Hindu Activist Slams Indian Official for Apologizing to Christians

By John Malhotra, Christian Today Reporter Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Hindu hardliner and chief of the Rashtriya Hindu Sena, Pramod Muthalik, has criticized a India's top government official for apologizing to the victims of last year's anti-Christian violence.

The infamous Muthalik on Sunday slammed Home Minister P. Chidambaram for "apologizing and promising houses for Christians there."

Last week, Chidambaram paid a two-day visit to the eastern Indian state of Orissa where he met with Christians in relief camps and apologized for the barbarous violence against its community.

Anti-Christian violence broke out last August in Orissa after the murder of a Hindu fundamentalist leader despite Maoists claiming responsibility for the murder. More than 60 Christians were killed and 18,000 were wounded. Churches, along with thousands of Christian homes, were also destroyed. The attacks left more than 50,000 Christians displaced.

Chidambaram assured the Christian minority that the state and central government would effectively work to rehabilitate the victims and introduce measures for the education and development of the affected children.

But for Muthalik, this seems an unnecessary act when thousands of Tamils are suffering in the aftermath of the Sri Lanka war, which he says must be addressed by the Union Minister.

"Did Chidambaram talk about thousands of Tamils killed in neighboring Sri Lanka which is near the state from which he was elected?" Muthalik asked.

Muthalik, founder of the Sri Rama Sene organization, was arrested earlier this year for his involvement in an attack at a Mangalore pub where young women and men were beaten for allegedly "violating traditional Indian values."

The very next month, on Feb. 4, Muthalik vowed to eliminate Valentine's Day, saying it is part of the "Christian culture" and must be banned. "If they want to celebrate such events which is against our Hindu ethos, let them do [it] in the church," he said.