By IANS
Mumbai : Leaders of Christian community in Maharshtra said they will meet Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and demand that Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists should be booked under the stringent organised crime act for allegedly attacking two Christian priests in western Maharashtra this week.
This was revealed here Saturday by Abraham Mathai, the vice-president of Maharashtra Minorities Commission and the president of Indian Christian Voice.
Eleven people were arrested Tuesday in connection with Sunday's attack on the pastors at Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur. The two priests had allegedly converted six people to Christianity.
On Tuesday, pro-Hindu VHP and Bajrang Dal activists had assaulted the two pastors before television cameras.
Mathai, who is also the general secretary of All India Christian Council, demanded that the accused should be booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control for Organised Crime Act.
"It's a sad day for democracy or a civilised society when people believe they can get away with acts of violence and brutality against any particular community or group perpetrated for no other reason than the fact that they find their faith persuasion or way of life different from theirs," he said in a press statement.
Mathai alleged that in the case of Kolhapur incident, the police booked the attackers on bailable charges and instead booked the victims under non-bailable offences on false charges made by the attackers.