Indian Supreme Court says it will not allow Persecution of Minorities

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ASSIST News Service (ANS) –
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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Indian Supreme Court says it will not allow Persecution of Minorities

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

BHUBANESHWAR, INDIA (ANS) – In the aftermath of a year of violence aimed at Christians in Orissa, attention is now focused on two emotionally and politically charged issues: the future of the Orissa State Government, and the challenge of dealing with Maoist violence.

Friends of Orissa, Foundation for International Research and Education, www.FriendsofOrissa.org , says that according to the Indian Express newspaper, on Monday, January 5 the Supreme Court of India made a public declaration, stating “it would not allow ‘persecution’ of minorities.”

The group says that two Justices of the Court spoke out against the abysmal efforts to protect Christians in the Kandhamal district in 2007.

“They assert that the state government stepped in too late to check the violence. The government took action only after 50,000 people were forced to flee their homes to the jungles for safety,” Friends of Orissa explained.

The Indian Express, according to Friends of Orissa, says the bench officially “asked the Orissa government to resign if it was unable to protect Christians who were targeted in recent riots that followed the assassination of a VHP leader.”

They cite the Indian Express, which quotes Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan as saying: “We are secular country. We cannot allow persecution of minorities…It is the duty of the state government to protect the minority community.”

In an e-mail update, Friends of Orissa says: “Since making their assessment public on Monday, other political and civil sectors of society are also calling on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to either withdraw his alliance with the BJP party or to resign.”

In other news, the group says the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal attended a three-hour meeting called by Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram. The agenda of the meeting was to address the issue of Maoist terrorist activity that is a growing menace in these states.

Friends of Orissa explains that after the killing of the VHP leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23 of last year, the Maoists claimed responsibility for the killing.

The group states: “At least one known Maoist has been arrested for the crime. All the representatives unanimously agreed that Maoism must be dealt with at various levels to put an end to their unlawful and violent activities.”

These two issues must raise the attention of the Christian community, the group says.

“As expressed in the words of the Apostle Paul (1 Timothy 2:1-5, NRSV), it is the primary duty of all true followers of Jesus to pray for every person and especially for Heads of State who have God given responsibility to serve and protect everyone in society.”

Friends of Orissa has issued a call to all who continue to seek peace, justice and righteousness in Orissa to increase their prayers for this state and especially for the government.

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania and the former Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia, Israel,and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael’s involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department — Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) — of A.C.T. International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International.