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Archbishop demands independent probe into nun's rape

Catholic Bishops' Conference of India president Archbishop Alan de Lastic said on Saturday that the Christians in the country are living "in fear".

"We do not deny it. But we believe in God and will continue with our good job. We are not going to change because of the threat," he said.

Addressing a press conference called to condemn the rape of a nun in Orissa, he regretted that the Centre and the Orissa government, despite having sufficient powers to act, have failed to prevent the recurrence of such atrocities against minorities.

The archbishop demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation, a judge, or some other body into the nun's rape.

He said as per the information available with him, there seemed to be no connection between Friday's rape and the torching of Graham Stains and his two sons.

"Though the attack on the nun was definitely well-planned, no action has been taken even after a lapse of 24 hours," he alleged.

But he differed with the view that the attacks were committed by members of a particular community. "The attackers are not Hindus, Muslims or members of any other group. They are groups of mercenaries who will do anything for which they are paid," the archbishop said.

"Why can't they [the governments] take preventive measures when you have intelligence inputs regarding [proposed] attacks?" he asked.

Speaking about the steps taken in various parts of the country, the archbishop said, "The efforts of the governments are not yielding any result. The progress is certainly very slow and this is what is disappointing. The governments should understand that justice delayed is justice denied."

"The government's duty is to get above political and religious affiliations and act," he continued. "If you [the government] know that there is tension prevailing, then preventive measures should be taken. But this is not happening, incidents after incidents are taking place."

Asked whether he would appeal to any human rights organisations like Amnesty International, Archbishop de Lastic said, "I am opposed to any such move. It is an internal matter of the country and we should try to solve the problem as Indians."

Differing with the central government's claim that no census was conducted on Christians in Delhi, the archbishop said, "Names and addresses of Christians were certainly asked. Why has the government suddenly become so possessive of the community?"

But if one is to presume that no census was carried out by the government or police, he continued, then the issue becomes even more grave. "If they [the government or police] were not conducting the census, then who was trying to find out details about Christians? And why?"

He opposed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's suggestion for a ban on conversions -- that would be a violation of a person's fundamental right.

"Everybody has a fundamental right and if somebody wants to change his or her religion, he should be free to do so. It is a very serious question to prevent someone from exercising his God-given right," he said.

He, however, promised to fight the proposal peacefully: "We will intensify our good efforts, but will not adopt the path of violence."

Describing any anti-conversion law as "almost inhuman", he said, "It is a free personal act. If there is no objection to somebody changing his country, why should there be any objection if anybody wants to change his religion and seek inner transformation in some other religion?"

On the VHP's dharm sansad (religious parliament) at Ahmedabad in Gujarat and the charge that missionaries are converting Hindus by the dozens, the archbishop said 5,000 sadhus had gathered to say the same thing at the meeting. If a lie is repeated over and over, people start believing it.

"The sadhus are saying something that is not true," the archbishop said, and dared the government to come out with even a single case of forced conversion. Even the National Commission for Minorities has not pointed out any such case, he said.

UNI

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