Members of the Christian community including the Ao Nagas in Delhi held a ‘Peaceful Protest’ at Jantar Mantar on Sunday against the escalation of hate and violence against Christians in several states in the country. About 79 churches and organizations and more than 10,000 people participated in the protest.
Meren Imchen, Associate Pastor, Delhi Ao Baptist Church (DABC) told this newspaper that the protest was held “in order to take a stand against the ongoing acts of premeditated persecution and violence against Christians across India.”
The protest was organized by the Christians (Catholics and Protestants) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), Imchen said.
“In an unprecedented act of solidarity and support, many churches even cancelled their Sunday services and joined the peaceful protest since it was conducted like a mega devotional mass/service in itself,” Imchen said.
“Many North East and Naga Churches in and around Delhi also participated actively by making monetary contributions as well as providing choirs, volunteers, and participants for the event,” he said.
The community will also be sending a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, asking for a National Redressal Commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to address the issues of “targeted” violence against the community.
The memorandum, which was signed by the community members on Sunday, said that “continued waves of vile hate speech and targeted violence have buffeted the Christian community in recent years and in particular in 2022-23. The violence seems to have reached a crescendo in January and February 2023.”
It said that of particular concern were the States of Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
In a press release, the community had said that “The United Christian Forum, a human rights group based in New Delhi that monitors atrocities against Christians in India, has recorded a total of 598 incidents of violence against Christians from 21 States till the end of December 2022.”
It added: “The memorandum will remind national and state leaders that impunity has crossed all limits… armed mobs besiege Christian homes in Chhattisgarh villages on trumped-up charges of mass conversions. The villagers have to flee for their lives and many, even now, have not been able to go back home.”
The memorandum also sought the strengthening of human rights monitoring mechanisms, including the National Commission for Minorities and National Human Rights Commission, speedy closure of cases where false allegations had been leveled against Christians.
“According to Delhi Police sources, more than 10,000 people participated in the ‘protest.’ The event was conducted peacefully and successfully without any untoward incident,” Imchen said.
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