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Christians worldwide are encouraged to pray for Believers in India after the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) recently adopted resolutions that targets Christians during its annual meeting. Christian communities and individuals of all denominations across India have suffered a considerable number of attacks at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists. The number of recorded incidents against Christians in 2005 is estimated to have exceeded 200, though a large number of attacks go unreported. The religious organization of the RSS, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is often accused either of inciting, or of being directly implicated in violent attacks against Christians. A number of women have been brutally sexually assaulted in connection with attacks on churches. In some cases, police have been directly implicated in violence against Christians, or at least in failing to take proper action in response to these attacks.

Prayer Alert-India

Hindu nationalist organization’s resolutions targets Christians

WIN PRAYER ALERT

Christians worldwide are encouraged to pray for Believers in India after the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) recently adopted resolutions that targets Christians during its annual meeting.

John Dayal, a member of the Indian government’s National Integration Council, has taken strong exception of the threatening tone of resolutions singling out Christians and Muslims to instill fear and terror in the two communities.

“In democratic India, even the RSS, the bigoted, xenophobic and hyper nationalist founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has the right to take a political position on various issues, but the Supreme Court of India, the Union Government and the Election Commission of India must take note of the threatening tone of resolutions,” said Dayal, who is national president of the All India Catholic Union.
 
Christian communities and individuals of all denominations across India have suffered a considerable number of attacks at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists. The number of recorded incidents against Christians in 2005 is estimated to have exceeded 200, though a large number of attacks go unreported.

The religious organization of the RSS, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is often accused either of inciting, or of being directly implicated in violent attacks against Christians. A number of women have been brutally sexually assaulted in connection with attacks on churches. In some cases, police have been directly implicated in violence against Christians, or at least in failing to take proper action in response to these attacks.

Dayal pointed out that the RSS’ resolutions not only challenge constitutional guarantees to the minorities, but they also seek to blackmail and coerce the government of India by saying there will be “serious consequences” if the rights of the Dalit Christians and Muslims, taken away by the nefarious Presidential Order of 1950, are restored.”

The Indian Supreme Court is hearing several writ petitions by Dalit groups on the issue. The next hearing was scheduled for late November, but the hearings were postponed after the central government again failed to officially respond, Christian Post reported.

Dr. Joseph D’souza, president of the All India Christian Council, noted that the demand for “Scheduled Caste” status for Dalit Christians is a fundamental civil right. “The access to affirmative action must be restored to all Dalits unconditionally and irrespective of religion,” he said, Christian Post reported.

Dayal, who also serves as secretary general of All India Christian Council and president of United Christian Action, added that citizens and organizations, including the government, must condemn this arrogant attack on the right of aggrieved people to seek redress in the highest court in India. Not content with its vitriolic against the minority communities and their leadership, the RSS goes further in creating a confrontation between Dalits espousing various faiths, he said.

Dayal said that the BJP is contesting elections in Gujarat and Himachal and its resolutions go against the letter and spirit of the code imposed by the Election Commission.

India’s opposition Hindu nationalists BJP took power in the southern state of Karnataka on November 12, 2007 for the first time, hoping it would boost the morale of its supporters ahead of a series of key provincial polls, Reuters reported.
 
Karnataka becomes the ninth of India’s 29 states where the BJP or its allies have come to power.
The party is seeking a third term in its western stronghold state of Gujarat in polls in December and 10 states are due to elect new assemblies next year amid continued speculation over the prospect of early national elections, Reuters reported.

“The BJP’s triumph in Karnataka will embolden it to expand its southern base,” The Hindustan Times newspaper said. “This is bad news for the Congress, as a combination of the BJP and powerful regional parties make it that much harder for it to grow in the region.”

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Sources: Reuters, The Hindustan Times, Barnabas Fund, Compass Direct News, Wars Within Borders, Open Doors USA, Christian Post

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