The Centre announced that a two-member team from the Union Home Ministry, including Special Secretary M B Kaushal, is leaving for the State to ``assess the situation there.'' And the Chief Minister held a meeting with representatives of the church and schools.

At the hour-long meeting attended by, among others, Father Cederic Prakash, co-ordinator of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (Gujarat), Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya and senior bureaucrats, Patel ``deplored'' the violence and said that the government would ``protect'' the rights of minorities in the State.

Christian leaders, while airing their grievances, demanded the government pay compensation for the damage caused to churches and schools. Patel did not make any commitments but said he would consider their demand.

The Christian delegationdenied reports in a section of the press here that an ``SOS had been sent to the Pope'' following the attacks. State Social Justice Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela had issued a statement that the State Government should take up the issue of the ``SOS message'' with the Union Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs.

The attacks on Christians are ``India's internal problem,'' he said, and the Chief Minister should initiate legal action against Christian organisations. Also, Vaghela called for cancelling the visas and citizenship of Christian missionaries and urged Gujarati newspapers to expose the Christian missionaries' ``hidden plans of mopping up foreign funds by resorting to international blackmail of India.''

Vaghela's statement has not gone down well with the Chief Minister, who is busy with damage control. Patel reportedly called up Vaghela and cautioned him against issuing such a ``controversial'' statement to the press without checking the authenticity of the report.

Sources said Vaghela,who owes allegiance to the anti-Patel camp led by Suresh Mehta, had issued the statement to ``embarrass'' Patel.

At today's meeting, the delegation also demanded that the State Government promptly implement the recommendations made by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) after a visit to the State about three months ago following attacks on Christians and Muslims.

Before the meeting, Christian leaders had publicly stated these recommendations. For one, the NCM had asked the Gujarat Government to call a meeting of ``non-political representatives of all religious communities'' to discuss and evolve ways to promote communal harmony in the State but the Government is sitting on the proposal. ``We wonder why such an easy thing hasn't been done,'' said Father Prakash. However, Pandya said the government had made ``a beginning'' by constituting a peace committee in the trouble-torn Dangs district.

Pandya said the meeting of the peace committee, which comprised representatives of all communities, ``hada very healthy impact on the situation.'' But Father Prakash had apprehensions. ``I hope the government will not shift its responsibility to the peace committee,'' he said.

Calling a meeting of religious leaders was one of the 10 statutory recommendations which the NCM had made after a visit to Gujarat in August, following attacks on Christians and Muslims. Father Prakash alleged that no action has been taken on many of these recommendations, while action on others was inadequate.

For instance, the NCM had asked the government to take deterrent measures ``to curb tirades against particular communities and their religious practices, carried on through vituperative pamphlets, leaflets, periodicals and false or exaggerated media reports''. No action had been taken against anyone for such offences, he alleged.

As recently as December 23, Bishop Stanislaus Fernandes, Reverend M V Christi and others had met a number of ministers, including Bimal Shah and Mahendra Trivedi, and Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel'sson-in-law Mayur Desai, to bring to their notice inflammatory pamphlets being circulated in Dangs by the Hindu Dharma Jagran Manch.

Copies of pamphlets were also sent to the Chief Minister's office, but ``we do not know if the government took any action,'' Father Prakash said. Pandya said some cases had been registered in connection with the incidents in Dangs, but wasn't sure if these covered the pamphlets.

The Christian leaders have also urged the government to announce the setting up of a State Human Rights Commission and give the existing Gujarat Minorities Board the status of an autonomous organisation. Patel endorsed the delegation's suggestion that peace committees of the kind set up in Ahwa should be formed in other sensitive places too but did not favour the creation of a state-level committee.

Singhal Spiel

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