India’s Catholic bishops this week strongly condemned law enforcement for failing to prosecute a state legislator who publicly reportedly offered up to $12,663 USD (1.1 million rupees) for violent attacks on Christian leaders.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India expressed “deep anguish and alarm over the growing climate of hostility and violence directed against minority communities in the country” following Maharashtra state Member of Legislative Assembly Gopichand Padalkar’s inflammatory offer and failure of police to respond. Padalkar is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
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In a press statement issued on Monday (July 28), the bishops referenced Padalkar’s June 17 speech in Sangli District, Maharashtra state, in which he said, “We should keep prizes for those who bash up missionaries coming to convert people. Rs 5 lakh (500,000 rupees or $5,756 USD), should be declared for the first person thrashing such a missionary, the second one to be given Rs 4 lakh (400,000 rupees or $4,605 USD), while the third one to be given Rs 3 lakh (300,000 rupees or $3,454 USD) as prizes.”
Padalkar also offered 11 lakhs (1.1 million rupees or $12,663 USD) for violence against Christian leaders, the bishops noted.
The CBCI argued that such statements “warrant immediate and decisive legal intervention, particularly when the incitement is explicit, direct, and poses an imminent threat to public order.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally published by Morning Star News.
