HVK Archives: North Block brushes off Christian cry
North Block brushes off Christian cry - The Telegraph
Posted By Ashok Chowgule (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
December 15, 1998
Title: North Block brushes off Christian cry
Author:
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: December 15, 1998
The Christian community and the Centre appear to be heading for a
confrontation over the Jhabua nuns' gangrape.
The home ministry today strongly refuted the United Christian Forum for
Human Rights' stand that no Christian was involved in the nuns' gangrape
in October.
The ministry released documents it had received from the Madhya Pradesh
government to back up the claim by home minister L.K. Advani, that 12 of
the 24 persons accused in the gangrape of the four nuns belonged to the
Christian community.
The ministry's swift reaction came in response to the privilege motion
moved in the Lok Sabha today by Samajwadi Party MP Arif Mohammad Khan.
Yesterday, the Christian forum had taken strong exception to Advani's
statement, terming as a "travesty of truth" the "concerted attempt to
divert attention from the deplorable crime by insinuating that members
of the minority community are involved in the attack on their own nuns".
Forum convener John Dayal called upon Advani to "denounce the violence
against Christians and to take early action to bring the guilty to
book".
The order's superior-general, Sister Lilly Merie, made a similar
statement. She said the 15 persons identified by the nuns after the rape
were all non-Christians. She went on to add: "By October 7, 15 suspects
were arrested; on that day, all the 15 were identified by the four
sisters in Jhabua jail before the magistrate." Sister Merie also claimed
she was in possession of the names of all the accused and none of them
were Christians.
However, the home ministry's list, sent to it by the Madhya Pradesh
government soon after some of the culprits were identified and arrested,
says quite the opposite. The ministry's "clarification" says Advani's
statement in Parliament "is correct and based on the report submitted by
the state".
According to documents, a list of the names of the 13 accused, with
their caste and religious backgrounds, was sent to North Block officials
by the officer on special duty of the state home department, R.K.
Tripathi, on October 9. Of the 13, seven are Christians.
On October 15, the state government was asked afresh for details of all
the accused. The Jhabua superintendent of police faxed a list of
details of the 24 persons accused in the gangrape. The list
corroborates Advani's claim - that 12 of the accused are Christians.
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