The National Council of Churches in India hails the verdict on the case of Graham Staines as the Court has pronounced death sentence to the prime accused Dara Singh and life imprisonment to twelve others who carried out the gory cold blooded murder of the Australian Missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons on the chilly night of 22nd January, 1999 at Manoharpur in Orissa. They were burnt alive while they were asleep inside their vehicle. Though the verdict has come much delayed, amidst topsy-turvytwists in the case, the culprits have been brought to book, at last! We appreciate the judiciary of our nation for its prophetic and challenging role in the recent past. The timely intervention of the Supreme Court by re-opening the Best Bakery case, where all twenty-one accused were acquitted, allegedly due to lack of witnesses, by the Lower Court is another instance of the responsible action of judiciary. The verdict by the Rae Bareli Court in the case of the demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya is also a case in point.

Though in the Christian spirit, Ms. Gladys Staines, wife of the late Graham Staines, had sought God's forgiveness for all those who had killed her husband, the judiciary system has honoured her broadmindedness and forgiving heart by punishing the culprits. This judgement has definitely got its innate long range implications in curbing the growing religious fanaticism, as Dara Singh is in fact a creation of the hate campaign in this country by the fundamentalist forces. We appeal to all such forces to desist from this sort of communal activities that perpetuate disharmony and violence in the nation. We continue to uphold our trust and faith in the judiciary of our nation.