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Azizur Rahman

Attacks by militant Hindus on Christians in the eastern Indian state of Orissa  have led to  an unlikely and unintended alliance between Christian and Muslim leaders.
The unprecedented solidarity  between the two minority communities has seen them call for a national ban on the Hindu Bajrang Dal militant organisation.
'In a country where Hindus constitute more than 80 per cent of the population and Christians count just over 2 per cent, Hindus should behave with the Christians the way an adult treats a child in a family,' said Calcutta's most well-known Muslim cleric, Syed Mohammad Noorur Rahman Barkati.
'The attack by the Hindus [on the Christians] appears like a powerful man is butchering a child who is weak and helpless. This Hindu attack on the Christians is intolerable.
'Expressing our whole-hearted solidarity and sympathy I have written to several Christian leaders in the past weeks. We are regularly praying to Allah for the safety of our Christian brothers and sisters.'
Mr Barkati recently wrote to federal ministers to demand security for the Christians.
Aziz Mubaraki,  another senior mosque leader in Calcutta,  said  he had sent messages to Muslims in Orissa requesting them to extend support and solidarity to the victims of anti-Christian riots that have seen 77 people killed, hundreds of houses and churches destroyed, at least 4,000 Christians forcibly converted to Hinduism and thousands of people made homeless.
Herod Mallick, a senior Christian leader and convenor of newly formed National Minority Front, said  Christians were happy to get the Muslims on their side.
'During the Gujarat riot, some of our church leaders tried their best to provide relief to the Muslim victims who were targeted by Hindu Bajrang militants. Now, as the Hindu militants are organising a rerun of Gujarat riot in Orissa, Muslim leaders are empathising with the Christians, in an appreciable act of reciprocation,' said Mr Mallick.
Since the 2002 riot in Gujarat that led to  2,000 people, mostly Muslims, being killed, Muslim leaders have    demanded a ban on   Bajrang.
'Now, as Christians have joined us in demand of a ban,  our cry  is  going to be louder in front of our governments and will now be heard also by some influential western countries,' said Mr Kamruzzaman, a Muslim student leader in Calcutta.
Some Muslim leaders say the Christians might benefit more from this solidarity and will be able to put up stronger resistance against a Bajrang onslaught in areas where the Muslim population is   bigger.
'Simply because they [Christians] are numerically microscopic, their voices remain unheard in this democracy. Holding hands with the Muslims, they can now be a countable force. It will be difficult for the mainstream political parties to ignore the grievances of these Christians now,' said Calcutta-based Muslim author Abdur Rouf.
'All persecuted minorities should unite to halt an onslaught if it comes from the majority and more powerful community.'
But some security experts worry that the Muslim-Christian alliance in such a violent situation could lead  to a rise in terrorism.
'Recently, on interrogation of some militants in Orissa, we have found that many young Christian  men are willing to resort to violence against Hindus in revenge attacks, and they are on the lookout for arms and explosives. We are afraid that some Muslim terrorist groups could jump in to train some Christian youths in terrorist activities,'  said one intelligence officer in the Orissa capital, Bhubaneswar.
Many secular organisations,  parties and Muslim groups have long demanded  Bajrang Dal be banned. In Orissa  in 1999, Bajrang men  burned to death Australian missionary Graham Stains and his two  children.
Analysts believe that for almost two decades Bajrang Dal and its offshoot groups have been involved in militant activities against minorities.
Teesta Setalvad,  a human rights campaigner and the editor of Communalism Combat,  said  Vishwa  Hindu Parishad   (World Hindu Council) and its militant wing Bajrang Dal both should be banned for their 'terrorist activities'.
'There is a mountain of evidence in the Nanded, Kanpur and also in some other cases to prove that they have been functioning like terrorist outfits,' Ms Setalvad said.
Many Bajrang Dal leaders reject the term terrorist, describing themselves  as 'vigilantes' protecting 'Hindu pride and  nationalism'.
Despite the calls for government action against the group, many  experts believe it is difficult to get any Hindu group banned.  Shabbir Husain,  a Muslim  leader in Aligarh, said:  'As long as majority Hindus think Bajrang Dal is looking after Hindu interests, no ruling party can ban this fascist Hindu party.'



Muslims and Christians unite over  Hindu attacks