Guest Post by  NANDINI RAO

Thank you, unknown-vandals-out-there.

For burning church altars to ashes; for desecrating sacred objects inside houses of worship, for tossing carcasses inside religious places; for converting, de-converting, un-converting or re-converting (as the case may be); for stealing objects from churches that are more valuable to their parishioners for their emotional significance rather than monetary value. For making people ask in hushed tones when and where the next attack is going to take place and what form it will take. For making the pastor conduct midnight mass on Christmas eve outside the church in Delhi, with the faithful offering their prayers in the freezing winter night, simply because they did not have a church to go to.

But most of all, thank you for frightening communities who follow different religions and worship different gods. As for those who do not believe in god or religion, thank you for making them worried about how the social fabric of this country is being pulled apart, thread by thread, through political machinations.

Because by doing all of the above, the unknown vandals (they are, needless to say, not criminals, just harmless “vandals”) have made people stop in their tracks and think. They have made communities question law enforcement agencies that brush aside fears and doubts and try to minimise the crimes taking place in their houses of worship. They are compelling them to discuss and debate about forced versus consensual conversions to religions of one’s choice. They are making people of all communities and religions realise how they are being pitted against each other and used as pawns in devious political games. They understand that, in the bargain, it is the poor and the marginalised living on daily wages who are being exploited in the worst possible way. People are realising the importance of their vote and of the very real impact they can make and the change they can bring about, with the single act of pressing a button.

Vandalism has made people come together to hold meetings and consultations to chart out a course to resolve the crises. It has made them stand outside their churches on pavements and on roads, demanding justice and accountability from a state and administration that does not seem to be heeding their voices.

And most important of all, vandalism is teaching us (more than political speeches and advertisements) how one needs to keep on asserting till our voices are heard that we are all citizens in a secular, socialist and democratic republic. That as believers and non-believers, we may worship (or not worship) in varied ways and learn from the teachings of one holy book (or a multitude of books and philosophies), but as citizens, our Holy Book is only the Constitution of India and what it has defined for us, as Indians.

That, as the Preamble states in no uncertain terms, as citizens of this country, we are entitled to:

social, economic and political Justice;

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

Equality of status and of opportunity; and

Fraternity that assures the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

The Constitution offers us Fundamental Rights including the Right to equality before the law; Non-discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth; Right to freedom of speech, expression, peaceful assembly, of movement and of residence anywhere in the country; Protection of life and personal liberty; Freedom to profess, practise and propagate religion and the right for every religious denomination or section to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes and for its own management.

Because of criminals who try to wrest freedoms and make clumsy attempts to divide communities, we get a chance to remind ourselves of these rights as enshrined in various Constitutional principles and Articles.

A few days ago in Delhi, there was a peaceful demonstration called by members of different Christian denominations to protest the desecration of churches all across the city by unnamed miscreants. Christians and non-Christians, citizens of a democratic, secular India, they protested police inaction and the silence of the state to the crimes going on under its very nose. Demonstrators were armed with placards, banners, mikes and their voices. Delhi Police was there in full strength, refusing to let them lead a march from the portals of the cathedral. The police – true to form – pushed, grabbed, pulled, lathi charged and arrested nonviolent protestors.

This has made people question the nature of the state that used force on peaceful protest and did not even condemn the attacks on churches and other houses of worship in India. This silence, people understand, will embolden the criminals who know that they can attack followers of different religions and their houses of worship with impunity. Citizens of this diverse, multi-cultural and multi-hued nation will appreciate the need for unity, strength and dialogue to get across messages of peace, justice, harmony and freedoms.

So, criminals-out-there, we are uniting. And be sure that we are here, all across the country, in gullies and mohallas, villages and towns, on streets corners and on pavements, watching you perform your criminal acts and preparing ourselves to challenge you at every stage in peaceful and powerful ways.