Mumbai (AsiaNews)
- Two Christians in the Indian state of Karnataka were arrested for handing out
religious pamphlets. The
incident occurred yesterday in the village of Nitte (Udupi district) , after a
crowd of activists of the Bajrang Dal (Hindu extremist group) denounced women,
accusing them of practicing "forced conversions" . According
to Sajan George, president of the Global
Council of Indian Christians (GCIC ) , what happened " is shameful and
is part of an established plan of nationalist forces : step up pressure on Christians
at Christmas ."
According
to GCIC sources, the group of Bajrang Dal activists surrounded the police
station Kumbalpady , where the women were in custody . The
officers attempted to disperse the crowd , but some local leaders from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP , another Hindu
fundamentalist group) threatened to
stage a mass protest if the police did not punish those who "practice conversions
and anti- Hindu activities".
"These
women were just handing out leaflets - Sajan George tells AsiaNews - what's wrong with
that? Followers of Hindu holy men give out hundreds of similar pamphlets, why
are they not arrested? With Christmas just around the corner, safety must be
guaranteed to the Christian minority, so that we can celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ. "
In
the past, there have been several cases of attacks against the Christian
minority in Advent (see here
and here)
. In
Orissa , the first major attack against the community happened on Christmas
Eve 2007 , following an alleged assault against Hindu swamis Laxamananada .
Even
more dramatic the Christmas
of 2008 , spent in refugee camps because of the anti-Christian pogrom
launched by Hindu fundamentalists in August of that year. (NC)