On Sunday (Oct 29), the Indian state of Kerala was rocked by serial blasts at a meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ernakulam. Two women were killed and more than 50 were injured in the attack. The man, identified as Dominic Martin was behind the attack and he was a former member of the community. Martin surrendered at a police station in Thrissur, around 40 kilometres from the site of the blasts.
This explosion in Kerala caused India’s national capital New Delhi, country’s financial capital Mumbai among others to be on alert. The explosion has raised safety concerns about members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in India. The group has about 60,000 followers in India.
Who are Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Jehovah’s Witnesses are an international Christian denomination founded in the United States around 1870. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the community is known in many countries for door-to-door evangelism. It accepts some ideas of Christianity and believes that the world will end very soon.
The community believes in Jesus Christ but does not believe that he is the Almighty God. Jw.org, a website that provides all details about the community, says that the community offers prayers in Jesus’ name, adding, “We believe that Jesus is the Head, or the one appointed to have authority, over every man.”
However, the website adds that it is different from other religious groups that are called Christian.
“For example, we believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, not part of a Trinity. We do not believe that the soul is immortal, that there is any basis in Scripture for saying that God tortures people in an everlasting hell, or that those who take the lead in religious activities should have titles that elevate them above others,” the website further says.
The community’s presence in India
According to jw.org, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been present in India since 1905. The community established an office in Mumbai (then called Bombay) in 1926 and obtained legal registration in 1978. The community benefits from the guarantees of the Indian constitution, which include the right to practice, profess, and propagate one’s faith.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses generally worship without hindrance in India. However, in some states, they have been victims of mob attacks and other acts of religious intolerance,” the website adds.
A landmark case involving the community was Bijoe Emmanuel vs State of Kerala. The case was about three children from the community- Bijoe, Binu Mol and Bindu Emmanuel were expelled from school in 1985 after they refused to sing India’s national anthem.
As per court documents, when the anthem was played during the morning assembly, the children stood respectfully but did not sing since it was against their religious faith as Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Upon expulsion, their father filed a writ petition in the Kerala High Court, contending that the expulsion of his children was an infringement of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression under Article 19 and freedom of religion under Article 25. The court dismissed the case, finding that “no words or thoughts” in the national anthem were capable of offending religious convictions.
The father later a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. The apex court discussed the applicability of Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971, under which: “Whoever, intentionally prevents the singing of the National Anthem or causes disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished.”
However, the court held that standing up silently “clearly does not either prevent the singing of the National Anthem or cause disturbance to an assembly engaged in such singing.”
It ruled that the expulsion from school violated the children’s rights to freedom of expression and religion. It accordingly set aside the High Court’s judgment and ordered the then Kerala government to readmit the children to school
Jehovah’s Witnesses in India continue to meet with government officials and apply to the courts to protect their right to practice their religion freely.
The serial blasts that shocked the community
The serial blasts at the three-day-long Jehovah’s Witnesses convention in Kalamassery killed two women and injured more than 50 others. Addressing a press conference, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 17 people were in intensive care with five in critical condition. Earlier, state Health Minister Veena George told the news agency Reuters that a 12-year-old girl with 95% burns was also in a critical state.
Dominic Martin posted a video on Facebook claiming responsibility for the attack. “I am taking full responsibility for this. I carried out the bomb explosion. I am making this video to make it clear why I did this,” Martin said in the video which was on Facebook for four hours before it disappeared.
He shortly surrendered at the police station in Thrissur. Speaking to Reuters, police public relations officer Pramod Kumar said, “Dominic is still being questioned in Kochi. He is in our custody but we have not recorded his arrest so far.”
“We are still trying to ascertain the veracity of his statement, it will take some time. We are not in a position to confirm his involvement in the case right now, investigation is ongoing,” Kumar added.
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