Christian-Sangh peace talks end before they begin

Christian-Sangh peace talks end before they begin
NIRMALA GEORGE

NEW DELHI, JULY 10: The National Commission for Minorities's efforts to broker a dialogue between Christians and militant Hindu groups have run aground with both sides talking at cross purposes. The July 11 meeting is clearly off. At least for now.

Expressing their readiness to talk, Christian leaders want the parameters of the talks to be thrown open to include all communities, especially the minorities. Some sections of the Christian community also feel that it would be more purposeful to talk to the Shankaracharyas and other spiritual leaders, rather than with the VHP and the Bajrang Dal who have been accused of perpetrating the attacks.

Reacting to this, the VHP has accused them of ``running away'' from dialogue and taunted them saying they are avoiding talks since they cannot substantiate the charges levelled against the militant Hindu groups.

It is evident that there have been second thoughts about the much-hyped meeting on all sides. Though NCM Chairman Mohd Shamim's office was categorical that ``no date for the meeting had been fixed'' in the first place and that July 11 was ``set by the media,'' Commission Vice Chairman Tarlochan Singh said the date had been changed because it had been ``inconvenient for Christian leaders.''

However, Christian leaders said they had not received any invitation or intimation about the meeting from the NCM. ``The Christian Church has always been ready for a dialogue. But all we know about this meeting is from what has appeared in the newspapers. We have not recieved any word on the meeting from the Minorities Commission,'' said Dominic Emmanuel, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI).

With attacks on Christian institutions continuing unabated, the Minorities Commission felt that a meeting between leaders of the two communities could help clear the air. After separate meetings with both the Christian and Hindus groups, the next step was to get the two sides to talk.

But there have been misgivings within the Christian community as well about the usefulness of talking to the VHP and Bajrang Dal. Urging a widening of the ambit of the talks, Emmanuel said representatives of all communities and other minorities should be included in the dialogue.

``Some sections feel that the VHP and Bajrang Dal do not represent the Hindus. The Dal is a militant group. The VHP has been openly opposing the Supreme Court and the Constitution as is evident from their demand for a Ram temple,'' said Emmanuel.

Going on the offensive, the VHP has accused the Christian leaders of ``running away'' from dialogue. Acharya Giriraj Kishore, senior VHP Vice-President claimed the VHP would haul the Christian leaders to court if they continued to hold VHP and the Sangh Parivar responsible for the attacks on minorities. Kishore also wants a CBI or a judicial probe into the spate of attacks on the minority community.

The Bajrang Dal claims there is a larger conspiracy. National Convenor Surendra Jain went so far as to say the Christians were ``capable'' of indulging in such activities to defame the government.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has taken a serious view of the lackadaisical attitude adopted by state governments and the Centre to the NHRC's directive that the authorities file a report on the attacks on Christians and their institutions.

The Human Rights Commission, which met today, dashed off a reminder to the Centre and state governments asking them to report on measures taken in view of the attacks on minorities and the action plan drawn to meet the situation. Its current efforts may have been thwarted, but the Minorities Commission is not giving up. ``We'll fix another date soon. The dialogue has to go on,'' adds Tarlochan Singh.