ICC Note:
A Christian mission school in India’s West Bengal state was attacked by unknown assailants yesterday, June 3, as Christian persecution in India continues to rise. The assailants broke into the school, destroyed furnishings, damaged the school’s water system, and wrote offensive graffiti on the school’s walls. This is only the latest in a series of attacks on Christians both in West Bengal and across the whole of India, something the government has gone at length to deny.
6/4/2015 India (Asia News) – “This is the second serious attack against Christians in West Bengal;” therefore “I express my strongest condemnation,” said Christian activist Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) as he spoke to Asia News about the thugs who vandalized the Believers Church School in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas District, in north-eastern India.
The attack against the mission school took place yesterday, 3 June, when a group of unidentified assailants attacked the facility, destroying furnishings and furniture, and pouring disinfectant into the water filtration system.
The vandals also took food supplies and other material stored in the school’s warehouse, throwing them around in various parts of the school. Adding insult to injury, they wrote offensive graffiti on school walls.
The attack caused “panic” and “terror” among those present in the school (pictured), witnesses said. The people in charge of the Christian school filed a formal complaint with police in Madhyamgram.
Investigators have opened a file and are looking for the perpetrators of the attack. However, nothing has come to light about the attackers’ identity so far.
In India, “Christians are a tiny and peaceful community,” GCIC president Sajan K. George told AsiaNews. “They serve the nation through their educational institutions without discrimination.” For this reason, “the attack against a school by anonymous assailants is even worse.”
“It is necessary to keep the peace and ensure the security of each citizen,” said Fr Savarimuthu Sankar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Delhi.
India, he noted, has seen a spate of incidents characterized by acts of discrimination, abuse and violence against minorities and their places of worship. In view of this, the government should protect everyone.
…