The ... murder of a ... missionary near Mathura ..and the bomb attacks on Christian places of worship in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa on Thursday reinforce the disturbing pattern of physical assaults on the minority community, its missionaries and the educational institutions run by it ... The message sought to be conveyed by the perpetrators of the crime is unmistakable to instill a sense of insecurity in the minority community.

The Governments have almost invariably tended to see, for their own reasons, the various assaults on the minority community from the narrow viewpoint of law and order and have been overly anxious to discount the 'communal' angle ... It would be unwise to write out the communal factor and refuse to see such seemingly 'isolated' and 'purely criminal' acts in the wider perspective of the anti-minority milieu that the Hindutva forces have engendered by their hate campaign ... Witness the NCM's report on the Uttar Pradesh incidents, ruling out the communal motive; its finding on the basis of a flawed and cursory exercise flew in the face of facts thrown up by quite a few objective enquiries. Nothing could be more tragic and ironic than the fact that the credibility of the Commission as a protector of the minorities' rights should stand severely eroded just at the time when these communities feel increasingly threatened as a result of the vicious campaign by the majoritarian fundamentalist forces who have apparently become emboldened under the benign gaze of the BJP-led coalition ... at the Centre.

In sum, ... political establishments need to take credible initiatives towards arresting the Sangh Parivar's hate campaign ...