INDIA: Anti-Christian Violence Every Third Day in 2006
Anti-Christian Violence in India Reported Every Third Day in 2006
BANGALORE January 19, 2006 (KCNews.org): With an act of violence against Christians being reported every third day in 2006, India, a Constitutional Secular Democratic Republic, doesn't seem to be a very safe place anymore for its tiny Christian minority, a mere 2.3 per cent of the country's 1.20 Billion population.
A total of 127 cases targeting priest, nuns, church workers and believers have been reported in the national or international media during the year according to an unofficial white paper released by Dr. John Dayal, President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU), the largest and oldest lay body of Catholics in the country.
Dr. Dayal believes the number could be much higher as "church workers, nuns, priests, pastors and evangelists, health workers and development NGOs often do not even report acts of violence unless there is grave injury."
The data compiled relies heavily on the work of Christian groups online as the tendency of the "mainline, and specially the Hindi language national media" has been to ignore "acts of violence against minority communities in general, and the Christians in particular," the AICU President noted.
It was in 1996 during the course of his research, when Dr. John Dayal discerned the pattern of violence against the Christian community by the aggressive bands of the Hindutva cadres, that he published the first "Unofficial White Paper on Violence against Christians in India" under the guidance of the late and visionary Archbishop Alan De Lastic of Delhi.
Periodical statistics issued since then have revealed the perpetuation of a disturbing trend that continue to cast a shadow over the secular character of the largest democracy of the world.
END
Note: This news story may be freely reproduced, provided it is unchanged and duly acknowledgement with a hyperlink.
A total of 127 cases targeting priest, nuns, church workers and believers have been reported in the national or international media during the year according to an unofficial white paper released by Dr. John Dayal, President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU), the largest and oldest lay body of Catholics in the country.
Dr. Dayal believes the number could be much higher as "church workers, nuns, priests, pastors and evangelists, health workers and development NGOs often do not even report acts of violence unless there is grave injury."
The data compiled relies heavily on the work of Christian groups online as the tendency of the "mainline, and specially the Hindi language national media" has been to ignore "acts of violence against minority communities in general, and the Christians in particular," the AICU President noted.
It was in 1996 during the course of his research, when Dr. John Dayal discerned the pattern of violence against the Christian community by the aggressive bands of the Hindutva cadres, that he published the first "Unofficial White Paper on Violence against Christians in India" under the guidance of the late and visionary Archbishop Alan De Lastic of Delhi.
Periodical statistics issued since then have revealed the perpetuation of a disturbing trend that continue to cast a shadow over the secular character of the largest democracy of the world.
END
Note: This news story may be freely reproduced, provided it is unchanged and duly acknowledgement with a hyperlink.
Also See:
Unofficial White Paper - Anti-Christian Violence in India - 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment