AICC appeals to Indian PM to ensure peace and security for Christian community

New Delhi – In the wake of the rise of anti–Christian violence in India, the All India Christian Council (AICC) has voiced its concerns and has urged Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, to ensure the peace and security for Christian community at large.
 
According to John Dayal, Secretary General, AICC, the Christian community has often been the victim of social, political and economic injustice and deprivation in the nation. “The Church is itself involved deeply in this process. The government from its side is apparently is doing much in these matters, but in implementation and by default, Dalit and poor Christians are always left out as much as Church workers fail to get the protection of the law,” he said.
 
In his Christmas greetings to the Prime Minister, Dayal urged that “urgent steps” be taken to make New Year 2006 happier for the Christian community and everyone else in the country.
 
 “Through you, we wish our fellow Indians a prosperous New Year 2006 with prayers that it brings peace, security and happiness to our land,” he said.

Dayal expressed his concerns about the numerous “incidents of violence against Christians in the country in 2005” specially in Rajasthan and in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. “Our appeals to State governments have been in vain. In many cases, local political leaders and officials are part of the conspiracy of violence,” he said, adding that “the National Commission for Minorities remains a silent spectator and its Chairperson has given us cause to suspect his own attitude towards Christians, a minority that his Commission is sworn to protect.”
 
Dayal, who is also a member of the National Integration Council, also drew the attention of Dr. Singh to the plight of the millions of Dalit Christians who are struggling for equal rights and justice. “We had great hopes that the return of the Congress at the head of the UPA Government would restore human dignity, civil rights and protection of law to Christian converts from the Scheduled castes. An earlier Congress government had in 1996 brought to Parliament a Bill to restore to the Dalit Christians all rights enjoyed by Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh Dalits. Our hopes have been belied.  While we thank you for giving the Justice Mishra Commission the addition task of discussing this issue, it falls far short of the demand of justice,” he said.
 
According to Dayal, the government has neglected for long its policy towards the laws of adoption that do not empower the Christians with the right of adoption. “We continue to be discriminated by the law in the case of adoptions. The tsunami and other natural disasters, the death of young parents in terrorist attacks such as the explosions in New Delhi, have left many orphans who need to be adopted into loving families. The government must expedite the law. The church has been campaigning for it for more than a decade,” he exclaimed.