Christian organisations seek Maharashtra govt's help to avoid Delhi like vandalism

State home minister says law and order machinery is put on an alert

Following the alleged vandalism and theft at a convent school in Delhi on Friday, Christian organisation in Maharashtra have appealed to the government to prevent such incidents in the state.

This was the seventh such attack — the previous six were on churches — on a Christian organisation in Delhi since December.

On Friday, Bombay Catholic Sabha with a couple of other organisations took out a rally in Mumbai to express their concern. A protracted programme has also been planned.

From February 1, non-government organisation Save Our Land will launch a campaign to send 1 lakh post cards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing for stronger measure to check the groups or people carrying out attacks on Christian and other minority organisations.

Dolphy D’souza, the former president of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, said the series of attacks pointed towards a dangerous trend, where fringe elements were not scared of perpetuating such incidents.

“We will continue to appeal to the state government and the Centre to increase vigil and maintain law and order. There are about 250 schools and colleges and Christian institutions in Mumbai alone more than 600 in the rest of Maharashtra. The government needs to ensure the safety and security of these organisations,” he said.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil told Business Standard: “Already, three high-level meetings have taken place to take stock of the situation. Some schools and organisations have been shortlisted, where vigil has been stepped up and very soon high definition CCTVs will be installed. Besides, man-points have been created.”

He added the government has put the law and order machinery on an alert. “All necessary measures based on inputs received will be taken to avoid any untoward incident.”