1. Lai Mohammed rejects the claim of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, noting that Boko Haram has killed more Muslims than Christians.
2. The violence in Nigeria stems from a mix of extremism, criminality, governance failures, and socio-economic issues, not simply Muslim–Christian tensions.
3. The group began by attacking Muslims who opposed its extremist ideology, showing its takfiri
4. Its actions such as killings, kidnappings, and opposition to education go against core Islamic principles, making it an adversary rather than a representative of Islam.
5. The “genocide” narrative oversimplifies reality and can mislead international responses, highlighting the need for a more accurate and nuanced understanding.

In an era shaped by rapid information flows and polarised narratives, conflicts are often reduced to simplistic binaries; frequently framed along religious lines. Recent remarks by Lai Mohammed, former Minister of Information and Culture of Nigeria, offer a timely intervention in correcting one such narrative: the claim of a targeted “Christian genocide” in Nigeria. Speaking at Abbey College Cambridge, Lai Mohammed argued that insurgent violence, particularly by Boko Haram, has claimed more Muslim lives than Christian ones, challenging widespread assumptions about the nature of the conflict.

This assertion does not seek to minimise the suffering of any community. Rather, it compels a more comprehensive understanding of Nigeria’s security crisis: one rooted not in religious extermination, but in a complex web of extremism, criminality, governance challenges, and socio-economic distress.

The Misleading Simplicity of Religious Framing

The tendency to interpret violence in Nigeria as a straightforward Muslim-versus-Christian conflict has gained traction in global discourse, particularly in parts of the Western media and advocacy circles. Yet, as Lai Mohammed pointed out, such a framing risks distorting reality. Boko Haram, whose name loosely translates to “Western education is forbidden,” did not begin as an anti-Christian movement. Its early targets were, in fact, Muslims, particularly those who embraced modern education and rejected extremist interpretations of Islam.

This internal targeting reveals a critical truth: Boko Haram’s ideology is fundamentally takfiri, meaning it declares other Muslims as apostates and legitimate targets. In its formative years, the group’s violence was directed overwhelmingly inward, against Muslim communities that did not conform to its rigid worldview.

Over time, the group widened its scope of attacks to include Christians, driven less by theological motives and more by strategic intent. As Lai Mohammed frankly noted, assaults on Christians tend to draw greater international attention. In a media-driven age, the spectacle of interfaith violence heightens visibility, attracts funding, and enhances the notoriety of extremist organisations.

Terrorism Without Theology

To understand Boko Haram solely through a religious lens is to misunderstand its nature. As highlighted in earlier scholarly critiques, the group’s actions—from mass killings to the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok—stand in stark contradiction to Islamic teachings. Renowned Islamic scholars and institutions worldwide have unequivocally condemned such acts as un-Islamic.

Islam’s foundational principles emphasise the sanctity of life, the pursuit of knowledge, and the dignity of women. These are the values that Boko Haram systematically violates. Its campaign against education, especially for girls, directly opposes the very first Qur’anic revelation: “Read.” Similarly, practices such as forced marriages and abductions have no legitimacy within Islamic jurisprudence.

Thus, Boko Haram is not merely a violent group operating under religious pretexts; it is, in many ways, an adversary of the very religion it claims to represent. It exploits religious language while undermining its ethical core.

Banditry and the Politics of Crime

Lai Mohammed’s remarks also addressed another critical misconception: the religious interpretation of banditry in northern Nigeria. He argued that these acts are primarily criminal, not ideological. The perpetrators and victims often share the same ethnic and religious backgrounds, predominantly Hausa-Fulani Muslims.

This observation underscores a broader point: much of Nigeria’s violence is driven by economic desperation, weak state capacity, and organised crime rather than doctrinal conflict. Cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, and territorial disputes are manifestations of governance gaps, not religious wars.

Reducing these issues to religious persecution not only obscures their root causes but also risks inflaming tensions that are otherwise manageable within Nigeria’s historically pluralistic society.

A Tradition of Coexistence

Despite its challenges, Nigeria has long been a model of interfaith coexistence. Lai Mohammed pointed to the example of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, representing a Muslim-Christian household, as emblematic of the country’s social fabric. Across Nigeria, interfaith marriages, shared communities, and everyday interactions reflect a lived reality far removed from the narrative of existential religious conflict.

