Court denies bail to Emmanuel staff, delays hearing of Dr. Thomas case

Rajasthan – On April 10, the case of releasing Hopegivers International's staff and president went before the courts.

Bill Bray of Hopegivers International said, it wasn't good news for the Emmanuel Hope Center Orphanage. "The judge denied bail to all staff that they've been holding now for over a month."

The elder Thomas went into hiding, while lawyers for the Emmanuel Mission International have been questioning the legitimacy of the vague "communal disharmony" charges.

Bray explains, "The real thing is that they're just holding them hostage in order to bail not only to Dr. Samuel Thomas, our president, but also arrest Bishop MA Thomas, who they still don't have."

The next hearing is slated for April 24. While waiting, he says the staff has been overwhelmed by the solidarity, the situation has brought ot the Christian community.

The city of Kota, in Rajasthan, is the main site of Hopegivers' Emmanuel ministries, and one with a valued reputation of Christian charity and outreach.

Since the arrests, all of Hopegivers’ Kota bank accounts have been frozen and two of the business administrators of the mission and orphanage were arrested and have now been held for over three weeks without charge. As a result, the staff has been largely unpaid for the last few weeks.

"Thousands of Christians, and Hindus and friends are praying and sending money, and are crossing the police lines and crossing the picket lines around our institutions," Bray notes, "to bring food to the children. Not one of our schools is closed, not one of our orphanages has closed."

On February 28, the police revoked, without due process or hearing, all the operating licenses of Hopegivers–supported bookstores, churches, hospitals, leprosy and HIV–AIDS outreaches, orphanages, printing presses, schools and other institutions. Rajasthan’s government has also been threatening to cut off electricity and water to the Hopegivers’ orphanage and hospital in Kota.

The Rajasthan High Court had earlier denied bail to EMI administrator V.S. Thomas and EMI Bible College student Vikram Kindo on March 20. They were also arrested in connection with the controversial book, Haqeekat. The court, however, granted bail to R.S. Nair, EMI's chief operating officer, a Hindu.

Dr. Samuel Thomas and his 71–year old father had been in hiding to avoid assassinations and arrest. Both men are wanted by militants and government officials. Father and son have denied the accusations saying HI had not published that book. Hindu extremists on March 3 had offered a reward of $26,000 each for the heads of Thomas and his father, Archbishop M.A. Thomas, founder of EMI.

The book, written by M.G. Mathews and reportedly an analytical study on the "Bunch of Thoughts" written by RSS idealogue M.S. Golwalkar, was sold in Rajasthan but was stopped following widespread protests.

Hopegivers operates orphanages, children's homes, leper colonies, a hospital, nursing homes, Bible institutes and the first Christian university in New Delhi, among other ministries.