Security tightened at New Delhi churches after attacks

Friday, 27 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A woman holds her baby as she sits outside a church in New Delhi J –REUTERS Reuters: The government said on Wednesday it had boosted security around hundreds of churches in New Delhi after a spate of attacks on religious institutions unnerved minority Christians. Minister of State for Home Haribhai Chaudhary told lawmakers that extra police had been deployed to protect 240 churches in the capital, and that surveillance cameras had been installed in and around all religious centres. Since December, five churches in the capital have reported incidents of arson or theft. On Wednesday, a church in Karnataka was vandalised, a police official in Mangalore told Reuters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a declared Hindu nationalist, vowed earlier this month to protect all religious groups at an event organised by the Catholic community – a long-awaited reassurance widely seen as a response to the violence. Days before, hundreds of Christian protesters had clashed with police on the streets of New Delhi to demand government protection following concerns that minorities were being increasingly targeted by Hindu extremist groups.