Global Council of Indian Christians

P.B. No. 517, Frazer Town, Bangalore – 560 005 Tel:
E-mail: freedomcouncil@gmail.com Web: www.persecution.in

To,
The Chief Justice of India,
New Delhi

Hon’ble Sirs,

Sub: An Appeal to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and his Companion Judges, to Expunge the Adverse Remarks against Christians, in the Recent SC Verdict on the Murder of Graham Staines and his Children.

Supreme Court's observations in its recent verdict on the murder of Graham Staines and his children, are violative of the principle of natural justice, and also they have gone against the very judgements of the SC itself. The principles of natural justice are those fundamental rules, the breach of which will prevent justice from being “seen to be done.” Natural Justice is being denied to the Christian community and the sweeping remarks by the learned judges without even giving an opportunity to the Christians to defend themselves, has abridged the very concept of natural justice, which the Hon’ble Court has espoused from its inception in the murder case of Graham Staines and two of his children. The judgement is also a slap on the face of all citizens who believe in Jesus Christ, within India and abroad. The SC has the onus of rectifying this grave mistake to secure the safety and security of the Christian community in the country.

As signatories of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and aspiring to be a Member of the UN Security Council, the Government of India has to demonstrate to the International community that the Article 18 of UNDHR is upheld in India.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. And following this historic act of UNDHR, the UN General Assembly has called upon all Member countries in the world to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”

Affiliated : Economic and Social Forum of the United Nations

Since 2006, the Christian community in the country, has been under constant attacks as the Ram Sene and the Bajrang Dal activists have gone on the rampage and attacked Christians, their places of worship and their property and have also beaten up even the innocent nuns inside their own convents. The GCIC has a list of 1400 such attacks including 120 cases of martyrdoms. The National Human Rights Commission, National Commission on Minorities and other human rights organizations in the country have acknowledged and recorded a large scale attacks against Christians, and the recent observation by the Supreme Court on conversion is going to embolden the attackers further still. And, many also fear that this ruling may send wrong signals to courts trying cases of religious violence in Kandhamal and also in other places in the country. Though irreparable damage may have been done already to the 2000 year old Christian community in the country, the Supreme Court must seriously consider expunging these remarks.

In the Staines case, the widow, Gladys Staines, lost her husband and the two children in the hands of the bigots who believe in destroying the ethos of the very idea of India. The only mistake of the hundred plus year Mayurbang Leprosy Mission, headed by Graham Staines and his predecessors was, that they succeeded in near eradication of the leprosy from the most affected area in India. The widow has graciously forgiven the killers of her husband and the two children and demonstrated in front of the world that her belief in Christ helped her to follow the great ideals of our founding fathers.
The architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, has also advocated liberation from centuries old bondage, by liberally embracing the new ideas for emancipation.
Taking into consideration the above facts, the GCIC appeals to the Hon’ble Supreme Court to suo moto expunge the following observation, as a mark of respect for the greatest sacrifice done by Graham Staines and the Christian community in India.
The Supreme Court on January 21, upheld the verdict of the Orissa High Court, and gave a life sentence to Bajrang Dal activist, Dara Singh, who burnt alive an Australian missionary, Graham Staines and two of his sons, Philip and Timothy, aged 9 and 7 years respectively, on the night of January 22, 1999, as they slept in their jeep. The then President of India, K.R. Narayanan, had described the murder as, “one belonging to the inventory of black deeds of history,” and a “monumental aberration from the tradition of tolerance and humanity for which India is known”.
The Christians, very much in line with the stand of Graham Staines’ wife, Gladys Staines, who stunned the world by forgiving the murderers of her husband and two sons, is satisfied with the sentence. The Church and Gladys Staines are happy that the Supreme Court turned down the demand of the Central Bureau of Investigation that Dara Singh and his 12 accomplices be sentenced to death. The Church has consistently stood for life, and not death. What, however, is a shock to all those who believe in India’s secular spirit and its Constitution, is the reference by the Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan, that states: “In the case on hand, though Graham Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death while they were sleeping inside a station wagon at Manoharpur, the intention was to teach a lesson to Graham Staines, about his religious activities, namely, converting poor tribals to Christianity… It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone’s belief by way of use of force, provocation, conversion, incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other. It strikes at the very root of the orderly society, which, the founding fathers of our Constitution dreamt of”.
Is the Supreme Court suggesting that the members of the Bajrang Dal can take it upon themselves “to teach a lesson” to a person serving lepers and the outcastes of the society, whom the likes of Dara Singh, would never even dream of touching, and go to the extent of burning him and his two young sons alive? Before making this observation, did the Supreme Court take into consideration the report of the Wadhwa Commission that was set up to probe the murder of Graham Staines and his children? The Commission had observed: “There has been no extraordinary increase in the Christian population in Keonjhar district between 1991 and 1998. The population had increased by 595 during this period, and could have been caused by natural growth”. Did the Hon’ble Judges care to look at the findings of a civil society group headed by Swami Agnivesh, which after visiting Manoharpur, reported that they did not come across a single person whom Staines had converted? Did the judges recall India’s official census that shows a decline in the Christian population, from 2.6 per cent in 1971 to 2.33 per cent in 2001? Did the judges find out if there was ever a complaint or an FIR filed by anyone about forceful conversions or allurement or any other fraudulent means? Were the allegations made by Dara Singh and the right-wing Hindu fundamentalists more credible than these facts?

