Centre rejects charge of targeted attacks against Christians

The Union government on Thursday rebuffed allegations of targeted attacks against Christians in the country, informing the Supreme Court that less than a third of the incidents alleged by some Christian organisations and individuals were found to be true.

While the petitioners in the top court claimed that 2021-2022 witnessed as many as 495 incidents of targeted attacks against Christians across eight states, the Centre said that only 155 incidents warranted registration of first information reports (FIRs).

Citing the records furnished by the states of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha that allegedly had the highest number of such incidents, the central government said that the there were no reports regarding 263 out of 495 incidents.

“Further, out of 232 incidents which have been reported to the concerned state governments, the matters were resolved in 73 incidents amicably with mutual agreement between both the parties. These 73 incidents were related to land dispute, family dispute, superstitious practices, violation of Covid-19 guidelines and other trivial issues. FIR/Non-FIR complaints were registered in the remaining 155 cases,” stated the compliance affidavit filed by the Centre on Wednesday night.

According to the affidavit, 44 FIRs out of 70 reported incidents were registered in Uttar Pradesh; 31 FIRs out of 34 reported incidents were lodged in Karnataka; 24 FIRs out of 36 reported incidents were registered in Chhattisgarh and 22 FIRs out of 26 reported incidents were lodged in Madhya Pradesh.

Expressing its resolve to ensure rule of law and equal protection of law to all religions and communities, the Centre said that the information furnished by the state governments make it clear that the petitioners have exaggerated the number of incidents. “Many incidents alleged as Christian persecution have been either false or wrongly projected. It is submitted that many trivial disputes between two parties are likely to have been given religious colour...factual check and the verification reports reveal that even family feuds and private land disputes being shown as communal targeting,” rued the affidavit.

It complained that the petitioners, which included Archbishop Peter Machado and two Christian organisations – National Solidarity Forum and Evangelical Fellowship of India, relied on certain unauthentic reports to portray all criminal incidents, involving a member of Christian community, as incidents of violence against the victim due to religious reasons.

The affidavit came up before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud , and solicitor general Tushar Mehta stated that verification reports from the state governments have belied accusations made in the petition. “Our concern is that this is how the issue will be projected outside the country as if Christians are being attacked in the country while the truth is completely different,” said Mehta.

The bench adjourned the case by two weeks after senior counsel Colin Gonsalves and advocate Aakarsh Kamra, representing the petitioners, sought time to respond to the Centre’s compliance affidavit.

In September, the Supreme Court directed the Union government to verify allegations of attacks on Christians levelled in the PIL, asking the chief secretaries of eight states, alleged to have the highest number of such incidents, to submit a report on the action taken. These alleged incidents involved demolition of churches, murder, forced conversions, physical violence, arrest of pastors, defacement of statues, prayer hall and church property, burning of Bibles, hate campaigns, boycott of the community, stalling prayer meetings and church services, and gender violence.

Seeking dismissal of the petition, the Centre, in its affidavit, denied that the soft approach of the police had strengthened fringe groups, leading to an atmosphere of intolerance. “On the contrary, the verification reports of concerned state governments and the input received thereof reveals that the Police had taken prompt action in numerous cases and conducted necessary investigation as per rules... it seems that the incidents were included without verifying facts,” added the affidavit.

It stated that the verification reports received from the state governments disclose that allegations and observations made in the fact-finding report of certain organisations that the petitioners relied upon were “unfounded and the majority of the incidents quoted were either false or deliberately exaggerated, and uncorroborated.”

India is a vibrant pluralistic society founded on strong democratic principles and practices, stressed the Centre, adding that the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion and that the violations of such rights are dealt in accordance with provisions of the laws in force.

“The issues highlighted by the petitioner can always be taken care of by law enforcing agencies in respective States under the process of law or if required, by the jurisdictional Magistrates under the appropriate provisions of the CrPC. The attempt of the Petitioner is to paint a particularly false picture for aims unknown to the respondent...the country is governed by the rule of law and the attempt of the petitioner to create a false narrative through an Article 32 petition must be deprecated,” said the Centre.