All India Christian Council (aicc) has condemned the anti-Christian campaign being organised by certain fundamentalist groups in Andhra Pradesh.

The regional conference of aicc, held in Vijayawada on 7 September 2006, was very vocal in condemning the strategies of certain political parties that “use religion as their trump card whenever elections are in sight.”  There were about 375 people who attended the meeting. Office-bearers of aicc from Guntur, Karimnagar, Khammam and West Godavari districts also attended the meeting.

The leaders said the people had become more vigilant and rejected communal agendas. “The abusive ways of depicting the Cross, distribution of Christian tracts, projecting Ruya Government Hospital as located in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, terrorising the nuns belonging to the Sisters of Charity, burning of the copies of the Bible and pictures of Jesus at mass gatherings in Chittor, Madanapalli and Tirupati are some of the condemnable acts which are very much unconstitutional,” they pointed out.

The leaders said, “It is time that the Sangh Parivar and their cohorts stopped indulging in such uncivilised acts and realised that the Christians are law-abiding citizens with love and care for their neighbours irrespective of their race, religion and caste.” They appealed to political leaders against dragging Christianity into dirty politics for selfish gains.

The leaders deplored the anti-conversion laws that are being implemented in several BJP ruled states. “These laws infringe on the freedom of choice guaranteed in the Constitution for everyone to choose a religion of their choice and to practise the same. The State cannot enforce if a person should believe in one ideology or the other, if he should follow one religion or the other or if he should vote for one party or the other. It is a free country and the choice is free for all.” The leaders urged former Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu to bring a resolution in the assembly against the anti-conversion laws.

The leaders welcomed the announcement of Chief Minister Dr YS Rajshekar Reddy on funds being made available for church repairs and construction. They said there were many legal hurdles in obtaining the money and hoped that the government would make the process very simple.  They said the amount released was not sufficient for the construction of a new church and if more funds could be made available for the same, the community would be grateful.

Sam Paul, aicc national secretary - public affairs and Kodali Eliya, aicc Krishna district president briefed the media before addressing the conference. Krishna District General Secretary Anthony welcomed the participants on behalf of the Krishna district committee.

Kodali Eliya challenged Pastors and Christian leaders to wake up and go to the community for service.  Pastor Chanti Raju expressed the need for assistance of aicc leadership in the functioning of the district committee.

Krishna district general secretary Anthony shared the report on different activities of aicc district chapter. He urged the leaders to come together to solve the problem of Minority Christians.

Sam Paul spoke about how the Christian community helped India in three distinct ways – quality education, quality health care and spiritual health. Institutes like Loyola, St Stephen and St Ann's had played a major role in educating today's elite group. Many of the prominent political leaders, who continued to accuse Christians, had studied in Christian institutions.

Sam Paul expressed his anguish over the continuing attack on Christians. Incidents of violence were reported from all over the country, specially Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. He said, “We should respond to this violent trend through prayers, constitutionally defending and networking and entering into alliance with non Christians groups like Muslims, Sikhs and Dalits.” He underscored the need for unity in spite of doctrinal differences.

Satyam Yellasiri spoke about aicc membership in Andhra Pradesh, how they could get the latest news information by browsing the www.aiccindia.org website. He explained how they could send reports through website, fax and telephone. He highlighted how the state office was actively involved in various districts and zones to encourage and strengthen the local committees.

Mulkala Praveen invited the youth to participate in the rally programme of youth wing of aicc to demonstrate the need for amendment of Article 341 to include Christian Dalits in Scheduled Caste quota.