JUSTICE D.P. WADHWA COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
REPORT
21ST JUNE, 1999
Graham Stewart Staines: His Background
Graham Stewart Staines was born in Palmwoods, Queensland, Australia. His tryst with Mayurbhanj in the State of Orissa began in the year 1956 when he started corresponding with his pen friend Shantanu Satpathy who lived in Baripada. They used to correspond about flora and fauna of their respective countries. In 1965 Staines visited India for the first time. At the age of fifteen, Staines while still in Australia, saw the photograph of a Mayurbhanj boy Josia Soren, of approximately his age, with severe leprosy. This motivated Staines to come to India and work for leprosy patients. Gladys June Staines, his wife, met him in 1981 while she was visiting India. Gladys says that he impressed her by his love for the people with whom he associated as well as leprosy patients. They were married in 1983. During their fifteen years of marriage their daughter Esther and their two sons Philip and Timothy were born. Gladys states in her affidavit that the children being raised in India considered India as their home. She describes Staines as a person who was faithful in whatever he did, whether it was serving leprosy patients, doing accounts, involving himself in the service of the Rotary club, or caring for animals. She describes him as a loving and faithful husband and a father who was never too busy for his family. Gladys in her evidence says that Graham Staines told her that when he saw the photograph (that of Josia Soren) he was filled with sorrow and compassion for those suffering from leprosy. Because of his love for God, he decided to serve leprosy patients. She further states that he was a brilliant student gaining A's in all subjects in his board exams. In order to support his family, he worked in the office of a local garage in Queensland during the day, and learned accountancy at night school.
Staines joined the Evangelical Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj (EMSM) and started his work in 1965. He first worked at Rairangpur in the district of Mayurbhanj, and later shifted to Baripada (District Headquarters of Mayurbhanj) in 1983. Staines was essentially taking care of the Leprosy Home at Baripada but was also visiting churches on the invitation from local pastors where he took classes from the Bible and also classes in moral teaching. John Mathai, an evangelist with the Indian Evangelical Mission, and a member of the Board of the Leprosy Home, says that Staines used to arrange speakers and take Bible studies in jungle camps. Jungle camps as described by Gladys Staines are camps for Christians wherein people are given instructions in Bible teaching, spiritual upliftment, moral teaching and teaching on health and hygiene. Staines was fluent in Oriya, Santhali and Ho languages. In fact, Staines assisted in translating a part of the Bible into the Ho language. In his application for residence permit in India, Staines describes himself as "a person involved in Missionary work and his work with the Mayurbhanj Leprosy Home and Rajabasa Leprosy Rehabilitation Farm". He also states in the said form that "he preaches the Gospel as and when time permits".
The population in the district of Keonjhar, as per the Census report of the year 1991 and also till 1998, (based on decennial growth rate) is as under:
Sr. No. Category of Population 1991 Census As on 1998 based on decennial growth rate
1. Hindus (which mostly include SCs/STs) 13,05,221 14,93,966
2. Muslims 14,605 16,717
3. Christians (mostly STs) 4,112 4,707
4. Sikhs 1,601 1,832
5. Others 11,487 13,148
From the record, it appears that the motive for the crime was that there were conversions of illiterate and poor Hindu tribals to Christianity on certain premises but these conversions were not necessarily inspired by Staines.
While the jungle camp was so peacefully being conducted, unknown to Staines, a plot to liquidate him was being hatched. Investigations and evidence before the Commission reveal that Dara Singh, a notorious criminal (as per police records) of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj, was busy mobilising tribal youth from different villages in the area to form a militant group under his leadership.
Dara singh:
Dara Singh alias Ravinder Kumar Pal (born October 2, 1962) has been convicted as the leader of the religious militants that murdered Australian missionary and social worker, Graham Staines and his two sons, Philip (aged 9) and Timothy (aged 7) on the night of January 22, 1999. The Grahams were sleeping in their station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district (about 400 km from Bhubaneswar), India, when the militants attacked and set the vehicle on fire, prevented even the children from escaping and murdered all three.
Dara Singh was earlier involved in the cow protection movement of the Bajrang Dal and had earlier targeted Muslim cattle traders. Dara Singh has also been charged in the killing of Muslim trader Shaikh Rehman at Padibeda village in Karanjia sub-division of Mayurbhanj district.[2] and in the murder of Christian priest, Arul Doss, in Jamboni village in the same district[3]. Arul Doss was killed by an arrow as he was escaping after his church was set on fire.
NHRC latest report:
National Human Rights Commission today directed the Orissa government to submit a detailed report on the steps taken in the aftermath of the 2008 Kandhamal communal riots. "The Commission has directed the state government to submit a report and a contingency plan to deal with such situation," NHRC Chairperson, Justice K G Balakrishnan, told reporters here in Bhubaneswar. Stating that the Commission during its two-day sitting in the state capital took up the Kandhamal violence issue and related human rights violation cases with state officials, Justice Balakrishnan said, he had been informed by the DGP that many of the accused had so far been convicted. Of the total 828 cases filed at different police stations relating to Kandhamal riots, convictions have taken placed in 56 cases. "Since the process of conviction is on, the police expect more accused to be punished soon," a NHRC member said. Besides the killing of 38 people, the communal violence had left 4,000 houses damaged and forced over 25,000 people to flee Kandhamal district.

The Commission had received several cases of human rights violation, the member said, adding that the NHRC sought report from the state government. During an interaction with officials, the rights body said that the victims should be provided with compensation without much delay.
We hope and pray that you would positively respond with top most priority to our appeal on behalf of the Christian community in India.

Dated 24th January 2011 Yours faithfully
Bangalore-56005
(Dr. Sajan K. George) National President
Global Council of Indian Christians,(GCIC).