Peaceful Christian Protesters, Including Nuns, Priests Brutally Attacked by Police in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Priests, nuns, students, activists, teachers, lawyers of the Christian community of all denominations were attacked by the police, and dragged into waiting buses, for protesting against the vandalising of churches by right wing mobs. “Protect us” was the one primary demand of the peaceful protest that was broken without warning by frenzied policemen with lathis, who said that it was “illegal” with women and men being manhandled and lathi charged as they were taken into the waiting buses and placed under detention.

The Christians gathered outside the Sacred Heart cathedral with crosses and rosaries chanting “we want justice” and holding placards “Stop violence against Christians,” “I am Proud to be a Christian”,”Stop Attacking Churches”, “Enough is Enough.”

Attacks on Churches in and around Delhi has become a major issue in the Christian community with demonstrators saying that they felt unsafe, as this seemed to be part of an “orchestrated design to strike fear and terror in the community.”

However, the police chose the high handed approach and attacked the peaceful demonstration further traumatising the protesters, many of whom were old and feeble. An elderly woman activist was picked up bodily by four policemen and pushed into a waiting bus. Significantly right from the beginning the policemen far outnumbered the protesters, disproportionately so, with this kind of bandobust seen usually for radical Left wing groups in the city or agitating students.

"The people are being detained. They have no permission to protest on the road. They can't just march to the home minister's residence. We have to protect the residence of VIPs," senior police officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said. He admitted, however, there were no prohibitory orders in place.

There have been at least five attacks on churches in and around the capital since December. The list does not include the vandalising of churches in other states, attacks on priests and nuns, and forcible ‘re-conversion’ of Christians to Hinduism by state and district level workers and leaders of the RSS, BJP and affiliate groups.

Most recently in Delhi the St Alphonsa's Church in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj was vandalised. The police called it robbery and registered a FIR accordingly. A delegation of the Christian groups met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to protest against the police action and raise their demands for security and protection with him. They demanded that this FIR be changed to include the sections of the law relating to ‘religious animosity’ under the relevant sections. The delegation said that Singh had instructed the police to do the needful but that this would be checked in the evening, and the protests will continue if the relevant sections had not been incorporated in the FIR. The delegation pointed out in fact there had been no robbery as the donation box had not been touched, although the church had been vandalised and scriptures violated.

A church in west Delhi's Vikaspuri was vandalized in January. The police said three men caught on camera had been arrested. They were drunk and had attacked the church on a dare, according to the cops.

Several Christian organisations, at the receiving end of threats, abuse and attack, told The Citizen that the authorities, including concerned state governments and the police, were underplaying the violence that was fast assuming a pattern against the minorities. Last December right wing groups had threatened to hold a mass reconversion ceremony in Aligarh for Muslims and Christians, with several BJP MLAs and MPs in full support. This was scheduled for December 25, Christmas Day and was called off following strong protest from opposition parties in Parliament.

The police action against the peaceful march in Delhi on the last day of campaigning for the elections in Delhi, has sent shock waves through the tiny community. Activists and secular groups are planning a major protest against the attack on February 6, just a day before polling.