Team members from various churches of south and north India that visited Gujarat and other violence-hit areas met President K R Narayanan in the afternoon and gave him a copy of their report, said the Bishop of Delhi, Rev Karam-Masih.

A copy of the memorandum was also submitted to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The two have been urged to personally intervene and ensure an end to the atrocities against Christians. Masih told The Indian Express that though their organisations held talks with the BJP leaders on December 18, he would welcome more such interactions. ``Things have gone from bad to worse since the first round of talks. We wish to solve the matter amicably. As it is, Christians inIndia are most peaceful and should not be subjected to this sort of torture,'' he said.

The members of the delegation who visited the affected areas in Gujarat have demanded compensation for the damages caused to Christian worship places and institutions and tough measures to prevent further violence against the community.

They said nearly 32 worship places were burnt or damaged. Even when the team was visiting Diwan Tabadun in Dangs district on Sunday last, the villagers there were prevented from attending service. Earlier in the day, some Christian leaders here held a press conference to emphasise that they were keen on a dialogue with the BJP and the VHP leaders.

On the issue of ``forced conversions'', they maintained that the charge was baseless - but nevertheless insisted that they were ``ready to rectify'' if any such real incident was brought to their notice. Among those who addressed the press conference were representatives of the National Christian Council of India (NCCI), United EvangelicalLutheran Church in India and Churches of North & South India.

The team, which visited the affected sites, was led by NCCI president Raja Ratna and included Vinod Peter, J A Oliver, Ipe Joseph, John Hanchimani, Prseanna Kumari and Samuel Meshak.

The members quoted Gujarat DIG, O P Mathur, and Dangs district collector B.N. Joshi as having said ``there has been no formal complaint of forced conversions or any attempts by the Christian communities in the area.''

According to the members, the allegation of forced conversions was part of the RSS' premeditated agenda of maligning the Christian missionaries. Besides, they held, ``the term `missionaries' is being used by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal to mislead the public as if foreign missionaries are engaged in forcible conversions. It should be understood that no foreigner is allowed visa for missionary work in India. We also take forced conversion to be a sin.''

Some members wondered why such issues became important only after the BJP came to power in theCentre and Gujarat. They claimed that this agenda was there for long with the RSS, ``but now they have the Government and the political clout to implement it.''

The representatives alleged that there was a ``determined bid'' to terrorise the Christians. ``But no amount of torture or prosecution will deter us from working at the grass-roots in the larger national interest. The Christians played a no lesser role in the country's freedom struggle,'' they stressed.

The report has charged the Gujarat government with providing a supportive role to the Hindu fundamentalist forces. It has appealed to the Governor to ensure proper functioning of the State machinery by exercising his Constitutional obligation.