Police detain 200 protesting church attacks - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Angry over a series of attacks on churches, members of the Christian community and those who supported their cause hosted a protest demonstration at Sacred Heart Cathedral near Connaught Place on Thursday. However, when they started marching towards the residence of home minister Rajnath Singh, police pushed them into buses and took them to Parliament Street police station.

Around 200 protesters, including priests, nuns and AAP office-bearer Raghav Chadha were detained. They were released after five hours.

It was a peaceful protest which began around 9.30am. Protesters bore placards seeking a stop to church attacks. Slogans—'We want justice', 'enough is enough' and 'I am proud to be a Christian'—were shouted.

Protesters alleged that attacks on churches have increased since formation of the new government and were critical of the silence of the PM on the matter. "In the backdrop of these attacks, it is his duty to come forward and issue a statement. He should give us confidence," said a protester. They demanded the high court monitor investigations into attacks on five churches.

This is the second time in two months that the community has come forward to protest the attacks. The first protest took place in December.

However, police cracked down on the protesters, dragged them inside buses and took them to Parliament Street police station. Four prominent members of the community—Fr Susai Sebastian, Fr Dominic Emmanuel, John Dayal, former member of Delhi Minority Commission A C Michael and Jenis Francis—were among those detained.

Reacting to the police detentions, Archbishop of Delhi, Anil Couto, said, "This is a sad incident. I condemn the action of police who assaulted priests, nuns and the elderly people holding a peaceful demonstration in front of a church. This is not acceptable in a democratic society and in blatant violation of fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution."

Fr Mathew Koyickal, chancellor of Archdiocese of Delhi, said, "There have been a chain of attacks on churches but nothing has been done yet. Why has just one case been solved so far?"

According to police, protesters were detained as they were marching towards Singh's residence which is a high-security area. They said no prior permission was taken to protest outside the church. However, church authorities maintained they had received the nod.

Delhi Police commissioner B S Bassi has assured that cops would be deployed around every church in the city for the next few days.

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