A church priest (in chair) consoles family members of victims of police torture who died in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on June 28, 2020. (Photo: AFP)
The top court in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state refused to withdraw permission to build a church, stressing the need for religious tolerance amid the rising violence against minorities.
A single bench of Madras High Court while disposing of the petition reminded the petitioner, a Hindu, that “one of the basic tenants to be followed by every Hindu is tolerance.”
Paulraj, the petitioner, had challenged a district official’s order allowing a church in the residential neighborhood in his village in the state’s Kanyakumari district.
He argued that a church cannot come up in a residential area as Christians used loudspeakers during prayers causing a regular nuisance to him and his neighbors.
Judge C. V. Karthikeyan, in his 10-page order delivered on Jan. 10, observed that “there is also a temple in that particular residential area.”
He reminded the petitioner of the preamble of the Indian constitution, which stated that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
“It is the duty of every citizen to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women,” the judge said.
The order underlined the importance of India’s “unity in diversity” while asking the petitioner to “accept the group of people living across, and around him… [belonging to] various caste, creed and religion and given rights under the constitution.”
The court also took note of the use of loudspeakers by the group of Christians, which may cause trouble to other residents in the locality.
It directed government officials to impress upon the church owners to also practice tolerance and respect.
“It is not required that a prayer should be put forth in loudspeakers for the God to hear,” said the court while adding “let the prayers be conducted in a gentle manner.”Church leaders lauded the order saying, “it upheld the constitution and its spirit of religious tolerance and secular credentials.”
India was witnessing a rise in hostilities against its religious minorities, especially Christians and Muslims since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the country in 2014.
Last year was described as the worst for Christians in India by the inter-denominational organization, United Christian Forum (UCF), which recorded 505 incidents of attacks, including physical violence against men and women, vandalism and desecration of churches.
The figure could be much higher, UCF estimated, pointing out that many incidents did not get reported due to police complicity and fear of further backlash against the community.
Christians make up 2.3 percent of India’s more than 1.3 billion people. About 80 percent of them are Hindus.