As Lai Mohammed aptly noted, ordinary Nigerians are more likely to disagree over economic issues than theological ones. This insight is crucial. It suggests that the primary concerns of citizens, jobs, security, and stability, transcend religious identity.

The Danger of “Fake News” in Conflict Zones

Labelling the “Christian genocide” narrative as “fake news,” Lai Mohammed raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: how do misinformation and selective reporting shape international perceptions?

In conflict zones, narratives can be weaponised. Advocacy groups, political actors, and even well-meaning observers may inadvertently amplify incomplete or skewed accounts. While highlighting human rights abuses is essential, doing so without context can lead to policy missteps and deepen divisions on the ground.

A more responsible approach requires distinguishing between targeted persecution and indiscriminate violence. In Nigeria’s case, the latter is far more representative of reality.

None of this is to deny the severity of Nigeria’s security crisis. Boko Haram remains a brutal insurgency responsible for thousands of deaths and widespread displacement. Its atrocities against Muslims and Christians alike demand urgent and sustained action.

However, effective responses must be grounded in accurate diagnosis. Mischaracterising the conflict as a religious genocide risks diverting attention from the structural issues that sustain violence: poverty, corruption, weak institutions, and lack of education.

The international community, therefore, has a responsibility to engage with Nigeria based on evidence rather than assumption. This includes supporting counter-terrorism efforts, strengthening governance, and investing in education and economic development, especially in the country’s most vulnerable regions.

The tragedy of Boko Haram is not that it represents Islam, but that it distorts it. The greater tragedy would be if the world, in its haste to categorise, fails to see this distinction. Lai Mohammed’s remarks serve as a reminder that truth in complex conflicts is rarely convenient. Nigeria’s crisis is not a story of one religion targeting another; it is a story of extremism preying on vulnerability, of criminals exploiting chaos, and of a nation striving, despite immense challenges, to preserve its pluralistic identity. Recognising this complexity is not an exercise in denial. It is the first step toward meaningful solutions.

A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is a Classical Islamic scholar with a Sufi background and English-Arabic-Urdu Translator.

Courtesy: newageislam.com

The post Beyond the Narrative of “Genocide”: Understanding Boko Haram, Religion, and Reality in Nigeria appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The venue is Egypt. The era is the reign of Abd al Malik (685-705 AD). The account that follows is extracted from Thomas Arnold’s book, The Preaching of Islam (1896, revised 1913) — that is considered one of the earliest intensively researched Western works challenging the highly misconceived notion that Islam was primarily spread by the sword. Ground-breaking in its time and for this era as well, the book offers a balanced counter-narrative to propagandist narratives presenting Islam as inherently coercive and intolerant of other faiths.

Sir Thomas Walker Arnold (1864–1930) was a British orientalist and historian of Islamic art and culture. He taught at the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (now Aligarh Muslim University) and later at the School of Oriental Studies in London. Arnold was respected for his relatively fair-minded scholarship compared to many of his contemporaries, avoiding overt polemics in his treatment of Islam.

The following account draws on his referenced book (p.66, 67) relates to the new churches built in Egypt in the early period of Islamic rule. The contribution of the distinguished author – who was later knighted and the Publication House are posthumously recognized and extract for the referenced book is shown under asterisk:

“a wealthy Christian of Edessa, named Athanasius, erected in his native city a fine church dedicated to the Mother of God, and a Baptistery in honour of the picture of Christ that was reputed to have been sent to King Akbar; he also built a number of churches and monasteries in various parts of Egypt, among them two magnificent churches in Fustat. Some Christian chamberlains in the service of `Abd al-Aziz b. Marwan (brother of `Abd al-Malik), the governor of Egypt, obtained permission to build a church in Halwan, which was dedicated to St. John, though this town was a Muslim creation.

“In A.D. 711 a Jacobite church was built at Antioch by order of the Caliph al-Walid (705-715). In the first year of the reign of Yazid II (A.D.720) Mar Elias, the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch, made a solemn entry into Antioch, accompanied by his clergy and monks, to consecrate a new church, which he had caused to be built; and in the following year he consecrated another church in the village of Samada, in the district of Antioch, and the only opposition he met with was from a rival Christian sect that accepted the council of Chaldecon.

