NCM team to investigate anti–Christian violence in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh

New Delhi – A two–member team of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will leave for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattsigarh today, June 13, to investigate into reports of atrocities against the Christian community in the two states.

Members of the Commission, Harcharan Josh and Lama Cosphel Zotpa, will first visit Bhopal and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and then Raipur in Chattisgarh, before returning to New delhi on June 18.

According to Josh, the Commission had already written to the state Government in this connection on April 13 and May 29 but so far they had not received any response.

"For quite sometime, we have been receiving complaints about harassment of Christians like preventing them from offering prayers by force and police implicating them in false cases following which we decided to act," he said, adding that the representations to the Commission had come from and several NGOs working in the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and from Parliamentarian, Mabel Rebello.

In most cases, according to the complainants, the atrocities were committed on Christians in the presence of the police and civil administration, who remained mute spectators, Josh said.

In Bhopal, the NCM team will meet the victims in the presence of district magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police of Betul, Itarci, Seoni, Dhar, Jhabua, Hoshangabad – the places from where the complaints of harassment of and atrociticies on Christians have emerged.