Urgent Action Letter

The attack on Christians is raising like wild fire and UPA and state governments do not listen. Today a catholic father was shot at Delhi, two pastors arrested at Lucknow, and there are many without purper reporting. In all of these cases, police refused to take the complain rather inocent pastors are accused of force and fraudulent conversion.

We need to wake up UPA Government, please, I request, please one and all must do something to make enough noise so that authorities will hear and response.

The family members of pastors in Punjab who were put into jail on murder case and force conversion are living in pathetic situation of hand to mouth. Pastors are on run to escape from arrest. Please inform one and all to send to write to Prime Minister in any form either emails, fax, letter or telephone calls. The details contacts are given below. Thank you so much.

Prime Minister: fax. +011- 23016857 / 23014255 / 23019334

Phone Number – 011-23012312 / 23013149

Email pmo@pmindia.nic.in> ; pmosb@pmo.nic.in


Sonia Gandhi fax: +011-23018651

Phone Number – 011-23014481 / 23012656

soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in

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The Hon'ble Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
PMO, South Block
Central Secretariat, New Delhi

And

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
President, Indian National Congress / Chairperson, UPA
10, Janpath, New Delhi

May 15, 2007

Dear leaders of the Indian Nation:

You must have been busy in the elections in Uttar Pradesh, but surely you would have seen television images of large mobs brutalising Christian pastors in various parts of the country this last fortnight. I wonder if you noticed the glee with which people in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, smashed their fists into the stomach of a helpless Tamil pastor on May 8. Others in the same mob proudly told the camera they were from Hindutva groups even as they rained blows at the head of the second pastor. Did you notice Pastor Walter Masih in his small house in Jaipur, Rajasthan, being hit repeatedly by lathi-bearing youth as his wide-eyed daughter cowered behind a door on April 29? The child is still traumatised. As, indeed, is the Christian community in India.

These images should have seared the conscience of the nation, but they have invited nothing more than a smug silence from all governments -- the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra to the BJP chief minister in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the women raped for being Christians on May 28, 2006, have wept in silence, even the police and TV refusing to listen to them.

There is little doubt now that Hindutva extremists are running a series of planned attacks against the Christian community for over a year now.

The intensity of these attacks is increasing.

Their own leaders have encouraged them to further violence by word, statement and support. Sadly, there has been no voice in authority which would discourage them; much less to caution them of punishment under the law of the land.

The deafening silence of the UPA Government in New Delhi when anti-conversion laws were passed in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and more recently by the Congress run Government in Himachal Pradesh, has in fact served as a tonic to the killer gangs and their hate-mongering leaders.

These anti-conversion laws demonise the Christian community as much as Muslims are elsewhere identified as 'anti-national' in the Hindutva propaganda. The present violence against Christian community in general, and pastors and priests in particular, takes us back to the dark days of 1998-2000 of the mass violence against Gujarat Christians and the brutal Orissa murder of Graham Stuart Staines and his young sons Philip and Timothy.

There is not a day but the All India Christian Council report anti-Christian violence from Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka and sadly, also from Andhra, Maharashtra and Himachal, the last three in control of the Congress. The most heinous of them all is sexual violence against Christian women, particularly in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

We fear this overwhelming cloud of hate and violence has in it the seeds of a much tragedy in the future. I hope and pray it will not lead to a massacre of my community possibly in some distant village area or in a Christian compound.

It is not enough for the Central Government to say that law and order is a State subject, while remaining a mute spectator of the violence against the micro minority Christian community. In all this violence, the community has never retaliated or taken recourse to any form of violence. There never has been a communal riot involving Christians anywhere in the country.

Chief Ministers of the concerned states, whatever be their political identity, cannot absolve themselves of responsibility in this tragic environment of hate and violence. The blame for the state of affairs lies squarely also on the Union Home Ministry in New Delhi which time and again has received complaints from bodies like the All India Christian Council and the All India Catholic Union.