“In the following reign Khalid al-Qasari, who was governor of Arabian and Persian Iraq from 724-738, built a church for his mother, who was a Christian to worship in. In 759 the building of a church at Nisibis was completed, on which the Nestorian bishop, Cyprian, had expended a sum of 56,000 Dinars. From the same century dates the church Abu Sirjah in the ancient Roman fortress in old Cairo. In the reign of al-Mahdi (775-785) a church was erected in Baghdad for the use of the Christian prisoners that had been taken captive during the numerous campaigns against the Byzantine empire.

“Another church was built in the same city, in the reign of Haroon al-Rashid (786-809), by the people of Samalu, who had submitted to the Caliph and received protection from him; during the same reign, Sergius, the Nestorian Metropolitan of Basra, received permission to build a church in that city, though it was a Muslim foundation, having been created by the Caliph Umar in the year 638, and a magnificent church was erected in Babylon in which were enshrined the bodies of the prophets Daniel and Ezechiel.

“When al-Mamun (813-833) was in Egypt he gave permission to two of his chamberlains to erect a church on al-Muqattam, a hill near Cairo; and by the same Caliph’s leave a wealthy Christian named Bukkam, built several fine churches at Bura in Egypt. The Nestorian patriarch, Timotheus, who died AD 820 erected a church at Takrit and a monastery at Baghdad. In the 10th century, the beautiful Coptic church of Safayan was built in Fustat. A new church was built at Jiddah in the reign of al-Zahr, the 7th Fatimid caliph of Egypt (1020-1025). New churches and monasteries were  also built in the reign of Abbasid al Mustadi dedicated to Our Lady the Pure Virgin.

“Indeed so far from the development of Christian church being hampered by the establishment of Mohammadan rule, the history of the Nestorian exhibits a remarkable outburst of religious life and energy from the time of their becoming subject to Muslims.”

—–

Muhammad Yunus, a Chemical Engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, and a retired corporate executive has been engaged in an in-depth study of the Qur’an since early 90’s, focusing on its core message. He has co-authored the referred exegetic work, which received the approval of al-Azhar al-Sharif, Cairo in 2002, and following restructuring and refinement was endorsed and authenticated by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl of UCLA, and published by Amana Publications, Maryland, USA, 2009.

First Published on newageislam.com

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As the next General elections are approaching the RSS-BJP have activated their attempts to woo the Christian community. As such the present plight of Christian community is reflected in various national-international reports and indices of religious freedom. Two incidents of persecution take place every day as per Vada Na Todo Abhiyan (Don’t break your promise, Campaign). In UP “…100 pastors and even ordinary men and women, are in jail under charges of illegal conversions when all they were doing was celebrating birthdays or conducting Sunday prayers.”

Government is also investigating agencies against Cardinal and Pastors as per the memorandum cited above. As per United Christian Forum 302 attacks took place against Christians in the first seven months of 2022. A petition filed by Archbishop Peter Machado, National Solidarity Forum and Evangelical Fellowship of India states that “state has failed to take immediate and necessary action against groups that have caused widespread violence and used hate speech against the Christian community, including attacks at their places of worship and disruption of prayer meetings.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has for the fourth consecutive year declared India as a country of particular concern and asked the US Administration to make their policies accordingly.

As per Open Doors, “Since the current government came to power in May 2014 pressure on Christians has risen dramatically… Hindu extremists attack others with impunity, using extreme violence in some area…Increasing numbers of states are also implementing anti-conversion laws, supposedly to stop Hindus being forcibly converted to other religions, but in reality, they are often used as an excuse to harass and intimidate Christians…Being a pastor is one of the riskiest vocations in the country today. Hindu extremists target them with violent attacks to sow fear in the wider Christian community.”

The present plight of Christian community is rooted in the Hindu Nationalist discourse where Islam and Christianity are regarded as foreign religions. RSS’s second Sarsanghchalak, M.S. Golwalkar in his book Bunch of Through states that Muslims, Christians and Communists are an internal threat to Hindu nation.

