Christians under attack: Bigotry and secularism are two sides of the same coin

Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Dr S Jaishankar, Jyotiraditya Scindia are all Union ministers who've studied in Christian institutions. Yet, not one of them has felt disturbed enough to express concern over the ongoing attacks on Christians in states ruled by their party.

When Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt alive by Bajrang Dal leader Dara Singh in Odisha on January 23, 1999, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee not only condemned the "ghastly attack" but also fasted on Martyrs' Day to call for communal harmony. "Our heads have bowed in shame," wrote party stalwart Madan Lal Khurana to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Kushabhau Thakre, condemning the "pseudo-Hindutva" prevailing in the BJP. For that, the ex-chief minister of Delhi had to resign.

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In 2008, as Christian Dalits in Odisha's Kandhamal were hunted down by Bajrang Dal-led mobs after VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati was killed by Maoists, BJP president LK Advani, the original Hindutva hardliner, assured religious heads of different faiths that he was secular, for he had studied in a missionary school.

Today, as Sangh Parivar members regularly attack defenceless pastors in his state, Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya, another missionary school product, demands that Christians be "brought back" into the Hindu fold. That's implicit support to the attackers, for conversions of Hindus to Christianity is their justification for violence.

The bogey of conversions has fuelled violence against Christians through the past two decades, even as the percentage of Christians in the country has been declining. The myth that all conversions are either forced or fraudulent was well and truly busted after the Kandhamal attacks. The Bajrang Dal, taking over the role of the administration, allowed the thousands of displaced Christians to return home only if they agreed to convert to Hinduism, in a clear case of forced conversion. Most refused, preferring to run from one refugee camp to another for years rather than give up their faith. Among those who did convert, many women later confessed that during the conversion ceremony, they were silently taking the name of Christ.

Yet, not only does the myth persist, it has now taken such hold that even gatherings of Christians praying or celebrating Xmas indoors have been attacked at conversion meets. This is reminiscent of the phobia against Friday namaz. Why does the sight of minorities praying en masse frighten Hindutvawadis?

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In the same way, the universal popularity of Xmas threatens them. This time, the attack on Christians is not only physical but also ideological. WhatsApp groups run by BJP supporters have been rife with messages asking for a boycott of Xmas, arguing that celebrating it takes Hindus away from their culture. Parents and teachers have been urged to desist from dressing up children in Santa costumes; "take them to sants, not Santa," goes one plea. One bizarre post trivialises Christ's suffering on the cross by comparing it with Kaurava patriarch Bhishma Pitamah lying on a bed of arrows during the Mahabharat war.

What is the counter to these attacks? A recent viral video showed Christian women in Karnataka telling off the goons who'd disrupted their prayer. This kind of courage and defiance against bullies could be the only rejoinder, for the police have been either complicit or apathetic, and BJP ministers have either denied the attacks or defended them.

Shocking as this is, let's not forget that the situation was the same during the Kandhamal violence. A nun, raped and paraded half-naked, ran to the cops for help; they did nothing. Naveen Patnaik was the CM then, ruling in alliance with the BJP. He blamed the party for the violence a full six months later, only after the alliance broke.

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The silence came all the way from the top. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Kandhamal "a national shame" only after Christian leaders met him; it took a rebuke by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to push the then PM to pull up the Odisha government. By then, the violence had gone on for over a month. In the struggle for justice that followed, the only parties that helped human rights and Christian groups were the Left parties.

Yet today, the same Naveen Patnaik allows the CM's Fund to be used to help the Missionaries of Charity under siege by the Centre. In Mumbai, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar puts up `Merry Xmas' banners across the Christian localities of his constituency.

Bigotry and secularism have always been subject to politics in India. But for Christians under attack by Hindutvawadis and the State, that knowledge is cold comfort. What they need is protection, both physical and legal. Neither is in sight.

(The writer is a journalist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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