Dayal, also member of National Integration Council (NIC), has informed the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and other cabinet ministers about the numerous attacks launched against Christians in several parts of the nation in the recent past.
The NIC has been set up by the government to promote religious tolerance and harmony and preserve the secular identity of India.
According to Dayal, incidents of religious violence were rising in states ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies. The incidents, he said, “may well cross 200 registered cases.”
The lives of Christian missionaries in states like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Gujarat are especially in peril, he warned. Out of these five states, anti-conversion law is already in force in the first three and the government of the other two states are presently contemplating of enacting and enforcing the law in their states.
“There are very disturbing trends in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat where the state machinery are covertly encouraging the Hindu extremists to spread a reign of communal terror,” Dayal said, noting that Rajasthan is “especially vulnerable to religious violence.”
“The [Hindu group] Sangh Parivar had earlier threatened to make Banswara district in Udaipur division free of all Christians,” he said. “This threat has been followed up by large-scale coercion and violence in the Tribal Udaipur division, which adjoins Madhya Pradesh state.”
According to Dayal, the steep rise in anti-Christian violence could be “a part of a well planned conspiracy to divert the community's energies” away from their advocacy campaign whose objective is to seek “equal rights and justice” for Dalit Christians as presently is being enjoyed by Dalits professing Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism.
Caste, a social stratification rooted deep in Hinduism, organizes people by a combination of descent and employment. The lowest group in the caste system is the Dalits. While atrocities against the Dalits have been practiced for thousands of years, caste-based atrocities are reaching new heights and are causing tension across many areas.
A 1950 Presidential Order excluded Dalit convert to Christianity from the quota system that reserved jobs to members of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in the public service. The same exclusion applies to those who convert to Islam but not to those who become Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh.
However, in a significant step, the Supreme Court in February this year decided to consider afresh the crucial constitutional issue of affirmative action in the public sector for Dalit converts to Christianity, refuting the government plea that it be treated as a legislative problem.
The matter, originally fixed for hearing on August 25 has now been adjourned for end-November.
The Church and pro-Dalit advocacy groups including the National Forum of Dalit Christian Rights, the Christian Dalits of Tamil Nadu, the All India Catholic Union, the All India Christian Council and the Voice of Dalit International are petitioning on behalf of the downtrodden community.
“I have urged the Prime Minister to call upon [local] state governments to establish law and order and ensure the safety of the minorities, protection of churches and arrest of the culprits,” Dayal said. “I have also spoken about the economic empowerment of the Christian community with special emphasis on Christian youth jobs, entrepreneurship and self employment.”
“Our studies have shown an absence of entrepreneurship and self-employment, largely because of an absence of government support and funding, despite the [creation of the government backed] National Minorities Development Fund,” he pointed out.
The Christian’s right to adoption and empowerment of tribal Christian women are other issues that he has deliberated with Dr. Singh, he added.
In India, Christians comprise about 2.5 percent of India’s population that is more than 1 billion.
Surojit Chatterjee
Christian Today Correspondent