The RSS propaganda in Shakhas is conducted on these lines. With the increase in intensity of Hindu nationalist activities the anti-Christian violence began in the Adivasi areas to begin with. The propaganda was that Christian missionaries are doing conversion through force fraud and allurement. As such Christianity is one of the oldest religions of India. One account says that it began with St Thomas arriving on Malabar Coast and setting up a Church in AD 52. Other accounts date it to somewhere in 4^th Century AD. Today the percentage of Christians in India, as per the population census is 2.3% (2011). Interestingly there is constant drop in this from 1971 data, 1971- 2.60%, 1981-2.44%. 1991-2.34%, 2001- 2.30%, 1911-2.30% (Population census figures.)

The constant propaganda on these lines led to rise in anti-Christian violence manifesting in Dangs (Gujarat, December 25 1998 to January 3, 1999). This was followed by the most ghastly burning alive of Pastor Graham Stains on the night of 22^nd January 1999 by RSS affiliate Bajrang Dal’s activist Rajendra Pal aka Dara Singh, who is currently undergoing life term. This act was described by the then President of India Dr. K.R. Narayanan is the one belonging to the “World’s inventory of black deeds”. Stains was an Australian missionary working in Keonjhar, Manoharpur, Orissa. When he was sleeping in the open jeep with his two sons Timothy and Philip, Dara Singh mobilized people to burn him, the charge was that in the garb of work for Leprosy patients, he was doing the conversion work.

The Wadhva Commission formed in the aftermath concluded that Pastor Stains was not involved in the work of conversions and that there was no increase in the population of Christians in the area where he was working. The incidents of anti-Christian violence continued in remote areas mostly around Christmas time. The violence which flared up in Kandhamal in August 25, 2008 was the most horrific and led to the killings of over 100 Christians, many acts of heinous rape and many Churches were burnt.

The anti-Christian violence is a low radar activity where the priests working in remote areas are apprehended when they are conducting the prayer meetings in particular. The Bajrang Dal and its clones obstruct these meetings and many of the priests are arrested and harassed.

One such act of prolonged violence is currently going on in Manipur for the last seven months. The Kukis, who are predominantly Christians, are under the hammer with double Engine Sarkar, I Manipur and Centre both it is BJP Government. The Prime Minister clearly indicated that controlling this ongoing anti-Christian violence is not among his priorities. He has been travelling all over but no time for Manipur. The social activists and brave journalists have made some efforts to visit the area and douse the fire, but with an apathetic Government such deep cleavages cannot be repaired.

The present effort of Prime Minister Modi is primarily aimed at image creation optics for electoral gains. In Kerala many affluent Christians are being lured by this Hindu majoritarian politics. Surely some of the top religious leadership is also tempted to associate with the present regime to save their skin from the pangs of ED-IT etc.

We need to realize the strategy being employed by Modi and company to on one hand marginalize the Christian community and on the other to woo them for electoral benefits.

The post Modi’s Attempt to Woo Christian Community appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The public campaign, titled Not in our Name, Christmas Celebrations with Prime Minister, galvanised 3,100 signatures in just a few days. Evocatively worded, the statement speaks of the ongoing tensions in Manipur (since May 3, 2023) when Kuki Zo and Meitei Christians have been a special target as also the targeted attacks on the community in Uttar Pradesh and even Chhattisgarh.

The statement affixed to the signature campaign states:

“We are in the Christmas Season: a time when we are all called to internalize and actualize the gifts of joy, love, peace, truth, justice and hope which Jesus our Saviour offers to us!

“Today we also need to take legitimate pride in the fact that Christians in India have contributed significantly to the country: in the freedom struggle, as members of the Constituent Assembly, and ever since independence, in every sphere of public life particularly in the educational, medical, social, cultural and political sectors. The services of the Christian community to the poor and marginalized, the excluded and the exploited, irrespective of caste and creed, is unparalleled in the nation today. This fact has been duly and consistently acknowledged by citizens from all walks of life.

