Widespread violence on Christians, 305 incidences in 273 days: report

New Delhi: A fact-finding report The United Christian Forum, the United Against Hate, and the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights has said that there is widespread violence happening against Christians in India, but the national media is not reporting but ignoring it. The report states that 305 attacks happened against the Christian community within 273 days in the country.

In a press meet at Press Club of India on Tuesday, United Christian Forum National Coordinator AC Michael said that out of the 273, 169 have occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. When UP recorded 66 incidents, Chhattisgarh witnessed 47, Jharkhand 30 and Madhya Pradesh 26. The report says that 69 assaults happened in September, 50 in August, 33 in July, 20 each in June and February, 27 each in April and March, and 37 in January. Out of these incidents, 1,331 women were reported injured, of which 513 belongsto the Dalit community, and 588 are of tribal communities.

AC Michael said that the helpline set up for the victims of such attacks received more than a thousand calls this year.

The report states that the police have not yet taken action in the October 3 attack on a church, by a mob of around 200, during Sunday prayers in Roorkee, Uttarakhand. The victims of the attack, Eva Lance and her sister, spoke in the press meet and described the incident. According to them, there were 12 people at the church for prayers. Vandals broke in, destroyed CCTV cameras and assaulted women. Though the police were informed, they arrived only after an hour, and by then, the mob had left. Also, the police station is less than a kilometre away.

Journalist Prashant Tandon, Unity in Compassion President Meenakshi Singh, Nadeem Khan, Dr Banojyotsna Lahiri and others attended the press conference.