Nuns attacked in Gujarat

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD, AUG. 28. Three Christian nuns from an orphanage in Jobat village of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh, and some drivers, all Muslims, were allegedly beaten up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists in Dahod town of Gujarat on Saturday and were also later subjected to harassment at the police station there when they went to lodge a complaint.

The All-India Christian Council executive member, Mr. Samson Christian, said here today, that the nuns were accompanying the children of the orphanage run by the I. P. Mission at Jobat village on a picnic to Kali Dam near Dahod on August 25 when the incident occurred.

The four vehicles which carried the picnic party had stopped near a shop in Dahod on way to the Kali Dam for refreshments when some of the children felt like vomiting. One of the nuns, Ms. Anju Ashwin, had taken the children, for a wash, to a nearby petrol pump, which happened to be owned by a local VHP leader and activist.

Mr. Christian, who visited Dahod on Monday, claimed that even as the petrol pump owner was engaged in heated discussions with the nun, who was joined by others accompanying the picnickers, about 30 VHP and Bajrang Dal workers gathered there and started beating them up with sticks and lathis. The workers asked them ``to clear out of Dahod immediately.''

As the nuns spotted a senior police officer driving past, they stopped the vehicle and requested him to come to their rescue but the official, on seeing the VHP leader, refused to intervene and told them to lodge a complaint at the city police station.

But the police personnel at the station not only refused to entertain a complaint, they also summoned the drivers, and started to beat them up, along with the nuns for arguing with the VHP and Dal workers. One of the drivers ran away in fear leaving the vehicle behind.

Finally, the missionaries returned to Jobat in the night and registered a complaint with the Jobat police who in turn sent it to the Dahod SP.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : SC notice to Arundathi Roy
Next     : CBI gets Bofors papers