“However in the recent past, particularly since 2014, Christians in India have been victims of continued attacks and vilification from members of the ruling regime, all over the country. Christians and Christian schools and institutions have been hounded and harassed, their places of worship destroyed, they have been denied their ordinary rights as citizens and been subject to denigration and demonization. The anti-conversion laws which have been put into place in BJP-ruled States are used as weapons against the fundamental right to preach, practise and propagate one’s religion. Celebrations in schools have been stopped and Christians have been arrested without any warrant and put behind bars for no offence of theirs.

“Since May 3, 2023, the Christians of Manipur have been subject to constant attacks which still continues unabated and with apparent approval from the BJP Governments both in the State and at the Centre.

“In the wake of all this, it is ironic that the Prime Minister hosted around 100 Christian representatives of different denominations on Christmas morning for a celebration. While it is certainly within his right as Prime Minister to host a reception for whomsoever he wishes one naturally would question the intention of this reception when he has not condemned a single attack on the Christians, under his Prime Ministership. Interestingly, while he praised Jesus Christ and waxed eloquent about the services of the Christian community, he did not share  remorse or empathy for the situation of the Christians in the country today.

 “Those invited to the Christmas reception were a select group of Christians. While the invitation was from the Prime Minister, here was an opportunity for them to courteously decline the invite in the light of what has been happening to the Christians in Manipur and elsewhere. 

Hence their acceptance of this invite was not in our name!

“The Christian representatives who spoke, thanked the Prime Minister profusely for many things! The hard truth is that the Prime Minister and his Government have consistently disregarded their constitutional mandate, be it to the minorities, the Adivasis, the Dalits, the backward castes, the farmers, labourers, migrants, etc. 

Hence their gratitude to the Prime Minister was not in our name!

 “When these Christian representatives spoke at the reception, they were giving a tacit approval to the omission and commission of this government. 

Hence their words were not in our name!

“India today fares extremely badly on every global index be it in the economic, educational, health or social sphere. By their lack of prophetic courage to highlight the grim realities in the country today, these Christian representatives publicly betrayed the Gospel of Jesus and His values of truth, justice, joy, love, dignity and peace. Through their culpable silence, they failed to uphold the values enshrined in the Constitution of India. 

Hence their silence was not in our name!

“Today we the Christians of India together with conscious and committed citizens pledge to protect and promote the Constitution, Country and Citizens of India and to work with and work for all those who are victims of an unjust, insincere and authoritarian regime.”

Among others, the following prominent members of the Christian community are signatories including Derek O’brien, Member of Rajya Sabha, M.G.Devashayam IAS (retired) and John Shilsi IPS (retired). Others include Dr Astrid Lobo-Gajiwala, Ms Flavia Agnes , Ms. Pamela Philipose, Ms. Minakshi Singh, Sr Patsy Khan , Fr. M.J. George  SJ ( Rome), Fr. Xavier Jeyaraj SJ (Rome), Rajan Solomon, Fr. Anand IMS, Sr. Mudita Sodder RSCJ, Fr. Paulson Veliyannoor, CMF, Sr Molly Fernandes , Capt. Joseph C. D’Souza , Marine Consultant

The complete list of signatories may be read here:

Related:

United Christian Forum: Average two Christians attacked in India every day, 287 incidents reported from UP itself

Tripura: Indian Christians voice protest on rally on Christmas Day

Over 500 cases of attacks against Christians in 8 months of 2023

Irony of 2023: High persecution of Christians, PM hailed by some religious leaders

The post Not In Our Name, says Christians to some leaders who celebrated Christmas with PM Modi appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“The Christian Community, while thanking the Prime Minister who endeared himself to Christians with his goodwill and hosting of Christmas celebrations at his residence, makes a strong appeal to him to address the pending issues and respond positively to the concerns of the community,” he said. “If done, the Christians will remain ever grateful to him.” In a much-criticised interaction of some religious leaders at the PM’s residence in Delhi on Christmas, Modi while heaping praise on the community had said that the values of compassion, inclusivity and justice for all propagated by Jesus Christ also served as a “guiding light” in his government’s development journey.