What has the Union Home Ministry done about the violence against tribal Christians in Madhya Pradesh, in Chhattisgarh, in Rajasthan, and in Gujarat in the last six months? What has the Home Ministry done about the recent attack on Pastor Masih in Rajasthan or the workers in Kolhapur? What is it doing about the consistent attacks against the tribal Christians in Orissa?

The fault indeed squarely lies with the Central Government which was voted to power by Dalits, minorities and the majority poor who hoped that the new UPA Government would at least insist upon the rule of the law and protect the minorities and Dalits. The lack of protection is all the more painful as the vast majority of Christian workers and communities in north India are Dalits, tribals or from the most backward castes. These are the communities which are bearing the brunt of the attacks.

It is not too late. We feel the situation can be retrieved, the marauding mobs contained, and tragedy averted, if the Union government were to:

1. Repeal the anti-conversion law in Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh just as Chief Minister Karunanidhi revoked the anti-conversion law in Tamil Nadu as these laws legitimise demonising of the Christian community.

2. Issue statutory notices to State Governments, and especially the Governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh to give protection to Christian places of worship and Christian priests.

3. Book the perpetrators of hate crimes and violence against the Christians under the Indian Penal Code and deal strictly with them.

We are proud of India's democratic traditions, and the Freedom of Faith it has nurtured since Siddhartha became Gautama Buddha. Independent India has codified the same tradition in its Constitution.

It is not too much that we seek as Citizens of India. Let there be rule of law, and let the Constitution prevail in every state of the Country.

God bless you

Put your Name and Organisation, with address

For Urgent Action: Pastors arrested in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh

Kuddupur, Jaunpur

On Sunday March 25 2007, the Church service carried out by the ‘Prabhu Yeshu Seva Samiti’ was being observed from a distance by a group of four police men. As the service drew to a close, one of them, the sub-inspector came forward and asked to meet the Pastor. He was led to an inner room of the Church, and started to ask Pastor Rajendra Chauhan a few questions. The Church regularly drew a following of more than a 1000 people every Sunday for the past more than three years, and the 25th of March was attended similarly.

While the questioning was going on, a jeep drew up close to the Church compound, and the Inspector from the Police Station Line Bazaar stepped out. He came in shouting loudly and to take Rajendra Chauhan and any other pastor to the police station. Thereby, amidst protests, Rajendra Chauhan and another leader of the church, Subhash Patel were taken forcibly to the police station at Line Bazaar.

We have not been able to get in touch with Rajendra Chauhan or Subhash Patel since then. When we spoke with the Police Inspector Ram Ji Singh on the 26th afternoon, he mentioned that Pastor Rajendra and Subhash had been presented before the Magistrate and have been sent to jail. He said the duo have been charged with hurting religious sentiments under section 295 (A) of the IPC. Besides this, they have also been charged under sections 298 and 125 of the IPC. Mr. Ram Ji Singh appeared every bit biased even as he informed us as to how the Pastors have insulted Hindus and have injured Hindu pride.

Members of the congregation, who are women in majority, were brutally beaten up by gangs of men waiting on the only road that connects the Church in village Kuddupur to Jaunpur. One kilometer away from the village, the area known as Ram Dayal Market is the only approach road to catch public transport for members to reach back home. Traders of the market and fundamentalists beat everyone they could see with big wooden sticks and wooden benches taken out from their shops. Frantic calls made to the police station did get some response, but even after the police force came, they made no attempt to stop the melee. The violence stopped only when all the congregation members ran helter-skelter to save themselves.

There have been requests made to the police station earlier to provide protection to the ongoing meetings but so far these requests and FIR’s have fallen on deaf ears. The copies of the same will be available with the Pastors. This seems to be a well planned and organized attack against the Christian community. No Counter FIR’s from the Pastors have been entertained by the police who are busy beating and abusing the pastors every instance they get, eye witnesses have reported. Even now reports are coming of instances of violence against members of the Church by the fundamentalists. Pastor Rajendra’s mobile has been snatched away too.

