New Delhi: A Peoples’ Tribunal on Violence Against Christians in India, held on Monday, June 1, saw survivors, rights activists, researchers and community representatitives share evidence of social boycotts, denial of burial and worship rights, expulsions, ostracisations and numerous other forms of discrimination and exclusion they are facing across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Odisha.
The people’s tribunal, organised by rights activist Harsh Mander’s Karwaan-e-Mohabbat and concerned citizens, saw survivors speak of chronic suppression of Christian religious practices in each of these states. These accounts are in addition to physical violence inflicted on members of the Christian faith, churches and institution as well as community leaders.
The tribunal noted “a disturbing escalation of violence and discrimination”, as the right to freely practice the Christian faith erodes across these regions.
Opening the tribunal, veteran journalist and human rights leader John Dayal situated the contemporary violence against Christians within a historical context, recalling attacks in Gujarat, the murder of Graham Staines and his two sons in Odisha and the large-scale displacement and destruction during the Kandhamal violence. He warned that constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience, religion and equal citizenship were increasingly under threat.
A.C. Michael, Christian rights activist and former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, spoke about the growing normalisation of hostility towards Christian prayer meetings and places of worship. He observed that peaceful acts of worship are increasingly portrayed as threats to public order and national interest, and expressed concern over the absence of Christian representation in statutory minority institutions.
Referring to attacks in Gujarat, Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, said anti-Christian mobilisations and violence are being justified through allegations of religious conversion. Accusations of conversion have also become a recurring pretext for violence, he said.
Burial rights denied
A recurrent theme raised by the attendees was of restrictions on burial rights. The survivor accounts and the concerns expressed by other speakers echoed a series of incidents, reported across India, in which disputes over the burial of Christians have faced pressure to renounce their faith.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.