Over 1,800 complaints of violence on Christians last three months

According to the Christian Legal Association of India (CLA), over 1,800 complaints about crimes including arson, assault, and murder on Christians were collected in the last three months. The number also includes those that occurred during the August Orissa violence.

CLA, which is a national network of Christians in the legal professionals, with the help of major advocacy groups, including the All India Christian Council (aicc) and the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), has accrued these cases, even as 800 First Information Reports (FIRs) have been filed with the police.

Several hundreds have been arrested in north Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa, where pastors and Church people have been falsely accused of "forced conversions", they claimed adding, most Christians are released on bail.

Since Aug. 23, 2008, the aicc recorded: 315 villages damaged, 4,640 Christian houses burnt, 54,000 Christians homeless, at least 6 pastors and one Roman Catholic priest killed, 10 priests/pastors/nuns seriously injured, estimated 18,000 Christians injured, at least two women (including a nun) raped, 149 churches destroyed, 13 Christian schools and colleges damaged. Attacks mostly stopped in mid-October, but sporadic violence continues.

Most of these atrocities are committed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its umbrella organizations including the VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal, who have been vying for success in the coming elections. Much of the attacks on Christians are attributed to the political and personal gains of the bigwigs in the Hindu country.

Last month, the police arrested two pastors in Karnataka and Mumbai, after Hindu mobs accused them of luring people to Christianity.

Church leaders meanwhile have refuted these conversion claims stating, "Not a single case of forceful conversion has been proved in the Court of India till today."