SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2252and issued a report on April 27. The report, which claimed that the Sacred Heartcase had ‘‘no communal tinge,’’ and that the Kosi Kalan case was a ‘‘case of robberyand nothing else,’’ was criticized widely by the minority community. Several membersof the Lok Sabha openly questioned the report’s validity, and there is strongevidence that the NCM report misrepresented the victims in its claims that theythemselves are entirely satisfied that there was no religious motivation behind theviolence. Victims of the incidents claim that the local police were not responsive eitherbefore or during the attacks. These attacks on Christians in Uttar Pradeshwere the first in the state in 6 years.Following the violence in April in the vicinity of Mathura, on May 5, six missionarieswho were distributing Bibles and other literature in Vivekanandnagar,Ahmedabad, were injured severely. Some evangelists and some Bajrang Dal activistsattacked each other in this Vivekanandnagar when the Bajrang Dal activistsforbade distribution of Christian literature. Both groups filed police complaints allegingthat the other group attacked them. A Hindu bystander who attempted tointervene had his finger cut off, according to newspaper reports. On May 22, 30 personswere injured when a powerful bomb exploded during a Christian meeting atMachlipatnam in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The central Governmentand the state governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka maintain that thebombing were carried out by a Muslim extremist organization, Deendar Anjuman.Following investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on October 21, policein Karnataka arrested 31 persons in connection with the bombings in that state,including 4 persons who reportedly were Pakistani nationals (see Section 2.a.). Thegovernments later made more arrests, and by year’s end, they had filed charges ofconspiracy, violating the Explosives Act, and fomenting religious hatred againstapproxiamately 45 suspects in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. On June 7, a Catholicpriest, Brother George Kuzhikandum, was killed on the campus of Brother PolusMemorial School near Mathura. On June 21, Vijay Ekka, the prime witness to theJune 17 killing of Brother George, died in police custody (see Sections 1.a. and 2.c.).In June in northern Punjab state, the Rev. Ashish Prabash Masih, age 23, reportedlywas murdered and his body burned. Although police ruled out any communalundertones, the Punjab Christian Association stated that the murder was part ofa concerted campaign against its community by Hindu nationalists. In April threenuns said that they were run down deliberately by a motor scooter in the northernstate of Haryana on their way to a midnight Easter Mass. One of the nuns was injuredseriously. The Christian Forum stated that the attack was the fifth on nunsand priests in Haryana in the year, but both the NCM and the Catholic Bishop’sconference stated that the incident could have been an accident. On May 9 inMaharashtra, approximately 150 suspected activists of the Bajrang Dal and theVishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council, or VHP) attacked the 45th AnnualConvention of the Evangelical Alliance Christian Church and the Nashik DistrictChurch Council, set fire to three vehicles, and ransacked a bus carrying religiousliterature. Four persons were hospitalized. Rural police said that they arrested 33persons, all of whom belonged to Bajrang Dal or VHP. Although political leadersfrom Maharashtra’s ruling party criticized the attack, the Minister of State forDairy Development joined a group of BJP, RSS, and VHP activists who traveled tomeet and congratulate the accused when they were released from prison on bail. OnMay 12, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, assailants threw stones and attempted to setfire to one church, while vandalizing two other churches.On January 23, 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two youngsons were killed. The three were asleep in their car in Manoharpur, Keonjhar district,Orissa, when a mob shouting Hindu slogans set fire to their car. Police arrested51 suspects in connection with the crime and sought others. Dara Singh wasarrested on January 31 and charged with the murders of Staines and his two youngsons (see Section 2.c.); he also was charged with the murders of another Christianand a Muslim. Singh remained in custody and the charges against him and 14 othersstill were pending at year’s end. On September 30, a special court inBhubaneswar, Orissa, convicted a 13-year-old boy of complicity in the killing ofStaines and his two sons. He was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. TheWadhwa Commission established to investigate the Staines murder presented itsfindings in August 1999. The report concluded that Dara Singh masterminded thekilling and effectively exonerated the Hindu organizations and political parties thathad been accused of complicity. The National Commission for Minorities, otherhuman rights groups, and some Christian groups criticized the Commission’s findingsas a coverup. The National Commission for Minorities, separate inquiry foundevidence suggesting that the Bajrang Dal was involved in the Staines murders. OnJune 2, a Hindu priest reportedly ‘‘reconverted’’ 72 tribal Christians in the same villagein which Graham Staines and his sons were killed.VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1