Please call Thana Incharge Ram Singh at 09415904475 and also at 05452-261421. Please also call the SP at 05452-261203 / 261660 email: spjnr@up.nic.in to register your concern and protest.

Appeal by GCIC for safety of CS John

Urgent Prayers for safety of CS John and the Christian congregation in Chikmangalur, Karnataka

Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) urges the national commission for Minorities and central home ministry to extend protection for Christians and the institutions managed by them.

Hindu radicals have unleashed a rein of terror in the state of Karnataka.The recent reports and of increased terrorism shows , targeting of Christians by the Hindu radicals is creating a conducive environment to facilitate operations of international terrorists in southern states of India. The indigenous terror mongers will further vitiate the peace and tranquility prevailing in India. We also appeal to the political parties and religious leaders supporting the indigenous hate mongers that if they continue to sow terror and hate they should be prepared to reap them in India and abroad in many folds

In 1991, Pastor C S John started an orphanage with two children, in Lakkavalli village, Tarikere taluk, Chikmagalur District in Karnataka state. The children stayed with the pastor's family in their home, a small hut. In the year 2001, a friend of Pastor John sponsored a building for the orphanage and it was moved to a more spacious location in Rangahalli village, about 6 km away. Right now there are about fifty children, between the ages of 5 and 17 in the orphanage, with about 12 girls, the rest being boys, being cared for by Brother Andrew and his family. Andrew used to be one of the first inmates of the orphanage.Since the change of government in Karnataka, there have been sporadic but growing numbers of incidents against Christians in the state. With the BJP coming to power in the coalition government, the areas where they have a strong presence have witnessed various attacks against Christians, churches, and Christian institutions.

In the same vein, Pastor CS John heard of a complaint being filed against him to the District commissioner by some BJP supporters. But his efforts to get information about this failed.

On 8th November, he heard that a complaint had been filed against him in the Police station by some BJP supporters. Pastor John called on the Lakkavalli panchayat president and they held a discussio with about 25 BJP supporters, who alleged that John was visiting slums and Dalit villages and inducing the Dalits and other poor people to convert to Christianity. Pastor John vehemently denied any inducements or conversions, and challenged them to produce proof. They were not able to do so.

On 11th November there were roumours afloat that a big procession was being planned against the work of CS John. Though this did not happen, on the Sunday morning, a few of the BJP activists stopped tow boys from the orphanage on the road and questioned them about their names, families and what they were being taught in the orphanage. Another young man, Prashant, the neighbour's son, was also stopped and abused in very strong language, because his family had become Christians about ten years ago.Two men knocked on the gate of Pastor John's house. As he was away attending a meeting in Bhadravathi, Pramod, (the brother of Prashant) who had just been discharged from hospital and under treatment for blood cancer, came out and asked them what they wanted. He informed them that pastor was away at a meeting. The men asked his name and then assaulted Pramod and left. Pramod at once called pastor up and informed him. Pastor John contacted the Sub-Inspector on the telephone. In a few minutes the police arrived and tried, with Pramod's help, to find the perpetrators but they had escaped.

On 13th November, one of the ringleaders called Nagesh came by Pastor John’s house. Pastor greeted him in a friendly manner. Pramod's mother looked out of her (the neighbouring) house and Nagesh asked her name, which was Lakshmi – the name of a Hindu goddess. So he said to her "We are waiting to beat up your elder son Prashant. You converted Christians will not be allowed to enter into the church."

According to Pastor John they are planning a big procession on the 15th Nov. against the alleged conversion "activities" of Pastor John. But he adds that the local police, and the present and former MLAs are quite supportive. Local Dalit groups are also coming out in support of the Christians of the area. We request your prayers for the peace and harmony and for good sense and the rule of law to prevail in the situation. It is sad that even a cancer patient is not spared by the hate mongers because he happens to be Christian. The attacks are also aimed to threaten GCIC as CS John is one of the senior rights activist attached to Global council of Indian Christians (GCIC).

