3 men claiming VHP allegiance attack Christian
By Deepal Trevedie

Infuriated with a police complaint and ‘bravery’ to speak out against them in a Hindu Rashtra, three VHP activists in Ahmedabad reportedly beat up Samson Christian, secretary of the United Christian Association near the CTM cross roads here on Friday.

Three unidentified men who claimed to be VHP activists beat up Mr Samson Christian and hauled bricks, after Mr Christian’s lodged a police complaint against them.

An injured Mr Christian had to be taken to the Civil Hospital for treatment. According to a complaint filed at Vatva police station, Mr Christian had visited the Good Shepherd School in the area to inquire into a recent skirmish between a rickshaw driver and the school principal over payment of school fees of former’s ward. The rickshaw driver had reportedly refused to pay fees "as he could not afford it." However, the school principal insisted upon the fees as he felt that the fees were within the reach of rickshaw driver’s income.

On Wednesday, the rickshaw driver, a Hindu, reportedly threatened Mr Johnson, principal of the Christian school, who had asked for the fees. Soon a crowd of about 45 people claiming allegiance to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad entered the school premises and bashed up the principal.

Mr Samson Christian registered a police complaint against the miscreants at the Vatva police station. "What irked the VHP was Mr Christian’s decision to write to the governor and the National Human Rights Commission about this case," said a police officer. They tried to "reason out" things with Mr Christian, the police official added.

Meanwhile, Mr Christian visited the Good Shepherd School on Friday afternoon to ensure that the police bandobast following the "attack" was adequate.

Three persons, claiming allegiance to the VHP, assaulted him. When he tried to get away, they hurled bricks at him. Mr Christian was immediately rushed to the Civil Hospital. Mr Christian said, "The attackers asked me why I lodged a police complaint against them, and wrote about the incident to the governor."

The United Christian Forum for Human Rights has condemned the attacks and has asked the state government to bring an immediate halt to what they described as "repeated and unwarranted attacks on minorities in Gujarat." Fr. Cedric Prakash, convenor of the UCFHR, said here on Friday that attacks on minorities in Gujarat were becoming a regular pattern and that the government needs to pay serious attention to the trend.

Republished from Asian Age