Bhopal:A Christian group will challenge in court the report of the Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission that gave a clean chit to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over attacks on Christians.

"The report of the minorities commission is biased," Madhya Pradesh Christian Association (MPCA) president Indira Iyengar told sources.

MPCA had about six months ago filed three complaints with the commission, alleging that BJP cadres had attacked Christians at Jabalpur, Seoni and Bhopal.

The association had also accused the police and administration of refusing to take action against the attackers, mainly Bajrang Dal activists.

The State Minorities Commission says it has found all complaints regarding the alleged attacks on Christians baseless.

"We visited places where the incidents were reported and talked to people. After thorough investigation we found that the allegations made by the Christians were baseless," its chairman Anvar Mohammed told sources.

Iyengar, who was a victim in one such attack, is not amused.

"How can the commission report be fair when its members didn't even bother to record my statement? Moreover, the commission does not have a single Christian member," she said.

"How can the commission say that the complaints were baseless? Bajrang Dal leader Devendra Rawat threatened me with dire consequences in full media glare June 5 last year while I was in Bhopal to highlight the plight of two tribal women from Khargone who were raped for converting to Christianity," she said.

 "Fear has gripped the entire Christian community in the state. In Jabalpur alone more than 20 cases have been slapped on the Christians for alleged conversion," Iyengar says.

Says the Archbishop of Bhopal, Pascal Topno: "If blatant attacks are possible in the state capital, the situation in places like Jabalpur, Indore, Dhar, Jhabua and Ratlam can be imagined. Attacks on Christians have gone up sharply in the past three years."

"Things have reached such a pass that Christians, who comprise 0.3 percent of the state's population, are afraid to organise prayer meetings even at their homes or hold religious functions in the open as these could attract the ire of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) affiliates," said MPCA secretary Anil Martin.