Christian leaders in an Indian state notorious for its Hindu
militancy are alarmed about what they see as attempts by state authorities to
delve into their private lives - and fear the result may be more
religion-inspired violence against the minority.
Christian leaders in Gujarat state allege that police have visited the homes of
dozens of Christians in recent days, asking the occupants to complete surveys
asking personal questions about their assets and religious practice - including
questions about their conversions to Christianity.
Some were asked whether they came from Christian forebears or had converted to
Christianity - and if so, whether they converted voluntarily or under pressure.
Bishop Gregory of Rajkot, one of those questioned, said he was also asked about
the number of Christians and Christian institutions in the area.
Other information sought by police included details of family sizes, job
profiles and the sources of any foreign funds.
Perhaps of most concern to many is the questioning about conversion.
Recently, the Hindu nationalist BJP party - which also heads the ruling
national government coalition - took power in Gujarat after a campaign marked
by complaints of religious intolerance.
The state government plans to introduce a bill in the state legislature aimed
at stopping "forced conversion."
A BJP-affiliated extremist Hindu organization called the National Volunteer
Corps (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS) has long been opposed to Christian
missionaries and accuses them of luring Hindus to Christianity with inducements
including money, education and health care.
Christians make up just 2.5 percent of India's more than one billion, mostly
Hindu, population.
Hindu militants claim that more than 200,000 Indian Christians are converts
from Hinduism who were "forced" to change their religious, although
though there are no independent figures to substantiate the claim.
In recent years, Gujarat and other states have seen about 200 attacks on
Christians and their institutions, most attributed to the RSS and other similar
groups.
"This survey may be a build-up to the anti-conversion bill the government
wants to introduce in the state assembly during this session," said Bishop
Gregory.
A group called the All-India Christian Council is spearheading opposition to
the gathering of statistics on Christians and called for an apology from the
national and state BJP governments.
The council's secretary-general, Dr. John Dayal, said surveys of this type were
dangerous because they equipped "goons" of the RSS and similar
organizations with "ready-made hit lists."
He said militants "fired by their motto of cleansing India of all foreign
religions, madrassas [Islamic schools] and missionaries" had used such
lists in the past to target Muslims in the state.
Gujarat was wracked last year by severe Hindu-Muslim violence that cost some
900 lives. The killings erupted after a Muslim mob torched a railway carriage,
burning to death 59 Hindu pilgrims, but in the end, most of the victims were
Muslims.
Dayal also suggested that the "surveys" were illegal and said the
council had filed a civil case in the state's high court.
He cited a court order in 1998 preventing Gujarat authorities from surveying
Christians in a similar manner.
Gujarat's home affairs minister, Amit Shah, denied that any survey was being
conducted, but he conceded that some Christian organizations were being
questioned as part of efforts to collect information on voluntary organizations
receiving funds from abroad.
Christians in Gujarat don't buy that, however, noting that only Christians are
being questioned.
Late last year, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom - an
independent expert body that gives recommendations to the U.S. government -
urged the State Department to add India (and five other countries) to its list
of "countries of particular concern" because of religious freedom
problems.
In a summary of the situation in India during 2002, the commission cited the
Hindu-Muslim violence in Gujarat and said that "Christians, too, were
victims in Gujarat when many churches were destroyed."
It said the Gujarat government had "failed to hold key violators
accountable for [any of] these abuses."
However, the State Department's latest list, issued early this month, did not
include India or the other five countries recommended by the commission - Saudi
Arabia, Vietnam, Laos, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Countries that are on the list are Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and
Sudan.