New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS): The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will be sending teams to the places where the churches were attacked recently. The Commission has also taken suo motu cognizance of attacks on churches in different parts of the country and will be sending teams to enquire into the matter as well.

"Appropriate action will be taken by the NCM and the Chairman has proposed to visit the site in Ambala where the church was vandalised," the NCM said in a statement.

The decision was taken after Minorities Commission chairman, Iqbal Singh Lalpura on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the members of the Commission. The Commission discussed various issues related to the NCM as well as welfare of the minorities.

The recent attack in Ambala and different parts of the country has been reported widely and the government has been on the receiving end. In Karnataka and Haryana, churches were vandalised during Christmas celebrations and a church priest was attacked with a sword in Belagavi district of Karnataka, this month.

The Congress has slammed the Centre over attacks on churches in BJP-ruled states and questioned the silence of the Prime Minister. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said: "Haridwar hate speeches, attacks on churches, murders in the name of religion, are all advanced symptoms of a society and polity in free fall. Hindutvawadis are unleashing barbarism. India is becoming an example of how quickly a democracy can collapse when institutions fail."

Referring to hate speeches in Haridwar, former home minister P. Chidambaram too questioned the silence of the Prime Minister. "On a day when the PM exhorted people to recall the teachings of Jesus Christ, miscreants disrupted a Christmas programme in a private school in Haryana, who are these miscreants? Reports say they shouted 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.