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Arrest of Bishop unfortunate: Jamaat

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: State president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Engineer Mohammed Saleem has termed the Rajasthan Government's action in arresting Samuel Thomas, the chairperson of Kota-based Emmanuel Mission International, as "unfortunate and mala fide".

The dramatic manner in which Bishop Thomas was taken into custody in Delhi two days back only bared the real face of the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in Rajasthan, he charged.

Addressing a gathering here over the weekend Mr.Saleem said strict action was warranted in the case of any one writing or publishing anything which contained blasphemous material. However in the case of the book "Haqeeqat", instead of taking action against the author and publisher, the Government chose to target Emmanuel Mission and the Christian community at large, he charged.

"The book has been used by the Government to persecute the Christians in Rajasthan while the workers of the Sangh Parivar went on a rampage in the schools and institutions run by the community," Mr.Saleem pointed out.

Mr.Saleem alleged that a senior Minister in the Rajasthan Cabinet, who hails from Kota and had a personal enmity with the EMI and its management, influenced the police to arrest Bishop Thomas.

0"The same Minister used to openly threaten EMI and was instrumental in spreading hatred against the Christian community," Mr.Saleem pointed out. Mr.Saleem said Muslims would join the Peace March the Christian institutions and activist groups are planning in the State capital on March 21 to protest against the attacks on Christians in Rajasthan.

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