wfn.org | Indian churches condemn widespread violence against Christians

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Convention on poverty demands state protection for all citizens

NEW DELHI, India/GENEVA 27 March 1999 (lwi) All the 29 member
churches of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) have
strongly condemned the increasing widespread violence against
Christians and other vulnerable communities in India, and demanded
that such atrocities should be stopped forthwith.

In a press statement signed by 11 NCCI representatives, among them
Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari, who is one of the vice-presidents of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and executive secretary for the
United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI), the churches'
leadership urged the Indian government and states to ensure
protection of all citizens, as this is a fundamental right enshrined
in the Constitution.

According to the press statement issued at the end of the three-day
national convention on poverty, the church leaders demanded that
their government rebuild all churches, worship places, homes and
other community infrastructure which have been destroyed in a wave of
violence against the Christians.

Meeting from 16 to 18 March in New Delhi, the NCCI, which represents
13 Million Christians in India, also expressed shock at recent new
atrocities inflicted upon 1,200 Christian families in the Ramalai
Udayagiri village in Gajapati District, in India's eastern state of
Orissa.

The National Convention on Poverty, according to the press statement,
also demanded that the perpetrators of these barbaric acts "be
apprehended without delay and brought to justice so as to prevent
recurrence of such atrocities."

In addition, the NCCI leadership called for the resources of the
nation to be urgently put to use in order to uplift the standard of
living for the poor communities, as it is this poverty which
continues to make such people vulnerable.

During their meeting, the representatives of the Indian churches
observed that although the majority of the population appreciate the
selfless service the churches have rendered to the nation in recent
years, "a certain fundamentalist minority of the majority community
of our country have taken upon themselves to stop this liberation of
the oppressed people under the guise of cultural nationalism."

Over 80 percent of India's population of more than one billion people
are Hindus. Christians are estimated at 25 million, representing
about 2.5 percent of the population.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/