Batala, Punjab, Feb 21, 2010:The Christian community in Batala and its adjoining area (District Gurdaspur) of Punjab is facing serious threat to life and property from the Hindu extremists outfits (Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena).

The communal tension that suddenly erupted yesterday (20-02-2010) was the outcome of highly objectionable depiction of Christ that was displayed on Ram Naumi Hoarding in Jalandhar. A protest call was immediately given by the Christian Community of Punjab.

In most of the places the protest was peaceful; but in Batala town of Gurdaspur District, the situation took a turn for the worse when some youth demanded the shopkeepers to shut shop in a Hindu dominated market. Resistance on the part of these shopkeepers led to clashes between the two communities. The violence gradually spread to the entire city when Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena came out on the roads with weapons and indulged in arson, looting and violence.

Two Churches (Church of North in India, and Salvation Army Church) were completely vandalized and the priests in charge of these churches were brutally thrashed and their houses were also ransacked.

The local police remained a mute spectator when the churches were being destroyed. Shockingly, the miscreants who vandalized the Churches and indulged in arson were left scot-free while several Church priests and prominent Christian leaders and other laymen were rounded up and detained in the police station. Some of them were released and others are still in police custody.

The police are still rounding up the members of Christian Community at the behest of local BJP MLA. The local administration has clamped a curfew but the situation still remains highly volatile and explosive.

On the other hand the miscreants who are not yet nabbed by the police but roaming free are abetting communal hatred and are threatening to destroy peace and harmony of the city and state.