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IND34133 – Kerala – Divine Retreat Centre AUSTRALIA Refugee Review Tribunal RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: IND34133 Country: India Date: 23 December 2008 Keywords: India – Kerala – Divine Retreat Centre – Christians – Police protection – Court system – Kerala human rights institutions – Christians in other states This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. _______________________________________________________________________ Questions 1. Please provide information on attacks on the “Devine Retreat Centre”, Kerala? 2. Please provide information on attacks on or mistreatment of Christians in Kerala? 3. Please provide information on the size of the Christian community in Kerala and the extent of religious tolerance in that state. 4. Please provide information on whether the police provide adequate protection to persons from various religious groups, particularly Christians. Is the court system impartial and is there a human rights institution at the state level? 5. Please identify other Indian states with large Christian communities with reasonable levels of religious tolerance. RESPONSE 1. Please provide information on attacks on the “Devine Retreat Centre”, Kerala? No recent reports of RSS or BJP attacks on the Divine Retreat Centre were found in a search of the available information. A previous research response, dated 21 May 2007, also found no reports of RSS or BJP attacks on the Divine Retreat Centre; however, one source mentions the RSS “infiltrating” the centre to gather evidence against it. There has been controversy surrounding the Centre in recent years (detailed below). There are claims that this has been a scheme by Hindu nationalist groups, upset at the “widespread conversion” of Hindus, to have the Centre closed (‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh infiltrates Muringur Divine Retreat Centre’ (undated), Persecution Update India website http://persecution.in/node/1543 – Accessed 17 May 2007 – Attachment 2; RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response IND31759, 21 May – Attachment 3). As a brief description, a 23 June 2007 article states that the centre, which was set up in “the late 80’s, attracts thousands of people every week from all religions across the country...[and] runs homes for the destitute, drug addicts, AIDS patients and the mentally handicapped, and also hosts spiritual retreats”. The Centre’s website states that the “Divine Retreat Centre is the largest retreat centre in the world” (Chatterjee, J. 2007, ‘Police, Administration Clash Over Divine Retreat Centre Issue’, Christian today website, 23 June http://www.christiantoday.com/article/police.administration.clash.over.divine.retreat.centre.is sue/11255.htm – Accessed 10 December 2008 – Attachment 4; ‘Brief History’ 2007, Divine Retreat Centre website, last updated 17 May http://www.drcm.org/dvineretreat/generalinfo/topics.asp?topic=History – Accessed 17 May 2007 – Attachment 50). Information on the work of the Centre can also be found on the Centre’s website: http://www.drcm.org/index.asp. As detailed in a number of media reports, the Divine Retreat Centre in Kerala has been the subject of controversy in recent years after the High Court in Kerala ordered an investigation into the Centre in 2006. The order was subsequently quashed by the Supreme Court in 2008. The Divine Retreat Centre’s director states that “on 10 March 2006, the High Court of Kerala, upon receiving an anonymous letter containing false allegations against Divine Retreat Centre, took up the case ‘suo motu’ (on its own initiative) and ordered an inquiry into the affairs of our Retreat Centre – a Special Investigation Team was formed for this purpose”. The statement describes the investigations into the Centre (Vallooran, A. 2008, ‘Truth Triumphs’, Divine Retreat Centre website, March http://www.drcm.org/DivineStatementMar2008/Main4.asp – Accessed 17 December 2008 – Attachment 5; see also: ‘Retreat Center Asks Kerala State To Stop Police Harassment’ 2006, Indian Catholic News website, 11 October http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=3867 – Accessed 16 March 2007 – Attachment 6). A June 2007 article also describes the events: A row has flared up in Kerala between the state police and the management of the popular catholic retreat centre, the Divine Retreat Centre, with the police filing criminal charges against 10 top officials including its director Father George Panakkal, his close associates and a nun. The police have claimed that a total of 974 mysterious deaths, most of them young, took place at the Divine