My family members underwent hate and terror in our home on 6th March by the Rajasthan state police and Hindu fanatics. We once again appeal to the rights organizations to have mercy on Christians being persecuted for their faith.

Sajan K George
President
Global council of Indian Christians(GCIC)

Click here for source

Action against Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill Amendment by EFI

Gujarat passes amendment to the Freedom of Religion Act

The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) expresses deep concern and is greatly disturbed by the recent passing of an amendment to the Freedom of Religion Act, 2003 by the Gujarat Assembly. The amendment fails to secure the right of an Indian citizen under Article 25, making it compulsory to take prior permission before carrying out a baptism ceremony. The amendment also differentiates between those converting to Islam and Christianity and those converting to the Buddhist, Jain or Sikh faiths. Only those converting to Islam and Christianity have to report to the government. The amendment, passed amidst enormous opposition, takes away the fundamental rights guaranteed to an individual. The Constitution of India states that an individual has the right to "freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion".

The Anti-conversion Act was passed in 2003 but not executed due to lack of clarity on aspects such as the meaning of forced conversion and to whom it should apply. Gujarat government officials said that "the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2006 was brought to have clarity to the Act".

Further, we express concern that the amendment also states that Jainism and Buddhism shall be understood as denominations of the Hindu religion. Hamid Ansari, chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, said: "I think legislators cannot, and should not, decide the religious identity of a community this way. This decision has to be taken by the community itself in a democratic manner." EFI is in agreement with the chairman's comments.

The amendment will come to pass only after the assent of Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma to the bill. The governor has one of four choices in regard to the bill. "He can give his assent, withhold his assent, reserve the bill for the consideration of the president or return the bill to the assembly with a message for its reconsideration."

We urge the Governor of Gujarat to withhold his assent and reserve the bill for the consideration of the president.

We also advise the Christian community to protest against the amendment by writing to the Governor of Gujarat. Letters or faxes can be sent to the following:

Governor of Gujarat
Shri Nawal Kishore Sharma
Raj Bhavan, Sector-20,
Gandhinagar-382020, Gujarat
(Off): (079) 23243171 to 3243173
Secretary: (Off) (079) 23243598,
(079) 23243171 to 73
Fax: (079) 232-31121

Rev. Richard Howell
General Secretary

Memorable Poster: Protest Again Graham Staines Killing

Letter from Dr. John Dayal to the Prime Minister over Rajasthan incidents

Dr Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India

Dear Primer Minister

Greetings from the Christian Community.

May I thank you for the compassion and alacrity with which you took my complaint to you about the painful events in Kota against the Emmanuel Mission. Union Home Minister, Mr. Shivraj Patil was kind enough to write to me immediately expressing your concern and promising on his own behalf that he would have the facts as ascertained. Later, the newly appointed chairman of the National Minorities Commission, Ambassador Hamid Ansari also wrote to me saying that he had sought the facts from the State government of Rajasthan. I am sure your communication with the State government of Rajasthan will have its full impact. It has already brought about a sense of relief and hope in the community in general, and in the victims of persecution in particular.

In my own identify as an NIC member and head of two major Church organizations, the Catholic Union and the Christian Council, I also visited Kota, Jaipur and surrounding areas from 18th to 20th March 2006 with a an investigative group for a first hand experience and assessment of the situation, as also our prognosis about the persecution of our people and the pressure on our institutions inn the state.

My colleagues on the team were distinguished persons, including Sr. Mary Scaria, an advocate of the Supreme court and secretary of the Justice and Peace commission of the Catholic Delhi Archdiocese, the Rev Madhu Chandra, Delhi region secretary of the All India Christian Council and two independent journalists, Mr. Anil Chamaria who is internationally known for his incisive reportage in Hindi on Minority and Dalit issues and Mr. Vishal Arora.

