Agra church desecrated; accused to be booked under NSA

AGRA: In an attack that has rattled Agra’s Christian community, miscreants vandalized the popular St Mary’s Church in the cantonment area of the city on Thursday, decapitating the statue of Baby Jesus and putting what resembled some sort of a leash around the neck of Mary.
The desecration, which has come on the heels of a string of similar attacks on churches in New Delhi, had the 1 lakh-odd Christians in Agra up in arms, following which the state minority commission dashed off letters to the district magistrate and SSP.The commission sought an explanation from the officers even as police lodged an FIR against unidentified persons hours after the incident came to light.
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In Lucknow, UP director general of police A K Jain said specific instructions have been issued to hunt down the accused and book them under the National Security Act (NSA). Directions were also given to district police chiefs across the state to enhance vigil around churches to ensure that such attacks did not take place elsewhere.
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“I spoke to the senior officials after they visited the site of the incident. Human intervention has been established but there are no indications of any organized or pre-determined attack on the premises,” Jain told TOI. “Still, we are not leaving anything to chance and have directed senior officials to be in constant touch with the locals of the area for any leads.”
The DGP said he was personally familiar with the location as he had lived at a house barely 50 meters from the Agra church. “It is not a secluded place. It is a congested area and there are houses adjacent to the church. Senior officials have already spoken to the people residing in the locality. They claimed they did not hear any noise during the night and that they came to know about the incident in the morning,” Jain added.
Father Moon Lazarus, head priest of the 93-year-old St Mary’s Church, said the incident happened around 3.30 am on Thursday. He recounted: “We were sleeping when suddenly the car alarm went off. Father Michel rushed out and saw that the gate of the church was open. Window panes of the car were broken. He called up senior authorities and later it was discovered that the statue of baby Jesus, kept in a glass box outside the church, was damaged. The miscreants had broken its neck.”
The miscreants seemed to have taken their time ransacking the church. A giant glass box kept near the church’s main door, with a big statue of Mother Mary inside it, was smashed. The statue was lying on the floor and there was some sort of a leash around her neck.
An FIR against unidentified persons has been lodged at the Rakabganj police station under sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 153-A- (II) (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot—if rioting be committed—if not committed) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the IPC.
Across the state, minority leaders reacted in anger and alarm. Osmond Charles, a Christian advocate in Aligarh, said a cycle of vandalism has been set. “We are a worried lot these days,” he frowned. “Since Independence Christians have not faced such rapid attacks. In case of Muslims we understand the motive might be polarization, but what is the motive in attacking Christians?”
Shafi Azmi, spokesman, UP Minorities Commission, said, “The commission has asked for a detailed description of the incident, the action taken by police and administration, and security arrangements of the church people.” Muslim cleric Mufti Mohammad Quadri met Lazarus along with a dozen maulvis and said the Christians should not think they are alone in their hour of crisis.
(With inputs from Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui in Lucknow)