HONG KONG, August 14 (Compass) -- The Catholic Bishops Conference of India
(CBCI) has expressed serious concern at reported threats to the life of
John Dayal, the national convenor of the United Christian Forum for Human
Rights.

In a statement issued in New Delhi on August 9, the secretary general of
the CBCI, Oswald Gracias, said Dayal is being deliberately targeted by some
because of his role in raising public awareness of attacks against
Christian in India. Gracias said Dayal is apparently seen as a threat by
those who want to ignore the rights of minorities in the country and wish
to silence his campaign.

Dayal started voicing the concerns of the Christian community in 1997 and
regularly exposed the systematic hate campaign against Christians by Hindu
fundamentalists.

In May, Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) spokesman P. Venkaiah Naidu accused
Dayal of "using the cover of a religious organization to carry on his
strident tirade against the BJP and the government." In a statement at a
press conference, Naidu told Dayal to cease his "political" activities.

Minorities Commission member John Joseph also accused Dayal of favoring
political parties and projecting the government in a bad light.

The former president of the CBCI, the late Catholic archbishop Alan de
Lastic, had also defended Dayal's role as spokesman for the Christian
community before he died in a car accident on June 21 in Poland. In a
letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, de Lastic said Dayal was
working for the protection of human rights.

Earlier, in a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dayal
asked for protection, saying he feared for his life and property because of
his role in mobilizing public opinion against attacks on Christians.

"I have been politically targeted, among others, by the spokesman of the
Bharatiya Janatha Party and member of the National Commission for
Minorities, John Joseph," Dayal wrote. "This campaign against me is to
silence my voice as a human rights activist and spokesman and to alienate
me from my community and secular society."

Dayal added that he was accused of treason, terrorism and anti-national
activity, and of procuring foreign funds. The NHRC has ordered the
government to provide a bodyguard for Dayal.

In July, the NHRC asked the Home Ministry and all states and union
territories to send reports on measures taken by them to prevent attacks
against Christians. The NHRC believes this is necessary to preserve the
"secular credentials of the nation and fulfil the promise of fraternity and
common brotherhood envisaged in our constitution." But the Home Ministry
has not yet sent any reports.

The Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) denies the
involvement of any Hindu organization in anti-Christian attacks. RSS Joint
General-Secretary Madan Das said church leaders backed by some of the media
are wrongly accusing the RSS and other Hindu organizations of atrocities
against the Christians.

"The recent spate of false allegations have exhausted our patience,
particularly because of the far-reaching impact of such false and motivated
allegations on the national psyche and on the world opinion about us," Das
said.

The RSS has threatened to sue publications carrying "false and defamatory"
news against it or any of its allied organizations in the Sangh Parivar
(family of Hindu organizations).

END

Copyright 2000 Compass Direct

Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness of
Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may be
reprinted by active subscribers only.