“To take positively forward Modiji’s Christmas message of peace and goodwill, it would be an excellent move on his part to address the concerns of the Christian community by taking into confidence the cardinals, bishops, priests, and the religious and lay leaders of the community,” he said in a release. Machado said that instances of hate speech against Christians, attacks on churches and Christian institutions and the promulgation of anti-conversion laws in more and more states has led to deprivation and usurpation of the constitutional rights of Christians, which can be best handled by the Prime Minister’s Office with timely interventions.

“We all look up to the Prime Minister to give a soothing touch to the burning problem of Manipur, which may be an ethnic issue, but has left deep scars on the people of the Christian community,” he said.

“Further the Prime Minister can surely take Christian leaders into confidence in resolving the Dalit Christian reservations issue in a statesmanship type of leadership by granting equal status to all Dalits, be they Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians,” he added.

Also noting that as Modiji mentioned in his Christmas message, the Christian community is working through its dedicated and selfless service towards creating a society where there is justice for all and for an inclusive society, the Archbishop said. “These values, as he mentioned, serve as a guiding light in our journey of national development, provided all communities are respected, protected and taken into confidence.”

Only yesterday, December 28, a group of citizens had, in a public statement expressed scepticism at the high praise heaped on Modi by a few Christian religious leaders on Christmas pointing out the documented attacks on the community by hardliners this year.

Related:

Irony of 2023: High persecution of Christians, PM hailed by some religious leaders

United Christian Forum: Average two Christians attacked in India every day, 287 incidents reported from UP itself

Tripura: Indian Christians voice protest on rally on Christmas Day

Over 500 cases of attacks against Christians in 8 months of 2023

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In a video accessed by Sabrang India, there are disturbing visuals of saffron clad men assaulting the attendees violently. The ordeal reportedly escalated to a disturbing level, with reports emerging of victims being not only violently thrashed but some of them also subjected to attempts to forcibly remove their clothing.

The mob also later gathered in large numbers outside the local police station. According to Outlook India, the mob shouted “Jai Shree Ram,” towards members of the Christian community who sought refuge within the station.

According to The Wire, violence had unfolded on August 20, when a group of around 35 to 40 assailants armed with sticks, rods, and even swords, launched a brutal attack on the Christian community. The incident happened at 10:45 AM, within the walls of Siyyon Prathan Bhawan in the Tahirpur locality. The attackers barged into the prayer hall, amplifying their message of “Hindu rashtra banayenge, Jai Shree Ram” through loud speakers. 

 After the initial turmoil, the victims tried to seek refuge within the GTB Enclave police station. However, their attempt to file a First Information Report (FIR) was met with obstacles as outside the station, the mob of over 300 individuals continued their vociferous chants of “Jai Shree Ram,” creating an environment of tension and uncertainty.

Speaking on the incident to Wire, Pastor Satpal Bhati expressed profound dismay, saying, “The Christian community lives in constant fear, fearing for their lives.” This sentiment echoes the broader sentiment of the community, who felt targeted and unsafe within their own neighbourhood as attacks against Christian minorities increase.

This incident comes in the wake of rising violence against minorities. According to a report by Sabrang India, in the first half of 2023, there were alarming incidents of violence against Christians in India, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for 155 cases, as reported by the United Christian Forum (UCF). Whereas, across India, there were 400 such incidents, regardless of the ruling political party, marking a rising trend when compared to 274 incidents during the same period the previous year.

Related 

13 of Rajasthan’s 33 districts host Trishul Diksha Samarohs, spawn hate against Christians, & Muslims

Intolerance on the Rise: Unveiling Disturbing Trends in India

Under Guise of Religious Conversions, Attacks by Hindutva Groups Worsen Situation for Christians in India

India 131st out of 180 countries on child survival rankings: WHO-UNICEF-Lancet report

The post Christians attacked during prayers in national capital appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Last week, a video of one such incident had surfaced on social media, in which a Christian principal of a school in Pune was being thrashed by a mob for purportedly forcing students to recite Christian prayers and for having installed CCTVs in the girls’ toilet.

