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 The minority Christian community in Madhya Pradesh is under attack. The so-called guardians of Indian culture and Hindu religion are singling them out. And what is their BIG crime? The enormous good deeds they have selflessly rendered for the people of Madhya Pradesh, irrespective of caste and creed, in the areas of education, healthcare and social uplift!
But in Madhya Pradesh, anything can happen now. There is no one to question. There is no one to uphold the rule of law. It is lawlessness everywhere, presided over by none other than Sadhvi Uma Bharati, the honourable Chief Minister of the state, guide and protector of the people, especially of women and children. Under her golden rule, women continue to be stripped and raped, their houses attacked and deprived of their source of livelihood. Her ardent followers can freely rape women, even minors, strangle them to death and dump their bodies on the compounds of institutions run by Christian missionaries. That provides them a pretext for passing on the blame and taking law into their own hands. Place: Amkhut in Jhabua district: About seven jeeps full of people, led by Sadhvi Krishna Behn, arrive at the 110-year-old Christian church. Some start vandalising the church. Others manhandle the priest and other members. Then they move on to Masihmadhyam Vidyalaya, a neighbouring school where the classes are in progress. They pull down the furniture and break them. They slap and abuse the bewildered students. They tear their books to shreds. They manhandle the teachers when they try to intervene. The whole ceremony is presided over by the local MLA belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Place: Alirajpur in Jhabua district: Around three hundred men arrive at CNI Protestant Mission Church. They first vandalise the church. They destroy the musical instruments. They pull down the furniture. They attack the families living on the compound, destroying their windows, doors, furniture and other household items. They burn a Mahindra Jeep and damage five other vehicles parked outside. The violent mob is led by the local BJP MLA, with the covert support of five local policemen, who stand at a distance and watch! Then they move to Don Bosco School. They attack the school, using bricks and firearms. They bring down the water harvesting plant. They chase away the teachers and threaten them with acid attack if they dare to come back. They uproot plants and trees on a five-acre farm, set up to train tribals on crop management. The horrid drama is not yet over. They threaten landlords in the area, asking them to evict all Christian tenants. Place: Jhabua, the headquarters of the district: A dharna is held in front of a Christian mission school, organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and other organisations belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The reason: The body of one Sujata, a nine-year-old girl, is found in the toilet of the school. She has been raped and killed. The protesters allege that the mission priests are responsible for the crime. They want Christian missionaries to quit Jhabua. The police come and take away the priests and let them off after midnight. The sordid drama is not yet over. The following day, the MP of Jhabua arrives at the school, accompanied by one Khum Bhagat Singh, and leaves after some time. Soon the superintendent of police and the district magistrate descend, gather all hostellers, numbering about seventy, and take them to the boys hostel at a distance. In all they pick up nine priests, two brothers, a cook and a table boy and take them to police station. They are detained at the station for three days without any charge sheet! | In the meanwhile, one Manoj Yadav, a sweeper working at the National Insurance Company, is picked up and detained. He confesses to having raped and murdered the girl. However no identification parade has been held. The police sources say they are waiting for DNA report from Kolkata. The VHP and its wings allege that the real culprits are the priests and the boy is only a scapegoat. They are instigating the people to drive the Christian missionaries out. They are also distributing anti-Christian literature to provoke them to act. An aside: The Hindu activists, in their over-zealousness, corner two women vegetable vendors, beat them up and snatch away their rosaries. They force the women to promise to renounce Christianity. Further details are yet to be made available. Place: Bhopal: Call it a paradox that whenever cases are filed against attack on Christians and Christian institutions, | Priest still behind bars! The priest and eleven others arrested in connection with the death of a boy in a recent attack on the church are still languishing behind the bars. They have been repeatedly denied bail, allegedly under pressure from Hindutva elements both within the administration and outside. The boy died in the rioting when the vehicle he was travelling by overturned resulting in triggering off fire from one of the firearms the attackers were carrying. In spite of all complaints placed before the local police, the authorities, instead of taking action against the culprits, turned the table against the complainants. They not only passed an order to cancel the licences given to Christians to possess guns but also arrested them for their alleged involvement in the killing of the boy. It is indeed tragic when the gun from which the shot went off killing the boy has not yet been identified, it is not justice to deny bail to all the arrested. | only Christian priests or Christians are arrested in the end. Moreover in nearly all the cases involving Christians, the police station has not been more than 100-300 metres from the spot. Yet their houses have been looted and women raped, thereby betraying the connivance of the local police in the atrocities committed. Despite the promulgation of Section 144, Hindu activists are allowed to hold dharnas and demonstrations. No case has been filed against the BJP MLAs who have led the mobs to attack. Moreover no steps have been taken to stop publication and distribution of inflammatory literature. Regarding prejudice caused to Christians, twenty-two complaints have been lodged against the RSS, including the MLA of the area for various crimes committed against Christians. In most cases the police have refused to file a complaint. While in five complaints, though FIR is registered, no action has been taken so far. In dealing with complaints involving Scheduled Tribes, there is an act called the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act, which prescribes stringent penal action against the offenders. But this has never been referred to while dealing with complaints from people belonging to Scheduled Tribes. The district administration has passed an order to forfeit the gun licences of only Christians, while sparing other licence holders. This is not only arbitrary but also unconstitutional. They do all these things (and many more yet to happen!) to complete the unfinished agenda of the Hindu zealots. That is their mission. What better time can they ever hope for than the golden era provided by the magnanimous government (Is there a government?) headed by a Sadhvi Chief Minister, whose only credential is being a diehard fundamentalist. Is the nation noticing what is going on in this part of Central India? Is the Judiciary in deep slumber, refusing to take note of the lawlessness prevailing in the state? Has civil society, both in the country and in the state, lost its sensitivity to see what is happening to a section of people disadvantaged because of their faith? Is there no one to come to their help in these troubled moments?
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