Ongoing Persecution and Martyrdom of Christians in India
Martyrs' Day is an annual day observed by nations to salute the martyrdom of soldiers and other patriots who have lost their lives defending the sovereignty of the nation. The actual date may vary from one country to another. In India, there are several days declared as Martyrs' Days. The 30th of January every year is observed as the Martyrs' Day at the national level since it marks the assassination of Gandhiji in 1948. In the world as well as in our own country, we have had a number of such martyrdoms, both well known as well as less known. Numerous are the lists of such martyrs who are laying down their lives for the cause of Christ's liberating message in our country today. Martyrdom can perhaps go beyond its limited meaning of just dying for one's country also to embrace all selfless acts of sacrificing one's life holding on to the convictions of one's religious beliefs and fighting for the cause human rights, as Christians are being murdered by the Hindu fundamentalists for fighting for their rights though guaranteed in the Constitution of India.
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), also held the Observance of the Martyrs' Day, on the 24th of January 2013, at the India Campus Crusade Auditorium in Bangalore and paid homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Over 600 pastors from different parts of India participated in the program and paid their tributes to Gandhiji as well as to other martyrs who had laid down their lives for such noble causes. All those who spoke on the occasion touched upon the sacrifices made by Gandhiji and many such great people in India. They also resolved at the end, to carry on with their mission of spreading the liberating message of Christ, to all citizens of India, whatever the sacrifices they may have to make in trying to implement their resolve in the days ahead.
The story of Graham Staines is still very much fresh in the minds of people in this country and perhaps it would remain so for a long time to come. He was an Australian missionary working in the Eastern districts of Orissa for 30 years, curing leprosy amongst the Dalits, the most neglected section of Indian society. Dedicated and hard-working, Graham Staines was regularly touring the region in order to reach out to those living in most of the inaccessible Dalit villages in the state. One night, a mob of 100 brainwashed Hindu fanatics in a cowardly manner surrounded the jeep in which Graham Staines was sleeping and torched it burning him alive. Most shocking was that Graham's two little sons also perished in the blaze along with their father.
Martyrdom is very much an ingredient of the very process of human life on earth, since it is necessary and perhaps even inevitable for the very survival of mankind. Suffering, and even laying down one's life for the righteous cause, can only help in the ongoing evolutionary process, where the mundane can become the divine. If the human society is allowed to freely move forward by the mere whims and fancies of its unprincipled members without ever caring to stick to the righteousness path, the whole process could end up in an absolute chaos, ultimately ending in decay and destruction. Hence, the inevitable need of all those who see the truth in the right perspective and lay down their lives upholding their conviction as torch-bearers for the generations to come. Such great souls just can't help sticking their necks out cautioning the ones who keep merely drifting along. Sticking to ones belief, no doubt, is a very natural act, and sudden change in any area of one's life is not freely accepted. But, then, the truth undoubtedly is the ultimate yardstick with which everything has to be measured, since truth alone can lessen the human suffering and lead mankind to its ultimate goal, its liberation and very salvation. Stubborn resistance against any such change born out of one's fear of change as well as one's ego, is the result of one's inability to perceive the truth and the ultimate reality. That precisely is what unfortunately is happening in India, this great ancient nation of ours.
Gandhiji was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic while he was participating in a prayer meeting in New Delhi. He was shot down because he preached non-violence and communal harmony in the newly freed country, India, beset with its numerous problems, Hindu-Muslim suspicion being one of them. Gandhiji was only asking the Indian citizens to respect what is human in-keeping with the great traditions of India. The destruction of the Babri Masjid at the beginning of the 21st century, certainly goes against the fundamental right of a particular group of people to practice, preach and propagate their faith as specifically laid down in the Constitution of India as per its article - 25. If one is denied of this right, the fundamental right to his belief, practically everything in one's life becomes irrelevant and meaningless, leading everything to a state of anarchy. That, perhaps, is the situation we are very much moving towards in this country today, necessitating the sacrifices and martyrdoms of many more such selfless and righteous people.
Speaking of the suffering and persecution of Christians in this country, hundreds of Christians have been massacred, scores of nuns raped, and hundreds of Christian places of worship have been demolished. One of the incidents which occurred during the systematic persecution and mass murder of Indian Christians triggering off senseless and ruthless attacks against Christians in India was the savage murder of Graham Staines in Orissa on the night of 22nd February 1999. That was followed in the same state by an attack on Christians on the eve of Christmas, killing many and rendering many homeless. This was followed by an attack on Christians by a group of about 200 Hindu fundamentalists on 24 December, 2007 at Brahmanigaon in Phulbani in Orissa. According to a fact-finding team of a Christian organization - the violence in Kandhamal around Christmas time was perpetrated by Hindu nationalist (Hindutva) groups that killed at least four Christians and burned 730 houses and 95 churches. Hundreds of displaced Christians had to be housed in various relief camps set up by the state government. The very next year, using the excuse of the murder of a Hindu religious leader by the Maoists, and very conveniently putting the blame on innocent Christians, the Hindu fanatics let loose a reign of terror in Kandhamal in August 2008, in which about 100 Christians were butchered, more than 18,000 were injured and 50,000 displaced. Some tribals even fled away to border districts in neighbouring states. It was estimated that about 310 villages were affected http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Religious_violence_in_Orissa-cite_note-88 with 4,640 homes, 252 churches, and 13 educational institutes torched during the attacks. To this day the sufferings of Christians affected by those attacks still continue to haunt them in some form or the other. In a smaller scale there have been systematic persecutions of Christians, including martyrdom in Orissa and other states in the country in the course of all these last few years, including in states like Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and in recent times even in a state always known for religious tolerance and communal harmony, like Tamil Nadu.
The situation in India today continues to be almost the same, though the number of incidents of attacks against Christians, are on the decline, mainly due to the work done by various NGOs, government agencies, judiciary and a greater awareness among the members of the Christian community and the general public at large. From whatever information the GCIC was able to gather from its limited resources, the figures during the year 2012 stand at 135, compared to the 2011, which was 134. Karnataka still leads in the country with 41 incidents in 2012 though slightly lower than its previous year's figure of 50 incidents. In Orissa the figure in 2011 was 21 and 16 in 2012. Madhya Pradesh continues with the same figure of 14 in 2011 as well as in 2012. The really alarming situation is that of Tamil Nadu where things to be steadily going from bad to worse, where in 2011 there were only 4 incidents as against 15 in 2012. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Kashmir are about 6 each during both the years either one less or one more. There has been a remarkable change in Kerala where the figure was 11 during 2011 which has come down to 5 in 2012.
After a bird's eye-view of all that has been happening to Christians in India, we can only say that we should be always vigilant and watchful and constantly keep using the means at our disposal as given to us by our very constitution – social, religious and legal, and knock at every door and awaken those who are lethargic and slow to act. In other words, action is the magic word, as a small community in a large country with all kinds of religious beliefs and ideologies. We should always bear in mind what our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us that we should be shrewd like the serpent, though mild as a dove. This clearly calls for our joining the mainstream without any reservations, getting ourselves involved fully in the socio-economic and political system of the country in every possible way, and wield our influence in the right direction. Only then can we hope to establish the Kingdom of Heaven, as mandated by our Lord in our country too.
Dr. Sajan K. George
National President
Global Council of Indian Christians