We visited Kota extensively and also had a feel of the communal situation in the townships en route, including Bundi and the state capital of Jaipur. We also went through the entire coverage in Hindi and English in all the newspapers in the state relating to the recent as well as earlier anti Christian incidents. We met the District collector, the two ADMs and the SSP of Kota as also the two concerned Station house officers of Police Stations in the city police district of Kota. In addition, we met with several Christian leaders, priests, heads of Orphanages and hospitals, patients and ordinary people. Among them were both Hindus and Muslims,

Dear Prime Minister, the main reason to write to you at this stage is to bring to your notice the very volatile communal situation in the state, and not just against Christians. It is obvious that the Rajasthan State government machinery including the Justice system, and the Civil and law and order administration, are overwhelmed by political pressure from the BJP whose members roam free offering large sums of money for the murder of Archbishop M A Thomas others while the state machinery merrily strangulates his orphanages and schools by summarily rescinding their registrations without even giving enough time to respond to a show cause notice. All threads speak of a conspiracy aggressively executed.

I fear violence can flare up at any time and anywhere, beginning with Kota. The community feels threatened. Already several incidents have taken place against the Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical communities which constitute the entirety of the Church in the State to prove that while the Emmanuel Mission may be the immediate symbol and victim, the conspiracy is against the Christian faith and the followers in the state of Rajasthan, and their social work with the people and marginalized groups. Ten years ago, the Sangh Parivar had threatened to make the district of Banswara "Free of Christians by 2000 AD". They failed to do so at that time. They are trying very hard to carryout their promise now. We seek your intervention in this backdrop and emergency. This is with the concurrence with the members of the Investigative Team under the aegis of the All India Christian Council which accompanied me and of which I was the part.

For the sake of brevity, I break down my report and complaint to you into five components, and for each pleading your attention and concern.

1. The communal situation in Kota and the state of Rajasthan, with specific respect to the Christian Community.
2. The conspiracy against the Emmanuel Mission which began in 2002 when the BJP came to power in the state leading to the rescinding of the remigration of seven organizations and the freezing of their bank accounts and the consequences for the inmates of orphanages and hospitals
3. The precipitate action against the Thomas family leading to non-bailable warrants against Archbishop M.A Thomas and his son Rev Samuel Thomas, Samuel's arrest from Noida in Uttar Pradesh and the daily orchestrated public protests against them
4. The lack of action against fanatical Sangh Parivar activists, directly liked with the top leaders of the State government and ruling party, who are offering Rs Eleven Lakh for the murder of Archbishop Thomas and Others
5. Events related to the controversial book called Haqeekat in which there are passages allegedly injuring the religious sentiments of devout Hindus.


1. As Dr Joseph D Souza, President of the All India Christian Council and I had told you and other Central government leaders in our earlier letter, defeated and frustrated religious fundamentalist and hyper-nationalist groups of the Sangh Parivar have Christians in several sensitive states. Rajasthan, Gujarat and Orissa have been at the top of our areas of maximum concern, with Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Karnataka close behind. The provincial administrations and particularly the education and police in all these states are under the control of the BJP.

All these states have sizable populations of Dalits and indigenous or Tribal people who have historically shown an abiding interest in the life and message of Jesus. It needs to be recalled that the Sangh Parivar had as early as the mid 1990s publicly declared that it would make the Banswara district of Rajasthan `Christian-free? by the end of the century. Despite a reign of terror, Christians remain in Banswara. Kota, with its history of tension between Muslims and Hindus to which the Collector and Police officers attest, seems the likely tinder box for future tension and possible violence. The fact that the Emmanuel Mission is active in this city makes them the logical target. However, Catholic schools have been attacked in Kota and even a Leprosy hospital being run by Catholic nuns has been targeted. Is a leprosy mission a threat to security, or to any religion? Is a leprosy clinic a forum for Conversion? Other attacks have been in Jhalawar, Beawar and in Jaipur

