June 11. 2000
Press Release
Dr. Y. P. Chhibbar, General Secretary, PUCL has issued the following Statement.
There have been, in the past a few days, a series of crimes targeting the
Churches and the Christians. Brother George Kuzhikandam was brutally murdered
in the Assissi Ashram in Navada near Mathura. Powerful explosions rocked two
Churches at Ongole and Tadepalligudem in Andhra Pradesh. A bomb exploded in
St. Andrews Church in Vasco Da Gama in Goa. Explosions took place at the Roman
Catholic Church at Wadi, Chittapur, Karnataka. The Chief Minister of UP labeled
the murder of Brother George Kuzhikandam as an ordinary case of crime not related
to anti-Christian violence. The Andhra Chief Minister claimed the explosions
at Ongole due to politics within the Church. Another theory advanced by the
UP Chief Minister is the pet theory of the Union Home Minister, ISI agents are
behind the crimes. All these theories have been officially advanced without
a proper enquiry.
The PUCL demands a proper high level enquiry by a Commission headed by a Retired
Supreme Court Judge with representatives of the National Human Rights Commission
and the National Commission for Minorities on it.
Y. P. Chhibbar Ph.D.
General Secretary
(PUCL Bulletin, July 2000)