Graham Staines verdict: Executor punished, planners at large?

Following protests from Christian leaders, human rights activists and secularists against certain unwarranted observations on Christian religious activities by two Supreme court judges in their judgement in the Graham Stains murder case, the controversial references have been deleted.

The earlier references to conversion activities, besides being false, would only encourage communal elements and went against the spirit of religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, the Christian protestors had pointed out.

The Supreme Court has, in its judgement delivered on June 21, upheld the life sentence of Dara Singh, a religious fanatic, in the killing of the Australian missionary and his sons in 1999. On June 25, the court deleted the disputed statement in deference to the views expressed by Christian leaders.

The verdict, handed down 12 years after they were burnt by a fanatical mob in Orissa's Keonjhar district, contained observations that were bound to prove encouraging to the anti-Christian forces which have always sought to deny to them the right to religious liberty and harass them in all possible ways.

The judgement by Justices P. Sathasivam and B. S. Chauhan had however retained a statement: "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by any means."

There certainly is not. And Christians have no interest interfering with others' beliefs, but they have every right to preach and practice their faith. It is this right that is being thwarted continuously by criminal elements like Dara Singh and fanatical organizations like the Bajrang Dal with which he had alleged links. Other organizations like the RSS are also in the forefront organizing violence against the minorities as proved by the recent confessions of Swami Aseemananda .

Several states such as Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh had passed 'Freedom of Religion' Bills on the premise that Christian workers are engaged in illegal conversion activities. But what is astonishing is that in all these states no single instance of forcible conversion has been proved so far though the legislation made it easy for the enemies of the faith to file false charges. The truth is that the legislation has been enacted more out of prejudices against the minorities than on any ground reality.

In fact it is some fanatical organizations which had compelled tribal Christians to rejoin Hindu religion in Orissa and Gujarat under what is euphemistically called a 'Ghar Vaapasi' programme.

Christian groups, human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and public spirited leaders naturally alarmed at the earlier unjust remarks relating to conversion activities, demanded expunction of the baseless imputations. The remarks had implied that Dara Singh killed the missionary to 'teach a lesson' for indulging in conversion through 'use of force' or 'upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other.'

This is the line usually taken by organizations like the Bajrang Dal. And it is not the activities of the Christians that disturb any orderly society but the intolerance of those who seek to deny the religious freedom which they themselves enjoy.

Such organizations as well as the judiciary need to recognize that the right to practice and propagate one's religion is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.

Of late there has been an increase in the number of attacks against pastors, Christians and prayer meetings creating a fear psychosis among them. The attackers invariably level the false charge of Christians indulging in conversion through force and fraudulent means.

And there are always willing accomplices among the communal minded officials in power.

What encourages them particularly is the existence of 'Freedom of Religion Acts' in the concerned states. That is a piece of legislation intended to do exactly the oppositeâ€" to sabotage freedom: to deny Christians the right to preach or worship…Despite these calculated attempts to disturb communal harmony in several BJP-ruled states very little action is taken to bring the culprits to book.

Where was the need for this balancing act by the judges in a case of brutal murders which instantly led to universal condemnation with the former president of India K R Narayanan describing it as 'one belonging to the inventory of the black deeds of history?'

Christian preachers only preach and promote the values of the Christian faith ; they have in no way interfered with the belief of others. If some are influenced by their lives, preaching, sermons or world views, they are not to be blamed or treated as 'anti-national' After all, the great services rendered by the small Christian community to our country is the direct result of Christian love and compassion, forgiveness and character built into the hearts of individuals…They go around sowing seeds of justice, righteousness and integrity in the community. As a result the poor are uplifted, waywards, murderers, drunkards and immoral people turn a new leaf and become good citizens imbued with right values. This is no small achievement.

All Christians would welcome the judgement in that it rejected the call for death sentence for the murderer. It is better for Dara Singh to realize the gravity of the evil deed and come to repentance than life coming to an end with a death sentence..The God in whom the Christians trust offers even the worst sinner, a second chance.

It may be recalled here that Gladys Stains, wife of Graham Stains and mother of Philip (10) and Timothy (6)-- who were also burnt alive inside the vehicle-- had readily forgiven the killer. Such grant of forgiveness had drawn world wide attention as one of the best instances of meeting hatred with love. To cast aspersions upon such a family that had served the poor and especially lepers for more than 30 years and reduce the severity of the crime by alleging 'conversion' motives seem blatantly unfair.'

On September 22, 2003 a designated court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at Bhubaneswar had sentenced Dara Singh to death and 12 others to life imprisonment for the murders on the night of January 22, 1999. District and Sessions Judge Mahendra Nath Patnaik, who awarded the sentence, had on September 15 held all but one of the 14 accused guilty of offences including criminal conspiracy, murder, unlawful assembly, rioting, arson, causing damage to property and mischief by setting fire. In May 2005, the Orissa high court set aside the death sentence to Dara Singh. However it retained life imprisonment awarded to Mahendra Hembrom and another while acquitting all others.

Some observers point out the punishment meted out to Dara Singh - without the CBI probing his possible links with the Bajrang Dal and other organisations - involves the danger of burying forever the truth regarding the role of communal organisations in the gruesome killings.

Fascist and extremist forces like the Bajrang Dal had been indulging in false propaganda and intimidation and violence. They ought to be checked if the secular nature of the social fabric is to be preserved. They have been spewing venom and spreading hatred between communities threatening communal harmony. The fanatical fringe often holds the majority to ransom as in the case of Islamic terrorists.

The Christian community doesn't believe in meeting evil with evil. But in the interest of the nation, lawless elements which even seek to jeopardize parliament functioning using fascist methods should be checked in the interest of democracy.

Christians have a stake in preserving secularism and democracy. Lawyers and other leaders need to come together and draw out strategies to remove black laws like the Freedom of Religion Act so that democratic rights of individuals or groups are not taken away under false pretexts.