New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Protestant and Catholic groups have asked the government to intervene in stopping religious tension and conflict in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The secretary general of the Church of North India, Enos Das Pradhan, sent a letter to Vice-Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, reporting attacks made against Christians occurring at "regular intervals".  

Fr. Donald De Souza, the vice-secretary of the Indian Bishops' Conference currently visiting the area, said the situation is "frightening".    

For some weeks several Hindu fundamentalist groups, like Hindu Jagaran Manch, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrangdal, Durga Vahini and Sangh Parivar, have organized anti-Christian demonstrations and protests, creating an atmosphere of tension. The fundamentalist groups have attacked schools, set cars on fire, harmed priests and have burned images of Jesus, priests and local bishops.

Conflict first erupted on Jan. 11 when a 9 year-old Hindu girl was found killed and raped in a Jhabua school bathroom. The school is run by Catholic nuns.   

Then on Jan. 13 a Catholic parish priest, two assistant parish priests, the school principle and two prefects were stopped and arrested by police, as a group of fundamentalists began accusing the Christians and the Catholic Church of the crime.

The next day, led by the VHP, fundamentalist groups conducted a sit-in protest in front of the school, but later entered the school's building and beat 10 priests found inside, while the school's nuns and 75 female students were taken to a safe area. One thousand enraged persons then began throwing rocks at the building and police tried to calm them, while they threatened to burn down the area's Christian missions.

The bishop of Jhabua, while on visit in the region, tried to make peace between the conflicting parties while the minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh – himself having fundamentalist tendencies – made accusations against the missionaries, blaming them for the crime.

On the night of Jan. 15, police were able to capture the guilty man who then confessed to the crime. The man used to work in an office near to the church, and he was Hindu, not Christian. The priests and other missionaries, who were arrested, were subsequently released.

However, new fundamentalist groups from Gujarat launched an anti-Christian conversions campaign, distributing flyers, interrupting school lessons, throwing rocks at buildings and burning images of Christ. As the violence continued, police stood and watched without doing anything.    

Violent outbreaks also occurred in Alirajpur (29 km from Jhabua) and Amkhut. Fundamentalist groups in Alirajpur –composed of VHP and Baratiya Janata Party members (the current party in power) –attacked churches and homes of Christians.

A Salesian priest and headmaster of Alirajpur's Don Bosco school, Fr. Stanny Ferriera, was stopped and beaten, left  bleeding after his Jeep was set afire. The group then starting moving toward his school, wanting to burn it down. Since they were not able to enter the school, the group went to a nearby farm of the Salesian community, uprooting its trees and destroying its pump and irrigation system. The arrival of police forces avoided the worst, despite several Christian homes being burned down. Even the school had to be closed for repair until Jan. 27.   

The Indian Bishops' Conference protested against "unscrupulous acts" which exploit "inhuman killing" and "cause division within society". Bishops are "very concerned about threats to the Christian community's very existence in Jhabua".  In Jhabua, with a population of 1.4 million, there are 30,000 Catholics, most of whom are Bhil tribesmen who have been converts for several generations.   

According to some observers contacted by AsiaNews, the campaign launched by fundamentalists is an attempt to pit local tribesmen against Christians and missionaries so as to stop conversions.

The Indian Bishops' Conference warned some Protestant groups not to focus so much on conversions (proselytism), but on acts of social justice and charity. Msgr. Chacko Thottumarick, the bishop of Jhabua, said, "the (Catholic) Church does not lend special attention to outward conversions. The prime objective is that of spiritual, moral conversions and social improvements to the lives of people."

Meanwhile the local Church fears the worst. The recent arriva ofl a government minister, known for his fundamentalist ideas and transferring of police officers who have defended Christians, gives little hope for the future.  

Fr. Donald De Souza said violence in Jhabua "follows a fixed scheme" in which Christians are blamed for all the country's evils.

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