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Police detain hundreds of protestors in New Delhi

February 5, 2015

Hundreds of priests and nuns have been arrested after they clashed with police during demonstrations in the Indian capital. They were protesting a series of attacks on churches.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EVzp
Neu Delhi Proteste von Christen
Image: Reuters/A. Mukherjee

Demonstrators in New Delhi were dragged into police buses on Thursday for participating in a rally against rising attacks on churches in India .

Priests and nuns had gathered around the Sacred Heart Cathedral, one of New Delhi's largest, demanding that India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, speak out against the series of attacks, including robbery and arson, on the houses of worship in the past few months.

Police defend action

New Delhi's police defended their detention of around 100 demonstrators, saying that they were too close to the residence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

"They did not have any permission. They cannot hold a protest on the public road," Delhi Joint Police Commissioner Mukesh Meena told Indian media.

Police also imposed an emergency law known as Section 144, which prohibits gatherings. About 200 police were stationed outside the cathedral, watching over some 100 demonstrators who were inside.

Fire destroyed many holy books in a Delhi church
Holy books were burned in an attack on a New Delhi churchImage: Florent Martin

Demonstrators participating in Thursday's rally accused conservative Hindu nationalist groups of attacking places of worship belonging to other religions. The government has also been criticized for not speaking out against recent attempts by a fundamentalist party, known as the Hindu Mahasabha, to "reconvert" Muslims into Hinduism.

Minorities insecure

"We are feeling insecure since this new government has come," Father Lawrence, a Catholic priest from south Delhi, told AFP news agency, expressing his misgivings towards India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came into power last year in May. "The government and police haven't given any proper response to these attacks," Lawrence added.

"Our only demand is we want justice and we want protection for all our churches. We want to be safe and secure. We are not demanding as Christians, we are demanding as citizens of India," Delhi Catholic Archdiocese spokesman Father Savarimuthu Shankar told news channel NDTV.

Meanwhile, India's home minister met Christian leaders and promised an independent investigation into the church attacks while assuring them of his full support.

The minister also asked the police to ensure the security of Christian houses of worship. Christians make up roughly 2.3 percent of India's one-billion-strong population.

mg/kms (Reuters, dpa)