Release International

Officials in the town of Malerkotla in Punjab have imposed a curfew after thousands of Christians staged demonstrations over an arson attack on a church.

Tensions in the town were high after a mob set fire to furniture and valuables inside a Church of North India (CNI) building in a mainly Muslim area late on September 12. Soon afterwards, large numbers of Christians gathered outside the Christian Medical College demanding that officials act swiftly to find the culprits.

Release partner All India Christian Council (AICC) reports that church leaders then gave officials an ultimatum: unless the culprits were arrested by 4pm on September 13, Christians would stage further, larger protests.

When local officials admitted they had not yet made arrests, thousands of Christians demonstrated at the main road junction in Malerkotla, blocking the traffic.

Tensions in the town remain high. Church leaders are now calling on the local administration to cover the cost of repairs to the fire-damaged church. A fact-finding team from AICC has been given official permission to visit Malerkotla.

AICC is one of many Christian organisations campaigning against a Bill introduced by the Hindu nationalist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) which Christians fear would restrict the flow of foreign aid to Indian non-government organisations.

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Bill would require NGOs such as AICC to register every five years and would ban all 'political' organisations from registering at all, offering no clear definition of what the word 'political' might mean in this context. The Bill has been passed by Parliament but still requires the President to sign it before it can pass into law.

(Source: All India Christian Council)

• Pray for calm to be restored in and around Malerkotla. Pray that the arsonists will be found and peaceful relations between different faith groups restored.
• Pray that India's President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will not sign the BJP's Bill without first requiring major amendments to be made to its text.

Back to top