The said incident had took place on July 4. It is essential to note that while reports were suggesting that Alexander Coates Reed, principal of DY Patil High School in Talegaon, was being assaulted for installing “cameras in the Girl’s washrooms”, the mob thrashing him were members of the Bajrang Dal, among others, raising chants of “Har Har Mahadev”. It was reported that soon after the incident, a police complaint was filed by by a parent at the Talegaon MIDC police station. The police had also clarified that during the initial investigation, no evidence of students being forced to “recite Christian prayers” was found, and the said CCTVs had not been installed inside the toilets but in the common areas near the wash basins in both the girls’ and boys’ washrooms.

Now, a report by the Newslaundry has revealed that the complainant in the aforementioned matter, the parent of a Class 8 student, stated that the religious allegations are “rubbish”. Instead, she said that she was upset about the CCTVs, her daughter once receiving a “punishment”, and the staff being “rude” to her when she complained about it.

As per the copy of the complaint filed with the police station, accessed by the Newslaundry, the following allegations have been made against the principal: “Biblical prayers are recited in school, Hindu festivals are not celebrated and students are repeatedly said to not follow the act as per Hindu traditions. If any parent talks about this issue, their wards are harassed…but the most condemnable act is the installation of CCTV cameras in ladies’ washroom.”

When the complainant was contacted by Newslaundry, she clearly provided that she was “upset” about her daughter being punished by teachers, and the principal “supporting” the teachers. She alleged that in June, her daughter and other students were asked by a teacher to “rearrange some benches” as a punishment. She further provided that she had planned to go to the school on July 4 with other parents to complain, but the parent had no issues about “religious” concerns at the school. She did not provide a clear answer, or was herself confused, about how the Bajrang Dal got involved. 

A contrasting statement was provided by Nitin Mahajan, coordinator of the Bajrang Dal in western Maharashtra, to Newslaundry, who had stated that that the parent had approached his group on July 1 with a “complaint”, and then asked them to accompany her to the school on July 4. 

As provided in the report, Mahajan stated that “DY Patil High School is operated by a Christian principal, Alexander. There are also 2-4 Christian teachers and one Muslim teacher. The parent said during free time, teachers would tell students how Hindus are different from Christians. Morning prayers were from the Bible. We don’t have a problem with that, in fact they should do prayers of all religions. But then they started telling students to go to church. They gave more marks to students who went to church.” It is essential to note that none of these allegations could be proved. Mahajan further said the parent told him that students who didn’t comply were “targeted” and “subject to punishments”. The abovementioned claims allegedly made by the parent while speaking to the Bajrang Dal coordinator were deemed enough for them to destroy the reputation of a principal by chasing him around his own school, beating him, tearing his shirt, raising false allegations of conversion and releasing the said video. 

What stands out from this incident is the presence of the Bajrang Dal at the school premise even though the complainant (parent) did not once mention approaching the Bajrang Dal and how this incident escalated and took a communal turn. 

Related:

Principal of Pune school assaulted by extremist Hindu mob, police allege accusation raised to be false

Chhattisgarh: Bajrang Dal disrupts Christian prayer meet; religious conversion alleged

Targeted attacks continue as Bajrang Dal’s disturbing trend of violence against Muslims goes unchecked

Bajrang Dal threatens Muslim seller: Shop’s name “Zayed” instead of “Raju”

Maharashtra: CJP files complaint with Nagpur police against two trishul distribution events, organised by Bajrang Dal & VHP

If you kill one of us, we will kill thousands of yours: Bajrang Dal

The post Christian principal assault: No evidence of ‘forced’ Christian prayers found, complainant unable to explain involvement of Bajrang Dal appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Eight people, including six men and two women falsely accused of forcibly converting children to Christianity in Madhya Pradesh in May 2017 were found not guilty by the Ratlam Sessions Court. The final judgment in the case was delivered on February 19, 2020.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) that represented the eight Christians accused of conversion issued a press statement saying, “On May 22, 2017 they were escorting the children to a Bible camp in Nagpur when the railway police separated the young children from them.  What followed was a tale of unspeakable harassment of the children and the accused at the hands of the authorities.” The statement added, “The ADF India legal team had to fight at every stage to secure them justice. They had to move the High Court to reunite the children with their parents. They had to persist for 3 months to secure the bail of the accused. And now, they have secured their acquittal.”