Retreat Centre, Muringoor, Kerala, between 1991 and 2006 and on many occasions the bodies were reportedly disposed of without informing the police, allegedly by forging documents to make them look like natural deaths. Charges framed against the centre comes after six months of investigations at the direction of the Kerala High Court, include forceful confinement, causing hurt by poison, cheating and destroying evidences. The Kerala High Court, acting suo motu, had ordered a probe into its affairs, following complaints and allegations ranging from mysterious disappearances and murders to violation of foreign exchange rules. …When the police team raided the Divine Centre last year, both the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and opposition Congress party condemned it in strongest terms but the High Court gave a green signal to the probe team…Meanwhile, the centre has alleged a police vendetta after it challenged the High Court-ordered investigation and filed a review petition in the Supreme Court (Chatterjee, J. 2007, ‘Police, Administration Clash Over Divine Retreat Centre Issue’, Christian today website, 23 June http://www.christiantoday.com/article/police.administration.clash.over.divine.retreat.centre.is sue/11255.htm – Accessed 10 December 2008 – Attachment 4). The article notes that the Chief Minister, V.S. Achuthanandan of the CPI-M, had “rejected the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) demand for immediate closure of the centre” (Chatterjee, J. 2007, ‘Police, Administration Clash Over Divine Retreat Centre Issue’, Christian today website, 23 June http://www.christiantoday.com/article/police.administration.clash.over.divine.retreat.centre.is sue/11255.htm – Accessed 10 December 2008 – Attachment 4). In March 2008, the Supreme Court put aside the High Court’s order relating to the probe. One Christian website’s analysis of the situation states: After two years of controversy, the Indian Supreme Court recently quashed a case by the police in Kerala (South India) against a Catholic Retreat centre. The charges against the centre were based on a anonymous letter and included causing 974 “unnatural deaths”, rape, foreign exchange violations and running an unlicensed hospital! The reality behind the witch- hunt is a claim by Hindu radicals that the Vincentian priests who run the Retreat centre are engaged in the large scale conversion of Hindus. The (presumable) reality behind the false murder claims is that the care of AIDS patients is one of the many charitable activities carried out by the Vincentians (‘India: Catholic Retreat Centre Accused of Mass Killings, Rape, etc’ 2008, Alliance Support Group website, 23 May http://www.alliancesupport.org/news/archives/002321.html – Accessed 17 December 2008 – Attachment 7). For mainstream Indian media reports of the case being set aside by the Supreme Court, see the following two articles in The Hindu: • ‘SC sets aside Kerala HC order’ 2008, The Hindu, 12 March http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200803120371.htm – Accessed 17 December 2008 – Attachment 8; • ‘SC slams Kerala HC for acting on anonymous petition’ 2008, The Hindu, 12 March http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200803121966.htm – Accessed 17 December 2008 – Attachment 9. For a selection of articles from mainly Christian media describing the events, see: • ‘India: Catholic Retreat Centre Accused of Mass Killings, Rape, etc’ 2008, Alliance Support Group website, 23 May http://www.alliancesupport.org/news/archives/002321.html – Accessed 17 December 2008 – Attachment 7. No further information was found on the case, subsequent to the media reports on the quashing of the order by the Supreme Court. 2. Please provide information on attacks on or mistreatment of Christians in Kerala? There has been a recent wave of communal violence against Christians in India, especially after August 2008 when a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) leader and some of his followers were killed in Orissa. The violence, according to Christian news service Compass Direct, spread to other states including Kerala. Media articles reported that anti-Christian violence had spread from Orissa to Kerala. The media reported a number of incidents of vandalism of churches in Kerala in the months after the anti-Christian violence escalated in Orissa (‘Faith and us’ 2008, Indian Express, 23 September – Attachment 11; ‘Conversion fire spreads to Kerala’ 2008, Times of India, 17 September – Attachment 12; ‘Attack On Church: Security Beefed Up In Kerala Town’ 2008, United News of India, 15 September
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