Vandals attack Christian memorial in Gujarat

(Oct. 12, 2011) A statue of Christ and a cross were vandalized on Tuesday at a Christian memorial site in western India’s Gujarat State. Unidentified vandals entered the Isu Smaraka memorial in Bhumel village and threw the statue into the hall. A cross was also removed from the building and thrown into the street, said Rohit Macwan, from Vadtal parish in Ahmedabad diocese, who filed a police complaint. Macwan said a Hindu Patel family living near the site, woke up during the night and heard the smashing of the cross in the street. They subsequently alerted their Christian neighbours. And Vijay Macwan, a Catholic activist, said witnesses saw a group of people fleeing the scene but could not identify any individuals. Bhumel village has about 300 Christian residents. Fr. Mayank Parmar, head of the Catholic social organization Drishti, appealed to all residents of the village to maintain peace and not be provoked by the incident. Police sub-inspector SV Vaghela said he had received a complaint over the vandalism and was investigating the matter, though no suspects have yet been identified