The charges were baseless as the parents of the children were Christian themselves, so there was no question of conversion. Many of them hail from the Bhil Adivasi community. MP has strict anti-conversion laws that require those wishing to convert have to give prior notice and police can investigate to check if the conversions are forced. 

“Justice has finally been done!” reacted Mrs. Tehmina Arora, Director, ADF India. She went on to add, “But we must not forget the toll that such false cases take on the families. No one should be targeted for their faith. The anti-conversion laws are tools to harass and target Christians and should be repealed since they restrict the freedom of religion guaranteed under the Constitution of India.”

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In a unique effort at inter-faith collaboration and dialogue, Goa's influential Muslims and the Roman Catholic Church have come together in the state backing a civil society collective called Goa for Beef — Beef for Goa.

Also, the Qureshi Meat Traders Association filed a writ petition Monday before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, seeking a stay on the May 26 central notification banning the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter. The Qureshi Meat Traders Association, part of the collective, made the Union and state governments respondents in the petition — the Manohar Parrikar government has been silent on the central notification that has hit Goa’s meat industry and tourism. The collective expects to hear the “justification behind the ban on trading at cattle markets”.
 
Anwar Bepari, representing the Qureshi Meat Traders Association, said one of the important points raised in the petition is the ban on purchase of animals for religious sacrifice. “This is important for us because in two months we have Bakr Eid which will open other issues if this notification goes through.”
 
The collective, which has held meetings at the Clergy Home in Margao, was formed after the June 1 incident when trucks travelling to transport bullocks were stopped at the Goa-Karnataka border following the central notification.
 
Abdul Matin, representing the Muslim community, said the collective was formed because they found no representation from the new government on the beef issue. “We were tired of their silence when other state governments and chief ministers were sending letters against the notification,” Matin said.
 
Calling the collective a product of “inter-faith dialogue”, Father Savio Fernandes, its co-convener, said “it was the need of our times”. He is also executive secretary of Council for Social Justice and Peace, “a body of the Church” formed in 2005 to look into cases of rights violations.
 
“We were quiet but now the issue affects livelihood and is an act of infringement,” Father Fernandes said of the central notification.
 
“In this collective, there are three formal members — the Church’s body, that is this office; the Muslim community; and, representatives of the meat traders in Goa. We have come together specifically for this issue as this is is a direct attack on the secular nature of our country. We now feel that the time has come where we will have to meet more often than before. Inter-faith dialogues will have to increase,” he said.
 
In meetings in Margao and at the office of the Council for Social Justice and Peace, convenors and meat traders highlighted loss of livelihood because of the notification — the state relies on cattle markets in Karnataka and the slaughter house in Ponda for beef.
 
“Beef was always the cheapest food in Goa and forms an important weekend dish in most households. Even our traditional cuisine is styled around beef,” Father Fernandes said. “Priests have been sending us feedback from the people. In fact, we are seeing it ourselves.
 
Many restaurants in Goa have started putting ‘beef not served here’ signs… they do not want trouble,” he said.
 
Bepari said: “Without the market, there is no space to look. With incidents of lynching, one cannot travel anywhere and pick up cattle from any farmer. We are telling our problems to the court through this writ petition since no one seems to be representing us. We are looking to see if there are legal remedies available. Livelihood is not just restricted to us, there are many sectors that will be affectednds

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Asked once whether he considered himself a Hindu, Gandhiji had replied: “Yes I am, I am also a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Jew.

“Respond to every call that excites your spirit.” wrote Sufi poet Rumi long before the Mahatma. And he also wrote this: “Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged”

Now the highly regarded actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has something similar to say through a video he has posted.

Not through the spoken word but through placards Gurmehar Kaur style, he says he is part Hindu, part Muslim, part Sikh, part Christian, part Buddhist, part every other religion of the world. All in equal parts: 16.66% each. But, he adds, he is 100% an artist.

A powerful, poignant message. A message most likely to be lost on the self-proclaimed cow vigilantes and their political mentors.

Last Dussehra, Siddiqui was reportedly denied the chance to play Maarich in his village Ramleela simply because he is a Muslim.

Siddiqui’s upcoming films include Sridevi-starrer Mom, the dance drama Munna Michael and Nandita Das’s Manto.
 

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