The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) told BosNewsLife that the Hindu militants were part of an angry mob of some 100 people who last week attacked the nuns near their St. Mary convent in Alibag, just outside Mumbai.
One of the two victims, identified as Sister Mercy Tuscano, returned two the convent after spending five days at Alibag Civil Hospital, but she struggles to overcome the trauma of the sexual abuse, the well-informed GCIC said. "I told them, ‘kill me, don’t leave me half-dead, if you must, then kill me’," she recalled in remarks published by GCIC. "They pushed me against the wire, and hit me, then threw me to the ground," she reportedly said. The other victim was identified as and Sister Philomena D’Mello.
It came on the heels of a report detailing 142 religiously-motivated attacks on Christian targets in 2007, although it acknowledged the real total may be "much higher." The report, issued by Britain-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), specifically cited deadly clashes in India’s Orissa State over the Christmas period of 2007, described by rights watchers as the "largest attack on the Christian community in the history of democratic India."
THOUSANDS DISPLACED
Thousands of people were displaced during the outbreak of anti-Christian violence in Orissa’s Kandhamal District area, which killed at least six Christians and burned over 700 houses and some 100 churches, according to church sources. Other reports spoke of up to nine people killed.
This week Christians, including some 150 survivors of the violence, staged a rally in New Delhi, demanding that the central government pressures state authorities to end persecution by detaining suspects, help rebuilding churches and houses, and providing humanitarian aid to Christian refugees. CSW also expressed concerns about it said what "the highest rate of separate [anti-Christian] incidents" in 2007 in Karnataka State.
CSW said anti-Christian violence was part of an "anti-conversion culture", rooted in the extremist Hindu nationalist ideology of ‘Hindutva’," which aims to establish a Hindu-only nation, purportedly stretching across the entire Indian subcontinent. This culture is also reflected in ‘anti-conversion laws.’ Rajasthan became the 6th state this week to pass the anti-conversion legislation, after Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
FORCED CONVERSION
Under the bill, conversion by force or allurement can lead to five years in jail, but those returning to their original religion will have total freedom. In contrast those converting need to give a month’s notice to district collectors. Christian rights activists say the legislation is aimed at evangelizing Christians, amid concern among Hindu groups about the spread of Christianity in this overwhelmingly Hindu nation.
The developments have added to pressure on especially Dalits, seen as the ‘lowest caste’ in India’s ancient system of Hinduism, church groups say. Dalits who become Christians also lose their eligibility for an affirmative action-style system of ‘reservations’ designed to address the
social exclusion of Dalits, prompting an ongoing law suit by rights groups.
CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said India’s government should soon address the perceived injustices. “India has one of the worst rates of anti-Christian violence anywhere in the world." The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, warned of more violence. "It is a challenge both for the government and for non-state actors to diffuse tensions and address the root causes ahead of time," she said. (With reporting from India and the region).
