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When Nicolas Sarkozy met Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in Paris recently, he raised the issue of the “massacre” of Christians in India. Other leaders Singh met during his visit to Europe and the US too brought it up. Singh was embarrassed enough to discuss it with his cabinet colleagues and said the attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka, among other places, had brought shame to India.

The knee-jerk reaction to the concern shown by Sarkozy and others would be to tell them, “buzz off, it’s none of your business.” Or, in more diplomatic language, “It is an internal matter — we too are unhappy about what is going on, but we will take care of it. They are our citizens, after all.”

Unfortunately, this riposte won’t work, for several reasons. Firstly, Sarkozy is speaking on behalf of the European Union, of which he is the president at this time. So these are not off-the-cuff remarks but the considered views of 27 member countries, which lends a certain weight to his statement. Even if we chafe at being lectured to, this is an important fact to be considered.

Secondly, there have been times when India too has brought up the issue of harassment of Indians in other countries. This has not been limited to Indian citizens, who have to be supported by their country but also when people of Indian origin have been victimised.
In the Fiji crisis of the year 2000 the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government flexed its muscles and came down on the side of deposed prime minister Mahendra Chowdhry and ethnic Indians.

But probably the main reason why India must take the expressions of concern by Sarkozy and others, including the Vatican seriously is that in a globalised environment, the world watches these things very carefully. Travel advisories are issued, investment decisions are impacted and television images and news reports create a poor impression of the country.

It may appear that the EU is worried only because the victims are Christians, but that is only half the picture. During the Gujarat riots of 2002, when it was Muslims who were victims, there was an international outcry. The West, most of it Christian, was sharply critical of what happened and even today, western missions in India tend to give Gujarat a go by.

The issue here is that of protection of minorities, something that many countries take very seriously. India has all the right laws but who can deny that social and even systemic prejudice exist? When that results in social tension which in turn begets violence, the state has to step in. What we have seen in recent weeks, unfortunately is that the state has lost its will or ability to do so; anti-Christian attacks have gone on and on with barely any respite. Worryingly, of the two states where the worst attacks have taken place, one is ruled by the BJP and other by a BJP-ally. In Karnataka, the government was mealy mouthed in its response to the violence, with the chief minister even raising questions about conversions. It was not until the pressure, from the centre and from Christians themselves began building up that the arrests began. In Orissa, the suave chief minister Naveen Patnaik, a darling of the Delhi social set, appeared to be in a slumber, allowing the violence to go on and on and letting a small local matter swell into a major crisis.

All kinds of explanations have been offered to explain, even justify the violence in these and other states. In Karnataka, the Bajrang Dal claimed that there were “forced conversions” and that evangelist groups were lampooning Hindu gods. In Kandhmal, reports talk about complex local factors, including tribal conflicts and Maoist groups that created these conditions. All of which may be true, but the fact remains that there has been violence and minority groups have been the targets; stopping this violence should be the immediate priority of any administration.

An interesting development arising out of these events has been the almost unanimous protest of every kind of Christian group. The Catholic church as well as the Protestant authorities have come out strongly against the violence, even though it is common knowledge that neither particularly cares for the new fangled evangelist Christian groups that are spreading their wings in India and elsewhere. The reasons for this show of solidarity are obvious — unless this is nipped in the bud, it could spread; intra-denominational issues can be dealt with later. This unity needs to be watched, and studied; minority groups have obviously understood that in a climate of rising hate, they need to stick together.

The issue of anti-minority violence has now gone beyond local politics. Now the Union government has to look at it as a national problem not a law and order issue. The solutions too therefore will have to be a more comprehensive one. Christians are feeling aggrieved and other minorities are worried too. With the elections a few months away, all kinds of conspiracy theories have begun doing the rounds. A few trouble-makers with a dangerous agenda cannot be allowed to sow discord in the nation and tear it apart. This is now more than just about saving’s India’s face.

Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net