Christians denounce attacks by Hindus in India

(October 15, 2008) Indian church leaders said Tuesday that Christians killed in recent clashes were «sacrificial lambs» targeted by hard-line Hindus seeking an advantage in upcoming national elections. The All India Christian Council said the toll after nearly two months of sporadic violence has reached 59 dead and 50,000 displaced. Officials in the eastern state of Orissa, site of the worst violence, say 34 people have been killed. «A frenzied and well-armed band of political criminals has threatened our community as perhaps it has never been in its 2,000 year-old history in India,» said John Dayal, secretary-general of the All India Christian Council. There is a long history of tension between the religious groups in Orissa because Hindu leaders accuse Christian missionaries of forcing low-caste Hindus to convert, charges denied by Christian leaders. «The sole motive is to gain political advantage in coming national elections,» said Dayal. «We have been made sacrificial lambs.» The Christian leaders blamed the violence on radical Hindu groups, including the Bajrang Dal and the World Hindu Council, organizations loosely affiliated with the hard-line Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP rules Orissa and Karnataka, the two states that have seen anti-Christian violence, and is looking to challenge the ruling Congress Party for power in New Delhi. The Christian leaders called Tuesday for a federal probe into the violence. There should be more dialogue and an encompassing one on all issues so vital to the unity and integrity of India. Religious leaders should dialogue with other religious leaders in bilateral and multilateral forums they said.