2. The Conspiracy against the Emmanuel Mission: Archbishop M A Thomas has been active in Kota for more than thirty years. His is an independent mission whose charism is caring for Orphans and running schools and hospitals for them. Although he is not part of the mainline Catholic and Protestant Churches and works independently of them, he is popular with the people and his record of service has led to the government awarding him the Padma Shree three years ago But despite this, his work, and the success of his institutions continue to invite hostile attention. As soon as the BJP came to power in 2002, clandestine enquiries were launched against all his institutions which were subjected to a harsh probe and financial audit by the department dealing with Registration of societies and charitable organizations. It is three years, but so far they never confronted him with any wrongdoing. Now suddenly without notice and with no time for him to respond, the organizations have been derecognized. Following this, their bank accounts stand frozen. That leads to a shortage of fuel and food for the orphanages. For three days, the Orphans told our delegation, the food had to be cooked on a wood fire as they ran out of cooking gas. Now the collector has assured us that he has ordered the gas agency to ensure there is constant supply of the gas. In the hospital, patients have been cared off by the staff because of the presence of the police and threats that if any one is treated, the staff would be arrested and the hospital closed down. Inmates include orphans suffering from tuberculosis and at least one child in a coma. The timing of these actions is the most suspicious.

3. The Thomas family itself is terrorized. Non-bailable warrants were issued against MA Thomas and Sam Thomas and their senior staff arrested on charges of a controversial book being found on their premises. Without going into the merits of the case, it is obvious that the justice delivery machinery was under great political pressure to see that the Thomas family is incapacitated and is no longer in charge of the institutions. Samuel Thomas was arrested from Noida under controversial circumstances, and it was only some adroit action by the Police superintendent that he was saved from lynched. He is now safe in police custody, but there is much to be said in which anticipatory bail has been refused him in recent days. A notice is pasted at his door declaring his father to be an absconder. Samuel Thomas's wife, now in the US, has told us by email that all charges are politically motivated charges.

4 .he lack of action against fanatical Sangh Parivar activists, directly liked with the top leaders of the State government and ruling party, who are offering Rs 11 Lakh each for the murder of Archbishop Thomas and others, speaks the most clearly of the conspiracy and its political roots and continuing patronage. I am attaching herewith a copy of a press cutting highlighting this murder order. It smacks of what Al Qaeda does. And the law looks on silently, even weakly.

6. The controversy of the book Haqeekat. The book has been banned, so we have not seen a copy. However, I have read excerpts in the RSS weekly Panchjanya. They are not in good taste. The law must take its course against the author and translator, but is the Mission and its founder in any way connected even if the book was found on their premises. Even otherwise, by identical yardsticks, former minister Arun Shourie, the late BJP writer Sita Ram Goel, and many a Sangh professor ought to be prosecuted for hurting the feelings of Christians, apart from senior BJP leaders who hurt the sentiments of Muslims on a daily basis. Is the charge for which Archbishop Thomas faces non bailable warrants of arrest as an absconder?

Dear Prime Minister, even our preliminary enquiry shows grave miscarriage of justice, malice aforethought by those in power and connivance between the state machinery, the activists of the Sangh Parivar and the State government.

The immediate victims are not the Emanuel mission or even the Thomas family, much as they have suffered. The victims are the 2,200 orphans, scores of patients, leprosy victims and others. The mission, the Archbishop and the community remain victims of injustice.

May I appeal to you once again to order a high level probe into the entire matter and see that justice is done. Meanwhile, the state government must be told in no uncertain terms that its actions are making India a target of derision in the comity of nations. The warrants against archbishop M A Thomas must be withdrawn, Samuel Thomas must be released, the Emmanuel mission organizations must have their registration restored and their bank accounts made operative, and the Christian community at large assured pf safety in their own homeland.

