Angst of a community

Every day brings news of attacks on Christians from one or other part of the country. Most of these are triggered by false allegations of ‘conversion by force or fraud’, a word now widely used to demonise Christians. But how false this is can be judged from the fact that not only is the number of Christians in percentage terms been going down, not a single case of conversion by force or fraud, even in BJP states like MP and Gujarat, has ever been proved.

Many attacks never get reported, and the police refuse to register many more. And the governments, at the Centre and in the states, are apathetic to this worsening situation of a tiny community. Worse, the community is still reeling from the shock of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s Congress government in Himachal Pradesh introducing the so-called ‘Freedom of Religion Bill’, which was passed in a matter of days. This is just to score points over the BJP! The Congress Party, the last hope of those who want the Constitution’s secular tenets protected, has thrown its secular pretensions to the winds and the party’s leadership has paid little heed to the community’s distress over this. Even a letter written by Archbishop Vincent M. Concessao, in his capacity as the president of National United Christian Forum, to the UPA chairperson made no difference.

How deeply the rhetoric on conversion has seeped into the Grand Old Party is seen again in the home ministry’s new Foreign Contribution Regulatory Bill. For instance, it disqualifies organisations that “indulged in activities aimed at conversion through inducement or force”, but does not define the word ‘inducement’ anywhere. Christians fear that term could be used selectively.

The other struggle is the one started in 1950 after dalits who have converted to Christianity and Islam were denied the privileges given to dalits of other religions. The latest NSSO report reveals the backwardness of dalit Christians. The survey also paradoxically points out that Christians have the lowest illiteracy rate both in rural and urban areas. Could this indicate that the ideology of Hindutva, be it in BJP- or Congress-ruled states, still infuses governance? And is there a need for another Sachar Committee to look into the concerns of Christians?