India: NHRC concerned by reports of churches vandalised
Graphic: Inside a church
Attacks on religious institutions of minority communities may violate the right to freedom of religion and harm social fabric, said the Commission.
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that a church in Vikaspuri area of Delhi was vandalised on January 14.
Prior to this, reportedly, four other incidents of attacks and suspected arson at Christian religious institutions have occured in Dilshad Garden, Rohini and Jasola areas of Delhi since 1 December 2014.
The Commission has observed that these frequent attacks on the religious institutions of the minority community, if true, may violate the fundamental right to freedom of religion and cause immense harm to the social fabric.
Those people involved in these incidents should be held accountable, the Commission said in a statement.
It has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi, calling for a report on these incidents within four weeks.
The Chief Secretary has also been directed to send a report about the action proposed to be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the national capital.
Date: 20 January 2015
Source: Zee News/ ANI
Image credits
- Inside a church - Claire, Flickr Creative Commons