Defeating the idea of a secular country : Vandalising Churches
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 04, 2015 -

The BJP led NDA Government need to show more than that it is concerned.

Not the first time that this has happened and it will not be the last either if the Government does not crack the whip and demonstrate that it means business.

Fifth Church to be vandalised since November last year.

Does not need a maths genius to work out that this is nearly two Churches vandalised in a month.

Defeats the very idea of a secular country.

That right wing extremists have been making all the noises in the last couple of months should be amply clear.

Something which Narendra Modi and his men can do without.

If the reconversion to Hinduism or Ghar Wapsi rubbed people the wrong way, the vandalisation of Churches is no less.

Not saying that the Government has been overtly or covertly supporting such acts of vandalism, but it would do the country and the image of the BJP a whole lot of good if some serious thought is given on why there has been a revival of right wing elements.

Five Churches vandalised or attacked since November last year and the latest case should not be dismissed as just another act of vandalism.

There appears to be a pattern behind the attacks and it is this which the Government should take cognizance of.

Election to the Delhi Assembly is just a few days away and it is here that the uncomfortable feeling that the latest act of vandalism may just be linked to the upcoming polls cannot be wished away that easily.

Makes the matter all that more serious and frightening, for such acts give rise to the suspicion that there are elements out there who will not hesitate to divide votes along the line of religious beliefs.

Religion may not be the opium of the people, but if not treated with sensitivity it has the potential to create division and even bloodshed.

India has seen enough of this and this fact would not have blown over the head of the Government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been making the news for all the right reasons after the splendid showing put up by the BJP in the general election last year.

It is this goodwill and immense hope of the people that the Prime Minister should not fritter away.

This is why the BJP led NDA Government need to demonstrate that it will not tolerate any nonsense such as targeting the worship place of any religious group.

Desecrating a Church does not fit in well with the secular image of the country and it is more than clear that the vandalisation of a Church at Delhi on February 2 could not have been the handiwork of a bunch of drunks.

Sounds more like a meticulously chalked out agenda and this is something which should be taken note of.

The police may have registered a case of theft but it was more than a case of theft.

The vandalism was not just a case of theft but sounds much more sinister and this is something which should not be tolerated.