The News Minute on Monday, October 17, published an article on how Christian communities in Tami Nadu are being targeted systematically by right-wing organisations like the Hindu Munnani that are executing attacks against them. Reporting from Coimbatore, TNM presented the ground reality of communal tensions in the western parts of Tamil Nadu. To understand what mechanisms the state government has to tackle such issues, TNM spoke with Tamil Nadu Minority Commission Chairperson S Peter Alphonse.
Speaking to TNM, Peter Alphonse explained why the number of attacks is high in the western regions of the state. “In these parts of the state, we happen to see the news where people have been asked to not shop at stores owned by Muslims, and the Vinayagar Chaturthi festival is being celebrated as a mass political gathering rather than as a religious festival,” Peter said. “In the same way that the RSS made Gujarat a laboratory and experimented there with its ideology and communal politics, here in Tamil Nadu they (right-wing) have chosen the western belt to experiment,” said Peter.
According to him, the communal atmosphere that prevails in the western region, with the combination of AIADMK's influence and prolonged communal tension in Coimbatore after riots (1997) and bombings (1998), favours right-wing politics.
It is to be noted that according to the UCF (United Christians Forum), there were 227 instances of hate crime in the state between 2014 and 2022 in which Christian communities, pastors, and prayer houses were targeted by Hindutva extremists. Nearly half of the incidents (117) were reported from Kongu and nearby regions, made up by Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Erode, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul and Tirupur.
"After the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, a new trend has emerged where religious minorities and Scheduled Caste (SC) persons are being attacked," said Peter. There is a constant effort made by fringe elements to create enmity between minorities and SC communities. “It is deliberate," he added. According to him, the then AIADMK government made no attempts to protect minorities who were targeted. “They thought any action against these fringe elements would antagonise the Union government. This attitude emboldened the attackers,” he said.
He elaborated on the pattern of the attacks and how they are organised. According to him, in many rural areas, people who cannot afford to build a church in their residential areas, especially SC colonies, conduct prayer services in their own homes. “On many occasions, the attacks against them are orchestrated and the attackers are not residents of the locality,” he said, adding, “but they instigate local residents against minorities by saying that forced conversions are taking place."
“Police are not helpful at all as they cite law and order issues when asking victims to not conduct prayer services, and order the closure of prayer houses. Police also recommend an inquiry by the Revenue Divisional Offices (RDO) which usually lasts for almost three or four years. Some victims have approached the Madras High Court (MHC) and judges have often ruled that disruption of worship violates fundamental rights. Despite the observation of the MHC, the then Tamil Nadu government took no action to safeguard religious minorities,” said Peter.
TNM learned that Tamil Nadu's minority commission has travelled to every district to analyse the situation and submitted its report to MK Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. “We neither encourage worship places that are running on poramboke land nor support religious practices in unauthorised constructions. At the same time, we have lodged complaints against the attackers who instigated violence against minorities conducting prayers in their own houses without disturbing the public,” said Peter.
The report recommends that the Tamil Nadu government issue standard operating procedures (SOP) for getting permissions for prayer houses, along with conditions to be fulfilled to get such permissions. The SOP should also list what the valid objections are and how long it would take for the government to grant permission. “If anyone faces issues with such fringe elements, they can always approach the minority commission to file the complaint and to seek justice” he added.
Peter agreed that many attacks were being reported. He raised concerns over the mindset of bureaucrats even after the new government assumed office. “Only the ruling party and Cabinet Ministers have changed. The mindset of higher officials remains the same. For instance, Coimbatore city police stopped G Ramakrishnan, CPI(M) Politburo member, from saying ‘Gandhi was shot dead by Godse,’ during the event of Gandhi’s death anniversary earlier this year. The Tamil Nadu government runs the administration with such officers,” he said.
“The BJP assumes that minorities vote for the Secular Progressive Alliance, and that there is, hence, no harm in attacking minorities. I ask the DMK, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), and all the secular parties to join hands and politically fight such attacks, as attacks against minorities is more a political issue than a religious dispute,” he said. He reiterated that the DMK government is conscious about the need to protect the constitutional rights of minorities and said that this government is ready to go to any extent to protect them.
When the conversation touched upon the genuineness of the complaints raised by minorities, he said that he has come across many disputes between family members. “We need to verify the veracity of the claims, as sometimes, issues between close relatives also turn out to be communal ones, if any one of the members of the family has converted to another religion,” he said. He added that the commission has come across many such complaints, including a recent one where a pastor distributed pamphlets in a Brahmin street. “This is too much and we do not encourage such acts,” he said.
“Neither Islam nor Christianity accept forced conversions. Genuine conversion, on the other hand, is a constitutionally protected right. It is the responsibility of the elected government to protect this right. Ensuring that citizens enjoy these rights is also the responsibility of the courts. We should evolve ourselves to live in a multicultural society in the future and should respect other communities,” he added.
Watch:The systematic attack on Christians in Tamil Nadu’s Hindutva laboratory