Dear Prime minister, we look to you for justice. Let the law take its due course without political pressure from the state and the ruling party of that state, and without malice amongst the leaders and officials.


Thank you


John Dayal
For and on behalf of the All India Christian Council team which investigated the Kota incidents.

Appeal from Dr. John Dayal for Sajan George's protection

Dr Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India

Re: Appeal for your personal intervention to save Bangalore-based Christian activist Sajan George from Rajasthan and Karnataka police harassment

Dear Prime Minister

Greetings

We have been periodically briefing you on the situation of Christians in India and their persecution particularly in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party where elements of fundamentalist organisations seem to be operating with the connivance of the state police and governments. This has led to much hardship and suffering in Gujarat, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan, the worst of them all.

The government of Rajasthan has now exceeded even the terrible limits of its notorious recent past. Its police force, in active connivance with their colleagues in Karnataka, recently under BJP rule, intruded into the house of Bangalore-based Christian activist Sajan George when he was not there and harassed his wife and married daughter. The family, which includes a four month old infant, Sajan’s grandchild, remains traumatized.

The Rajasthan government and its police are targeting Sajan George because he, together with other activists such as Mr. Abraham Mathai of Mumbai and others, have been trying hard to ensure the safety and security of Bishop MA Thomas, who runs an orphanage in Kota, Rajasthan, and has been targetted by the Sangh parivar for many years now. This time, Bishop Thomas is being persecuted because the Sangh has found fault with some book discovered in a stall in his campus. The Bishop is not the author of the book. Irrespective of the legal status of the book – the Sangh’s official literature and newspapers are far more vituperative and offensive to Christian, Dalits and Muslims, than anyone can be -- the harassment of the Christians has gone unabated with the government of the state looking on passively.

I urge you to please instruct your Home minister to intervene urgently both for Bishop Thomas and for Mr. Sajan George.

The law must take its course if we have erred, but the partisanship the police is bringing a bad name to the entire country. The world does not know that the police who harass Christians and other minorities are in control of the BJP government of Rajasthan state. Needless to say, the Central government also gets blamed.

Sajan is well known and was in fact a candidate for the National Commission for Minorities. His harassment must stop.

I am sure your government will do the needful

With personal regards


John Dayal

Ps: I am attaching the email I received narrating the harassment of Sajan George, in his own words


Most urgent

The intimidation has started for me in India

Today at about 8.30pm more than 15 police men from Kota Rajasthan and Karnataka gate crashed into my home in Bangalore when I was away. My wife and daughter asked them to leave since we have a four month nursing baby in our home. The police wanted to know about my involvement regarding Emmanuel Mission and Arch bishop M A Thomas. The policemen were discourteous and they had no women constable either with them.They were even talking about my telephone conversation which would have been taped.
In spite of wife's and daughter's denial of any one at home the policemen were pushing into our private rooms many times during their dramatic appearance.
Their behaviour was as though they were treating most dreaded terrorists in the world
My only crime is I try to defend the cause of the voiceless and marginalised.n my telephone is tapped .my wife and daughter are humiliated. My four month old grand child is frightened and he is crying incessantly after the savages in the form of police entered my home. My telephones are tapped and they are joking about the pieces of conversation they overheard
Is India under the 'sadeshi terrorists' . The radical Hindus are calling shots. The sangh Parivar is able to strike at will.
I want justice and want protection for me and my family. Who will compensate for the trauma for my four month old grand son. We are worst than the most repressive government ,this is the midnight knock from the police and I fear that the kota police and their political masters will now stage manage attacks on me and my family. where de4mocracy and Christian minority is treated like door mats and any one can do any thing and get away.who can give us justice
How long the civil society can keep silent and blind. If the NHRC and the central; governmet is is alive they should take action about the infringement into my privacy and I want protection my life and propery

Sajan K George, National President, Global council of Indian Christians