bajrang Dal activists barged into the scene. Their district convener Devendra Rawat threatened Indira Iyenger of dire consequences if she named Hindu organisations in cases of rape and violence against the Christian community.
He also alleged that many Christian missionaries were indulging in religious conversion. Iyenger tried to counter the Bajrang Dal leader for a while but soon left the place, angry and frightened.
Later, Rawat fulminated against Christian organisations for “getting foreign funds to malign Hindutva outfits”. He also presented a ‘Hindu’ couple, claiming they were forcibly converted into Christianity. Rawat said the Bajrang Dal would sys oppose tematically such activities and be ready to make any sacrifice for this ‘cause’.
Earlier, Iyengar alleged that Khargone BJP MLA Dal Singh Solanki had instigated his cohorts to rape the two Christian women. Solanki had been repeatedly threatening Christians in the region and implicating them in conversion attempts. She said that instead of registering an FIR against the culprits, the police ill-treated the rape victims.
The victims and their families had been repeatedly threatened of dire consequences, she added. After the incident, Iyengar wrote to DGP Swaraj Puri demanding protection from Bajrang Dal hoodlums. “I have not been subjected to such brash behaviour all my life,'' a shaken Iyengar told Hindustan Times.
She further said that on Tuesday, she would meet chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and offer to resign from membership of the MPSMC if no action was taken. She said she would also write to prime minister Manmohan Singh, home minister Shivraj Patil and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on how Christians were being persecuted at the behest of saffron outfits.
Earlier in the day, she took the victims to governor Balram Jakhar and submitted a memorandum to him, alleging that the incidents of violence against Christians were on the rise in the state but the BJP government was doing nothing to protect the minority community.
Khargone BJP MLA Dal Singh Solanki allegedly instigated his cohorts to rape the two women. Solanki threatened Christians that he would implicate them in con version attempt cases. The police, instead of registering FIR against the culprits, ill-treated the rape victims.
Hindustan Times
http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=29350
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
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