But the work of the church with the poor must go on,'' he insisted. Before he left on his fateful trip to Poland earlier this month, de Lastic had led a team of Christian leaders that met Vajpayee to demand action to stop a growing hate-campaign against the Christian community. Ever since the BJP-led government first took office in March 1998, Christian missionaries and institutions have come under verbal attacks from radical Hindu groups affiliated to Vajpayee's party. This has been accompanied by a spate of physical violence believed to be the work of these groups, which, however, deny the charge. In the most gruesome incident, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two small sons were torched to death in eastern coastal Orissa state early last year.
Religious freedom constitutes the very heart of human rights.
Its inviolability is such that individuals must be recognized as having the right even to change their religion, if their conscience do demands,'' the pontiff said. Persons who make statements that Christians are bigger enemies than Muslims should be locked up in jail or in a lunatic asylum,'' Sorabjee declared last week, angered by the inflammatory anti-Christian statements of a hardline Hindu group leader. The central government is in close touch with the state governments ensuring that all preventive and precautionary measures are taken for the maintenance of peace and communal harmony,'' a statement, issued after Vajpayee's 10-minute meeting with the Pope, said. Radical Hindu groups have denied charges that they are behind the communal attacks. But Vajpayee has the challenge of balancing hardline Hindu sympathizers within the BJP with key ruling coalition allies who want a dilution its Hindu nationalist agenda.