2010-04-20 15:31:57

Bhopal’s Archbishops says State fails to protect Christians


(April 20, 2010) Archbishop Leo Cornelius of Bhopal in central India’s Madhya Pradesh said that the State has failed to protect Christians. He made the remark after a 25-year-old Christian, Amit Gilbert, drowned in a well, trying to flee from the fury of a group of Hindu radicals, who had attacked a prayer meeting in Madhya Pradesh, seriously wounding three participants. The attack occurred last Saturday in the village of Saliya, near Betul. Archbishop Cornelius told AsiaNews that the Home Ministry and the Law Ministry have failed in their duty to protect the minority community. It is the duty of the State to uphold the law and give people confidence, he said. For the prelate, the climate of terror and the attacks against the Christian minority are growing by the day. He said these attacks are well planned and systematically carried out. He also said that some extremists have started to use a new method. Some file complaints against local Christian leaders whilst others disrupt Christian assemblies. But when Christian leaders go to the police to file their own complaints, they find themselves detained on charges of conversion activities”.
As a way to protest against the situation, the archdiocese organised a large demonstration. “Some 2,500 people took part in the event, including eminent Muslim leaders and Communist Party officials.
Christians are less than 1 percent of the state’s 55 million people, with Hindus forming 91 percent. Buddhists, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs and Zoroastrians together form the rest of the population.








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