Chennai, a church demolished to widen a road. Brawl between policemen and faithful (Photos)

by Nirmala Carvalho

Emmanuel Church is part of the Protestant group of the Church of South India. The local administration imposed the destruction before the definitive sentence of the High Court. In the area there are several Hindu temples in the middle of the street, but the traffic is diverted on purpose.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) "strongly condemns the demolition of the wing of a church in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, to widen the road surface". This was stated to AsiaNews by his president Sajan K George, who denounces yet another episode of discrimination against the Christian minority in India.

The incident occurred on August 2 in the Thangam colony in the Anna Nagar district. The buildings involved in the demolition are part of the Emmanuel Church of the CIS [Church of South India, the largest Protestant community in the country - ed] and some adjacent houses.

The demolition was carried out by the Department of Public Works of Tamil Nadu, who arrived on board the bulldozers and accompanied by policemen. During the demolition work, a fight broke out between the city administration officials - on the one hand - and the residents and Christian faithful - on the other. The Rev. Sam Raj Kumar, pastor of the church, complains that "the church has been here for 50 years. The High Court of Madras [ancient name of Chennai, ed] still has to announce the verdict on the demolition, and instead the demolition has been carried out all the same ".

Sajan K George points out that "in the area there are several temples [Hindu] built in the middle of the road and the traffic is diverted on purpose. The sentiment [religious of the Hindus] is respected by the government. Why does not it happen when it comes to Christians? ".