SC/ST Confederation condemns Bishop Thomas's arrest

New Delhi, Mar 18 (UNI) The All India Confederation of SC/ST today condemned the arrest of Bishop Samuel Thomas by the Rajasthan police and alleged that it was done at the behest of the Sangh in collusion with the state government.

Reacting to the arrest of Bishop Samuel Thomas on Thursday from Noida for allegedly distributing the book 'Hakikat' containing derogatory remarks about Hindu gods, Confederation president Udit Raj said the RSS and the VHP was terrorising and intimidating Christians with ''impunity''.

He alleged that RSS activists led by Minister Madan Bilawar has been vandalising orphanage, schools and hospitals run by the Emmanuel Mission over the last month.

''The BJP-led Rajasthan Government has arrested Bishop Thomas like a common criminal instead of putting behind bars the goons who attacked the institutions for orphans and weaker sections,'' he alleged.

Describing the arrest as an attempt to humiliate the Bishop and his organisation, he said, ''the book, which is accused of insulting Hindu deities and Gods, has been written by Mr M G Mathews for Truth and Life publications and has nothing to do with Bishop Thomas and his father''.

''The Bishop and his father Archbishop M A Thomas are at the receiving end of the Sangh parivar's ire for no fault of theirs...

the book is neither authored or published by them. It was just one of the titles available the Emmanuel Mission bookshop in Kota,'' he said.

''The book is one more excuse to target these wonderful people who spent all their life in the service of orphans and lepers of the country,'' he added.

He alleged that the police while arresting the Bishop had pointed a revolver at his head to ''humiliate the religious leader of such stature and caliber''.

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