persecution
Indian Christians Demand Protection
By Gary Lane
CBN News
CWNews.com–--Minority voters returned India's Congress party to national power in 2004. Now, three years later, the country's Christian minority said it is time their government protect them from a surge of attacks by Hindu extremists.
More than 4,000 Christians from across India gathered in Delhi and marched to the steps of the parliament to demand an end to violence against Christians.
They carried signs saying "let Christians live and serve the marginalized and oppressed" and "Christians are as Indian as anyone else born in India."
"We have all come here to protest against what is going on and we are saying the central government's silence is totally unacceptable to the Christian community across the country," Joseph D'souza, president of the All India Christian Council, said.
The Christian protest and rally came in the wake of a recent brutal televised attack against Rajistan pastor, Walter Massih.
Young militants members of a radical, Hindu nationalist group known as the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) are believed to be responsible for the assault against the pastor April 29, as he cried out to the Lord.
Indian Christians say radicals use anti-conversion laws to justify their attacks against Christians. The laws are now in place in seven Indian states and make it a crime to coerce or allure anyone from their religious faith.
But Christian leaders don't believe evangelists and missionaries are breaking the rules.
"For 30 years anti-conversion laws have been going on in the country with not one single case of conviction, " D'souza said. "So what fraudulent conversions are going on? What are we doing wrong? These (are) the (questions) we are asking."
Despite the protest, Indian Christians are still expected to continue to face about one attack against them per day.
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