India, fresh attacks on two Catholic churches "evil and dangerous"
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "I am pained and saddened at these two incidents, which are malicious and
mischievous, and an assault on our people and I strongly condemn these
incidents. We pray for our India, Inter faith
Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence, and mutual respect among all peoples for the progress
and development of community, society and our nation". This is the reaction of Card. Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and
president of the Council of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), commenting to AsiaNews on two separate attacks on a
church in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and a cathedral in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) two
days ago.
Earlly March 22, three people threw stones at the statue of the saint to whom
the Catholic St. George church is dedicated, in the district of New Panvel
Mumbai. CCTV cameras filmed the vandals, who, however, were wearing masks. The
church was built in 2007 and can accommodate over 800 people.
Earlier in Jabalpur a group of people broke into the courtyard of the Cathedral
of St. Peter and St. Paul, where the participants in a seminar biblical were
sleeping. Msgr. Gerald Almeida, Bishop of Jabalpur, told AsiaNews: "We organized the seminar after having requested and
obtained the necessary permits from the local administration and police. The
three-day convention began Friday, March 20: the faithful of all the districts
of dioceses came and we have hosted them in St. Thomas school".
At the end of the first day, the prelate continued, "participants who live
in the area are back to sleep in their homes, while about 200 people were in
the dorm. The police had been alerted, but had only sent a few agents who said:
'You Christians are peaceful people'. Around one o'clock in the morning, a
large number of people raided the building, attacking the faithful and stealing
their belongings. After the beating, the attackers destroyed the door of the
cathedral and some vehicles. The police arrived several hours later, only at 4
am, when it was all over. "
Msgr. Cornelius Leo,
archbishop of Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), told AsiaNews:
"Some elements are
getting bolder because no action has been taken since the BJP [Bharatiya Janata
Party, the Hindu nationalist right - ed] has come to power and this is dangerous for our
democratic values. These anti-social elements encourage each other to indulge
in anti-social activities. They have no religious meaning but use religion to
create a polarization. The government is not too serious. The BJP's activities
affect the state. The
prime minister has released statements that there will be no religious
intolerance or polarization. But these elements have sought
encouragement in the fact that the Centre is not dealing with them in a harsh
way"
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) strongly condemns the new
anti-Christian attacks that took place in India. "These episodes - President
Sajan George told AsiaNews - reveal
the fragile situation of religious freedom in our country. The right-wing
groups carry out their reign of terror against the vulnerable Christian
community."
In Madhya Pradesh, says the GCIC, leader "the Hindu Dharma Sena terrifies
minorities exploiting the
draconian anti-conversion law, which is used to move false accusations
against innocent Christians. These extremists enjoy the protection policy of
the government and endanger the lives of the Christian community".
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11/08/2020 09:29
