US Christian leaders sign letter to Bush calling for action

An open letter addressed to President George W Bush and signed by prominent Christian leaders in America has called for action against the anti-Christian violence in India.

Over 24 Christian leaders, including those from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Coptic Church, and the Armenian Orthodox Church, as well as mainline Protestant, evangelical, Pentecostal charismatic, and traditional African-American bodies signed the letter requesting President Bush to urge Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure freedom of religion guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.

The signatories also included Open Doors and Voice of the Martyrs, who expressed solidarity with the minority Christians attacked for their faith and wrongly accused in the assassination of a Hindu swami in Kandhamal on August 23, 2008.

Jim Jacobson, President of the Christian Freedom International, last month called for an immediate action by the House of Representatives to pass Concurrent 'Resolution HR–434' that condemns the Orissa violence and urges the Government of India to address its root causes.

"The violence has caused thousands of Christians to flee for their lives into the nearby forests or refugee camps and to make matters worse, the local government has done nothing to intervene in the crisis," he alleged.

The resolution is gaining more support each day, and "we call on Chairman Howard Berman of the House of Foreign Relations Committee to bring the Resolution to the floor of the House as soon as possible", Jacobson said.

He demanded an action or halt on the nuclear agreement between the US and India calling on the chairman Berman and Secretary Condoleezza Rice to act quickly into the matter.