Attacks on Christian : Who will bell the cat ?

The Gujarat government’s failure to prevent the anti-Christian violence in the Dangs district fits a pattern, which has become all too familiar. All along, the government has shown a reluctance to act against the Hindutva hot-heads, who are getting more and more aggressive.

They are publicly holding out threats of violence and actually indulging in it. And their targets aren’t the minorities only. Last week, a mob of trishul-wielding youths, angry over the demolition of a "temple", attacked the Abmedabad Municipal Corporation office, beat up security staff, smashed windowpanes, and furniture.

They were looking for municipal commissioner B.K. Sinha. Sinha managed to escape unscathed because of the presence of mind of well wishers, who helped him sneak out. Till date, the police hasn’t even registered an FIR, not to talk of actually nabbing the culprits, who committed cognisable, non-bailable offences. 

In Surat, the Bajrang Dal threatened to resort to "all means, including violence" to stop a New Year programs where one of the performers will be film actress Kashmira Shah. She earned their ire when, asked about the campaign against ‘Fire’, she remarked that those attacking the film "had nothing else to do". So far, the administration has done nothing. The list of incidents when the government took its own time to act in the face of such threats, or even after violence, is long. In one case, when Bajrang Dal men attacked delegates to a Christian convention in Vadodara in late October, arrests were made only when Governor Anshuman Singh decided to visit the place to see things for himself. According to PR Dutta, a retired director-general of police, recent events in the state point to a breakdown of the administration.

"How can you allow somebody to hold out a threat of violence, actually indulge in it, and then get away with it!’ Dutta remarked. He said, "such incidents cannot take place if the government is determined".

A senior officer said that the administration could not act in a firm and fair manner because top men in the government were "sympathetic to law-breakers".

He recalled that when Coca Cola and Pepsi vehicles were attacked in Abmedabad, none other than Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel saw in it "a resurgence of the spirit of swadeshi of the freedom movement".

Education Minister Anandiben Patel hit upon the "bright idea" of enlisting the help of VHP and Bajrang Dal to check copying in examinations, while Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya talked of creating a special cell to check inter-religious marriages when VHP men unleashed terror in Randhikpur after the elopement of two tribal girls with Muslim boys.

And when the mob went looking for the commissioner in the AMC head office, Mayor Joitaram Patel dubbed the commissioner "anti-Hindu", although he was not sure that the demolished structure was actually a temple. Patel also defended his inaction, saying that the attack was against the commissioner, "not against me".

Father Cedric Prakash, Co-ordinator of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (Gujarat), said they had failed to get an audience with the chief minister in spite of several attempts in the last many months. "He has not condemned the attacks on the minorities. We expect him to condemn these and assure us that the guilty would be punished," Father Cedric said.

Naturally, therefore, officials believe that acting firm in these circumstances would be an invitation to trouble. "Nobody wants to stick his neck out," remarked an officer. An idea of the kind of paralysis that has gripped the administration can be had from the fact that no one wants to talk on record about the police inaction in the AMC violence case. Even off the record, they are passing the buck. For example, a senior police officer said that the AMC had not registered an FIR. An AMC officer said they had informed the police when the trouble began, and it reached well in time, but didn’t do anything. "Aren’t they supposed to check lawlessness?" he asked. A police officer said that the trouble-makers were known, "but the question is who will bell the cat". That is the problem.

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