Harassed Indian Christians get morale boost after silent protest

Published: 2006-03-22

JAIPUR, India (CNS) -- Members of the small Christian community in India's Rajasthan state expressed elation when hundreds of activists -- including Muslims and secular groups -- joined them to protest the harassment of Christians. Up to 6,000 Christians and others marched silently in the blazing sun for nearly three miles in the Rajasthan capital, Jaipur, to the state legislature before police blocked them near the state assembly building March 21. "We are very happy that so many groups came in support of us," Bishop Oswald Lewis of Jaipur told Catholic News Service after addressing the three-hour sit-in by Christians. Bishop Lewis called the protest a "huge success," a rare occasion when the small Christian community in the sprawling desert state gathered to protest harassment by Hindus. He and Bishop Ignatius Menezes of Ajmer marched with the protesters. The Christian protest rally had an immediate echo in the state legislature: Opposition parties stalled legislative proceedings by demanding immediate action to end the harassment of Christian minorities.

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