Indian state asked to protect Christians after genocide threats

India’s federal body to protect religious minorities’ interests has urged the government in the central Chhattisgarh state to ensure Christians’ safety after a right-wing Hindu man allegedly mobilized a movement for anti-Christian genocide.

The Feb. 25 letter of the National Commission for Minorities referred to the “disturbing call for violent attacks against Christians” in Chhattisgarh on March 1 and asked the state to protect Christians.

“We are relieved now,” said A C Michael, the Christian leader who brought the threat to the notice of the quasi-judicial federal body. Michael is the national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, an ecumenical body that records persecution against Christians in India.

The commission said Michael highlighted an “incendiary” social media post attributed to Adesh Soni, a self-proclaimed cow protection vigilante, that called for sexually assaulting and murdering Christians in the state.

The video also contained a snippet of Soni speaking at a gathering of religious leaders and referring to a planned March 1 rally in the state to protest cow slaughter, it said.

The social media post and the snippet of Soni together gave the impression “that he was mobilizing a movement for genocide against Christians,” said the letter addressed to the state.

The federal body said Soni has already denied making such calls. However, it asked the state to “investigate” the development and “safeguard the well-being of the minority community.”

The federal body also has urged the state to be vigilant regarding the March 1 rally as “it is likely to disturb the communal harmony and peace.”

The video circulated widely in social media set March 1 as the deadline to execute the plans in three Christian-dominated villages – Bishrampur, Janakpur, and Ganeshpur – which it accused of slaughtering cows for meat. It asked the maximum number of Hindus to join the rally on the day.

The video also carried footage of Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, a highly revered Hindu leader, exhorting to kill all Christians. He called upon 1,000 Hindus to rise and “slay those who slay our mother cow.”

However, Soni said the video and the social media posts were “fabricated” and denied any move for violence.

He told UCA News on Feb. 27 that “it is a conspiracy to tarnish my image.”

“If the allegations attributed in the video were genuine, by now, I would have been in jail. Those behind it attempted to create a rift between Christians and Hindus,” he added.

Soni, however, said they had planned a rally on March 1. “It will happen. It will be peaceful, and there will be no violence.”

Michael told UCA News on Feb. 27 that the video created “tension among Christians across” the state, forcing his organization to approach the minorities’ commission.

The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi runs the government in Chhattisgarh. Christian leaders say an anti-Christian atmosphere continues in the state, with their people facing social boycotts, assaults, and other forms of threats from Hindus.

Hindu groups, supporting the BJP, oppose Christian missions and work to drive away Christians in their attempts to make India a Hindu-only nation.

Christians make up less than 2 percent of Chhattisgarh’s 30 million people.

This article was originally published on https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-state-asked-to-protect-christians-after-genocide-threats/108020