MUMBAI, India – Christian families in a village in India say they feel insecure ahead of Christmas celebrations amid local pressure from Hindu nationalists.
Tensions began on November 24 in the central state of Chhattisgarh, a day after a group of locals refused to allow the family of Anthi Mandavi – a 35-year-old local Christian who died of tuberculosis – to perform her funeral. According to News washingAnthi’s brother Charan claimed that the police were present but did not intervene after a mob stopped the funeral and the family eventually had to take the body elsewhere for the burial.
Station House Officer alias Police Inspector Ganesh Yadav said police have increased patrolling in the area, which has a population of around 400, following the assault.
But local Christians have accused the police of inaction. They said the required report was never filed, and even the complaint by seven Christian villagers about the assault was “reworded” to link it to a “land dispute” instead of “religious hatred.”
A day after the police complaint, the Hindu group that attacked them issued a notice to all the 23 Christian families about their homes – for indulging in “illegal” construction on tribal land.
“We were told by more than 150 villagers that these families have encroached on land and that’s why we have issued a notice to them,” a revenue official said. News washing.
“They have responded to the notice about the show. We will conduct an investigation to see whether they have done any trespassing or not. We have not sent them notices because of any religious bias. We have sent it only because other villagers informed us about it,” the official said.
Village council chief Beeruram Baghel denied a land dispute, saying villagers want these families to return to the “tribals and Hindu fold” and that they “plan to evict them from the village if they do not do ghar wapsi”, a common Hindu rite.
“All the villagers have also decided that we will not let them celebrate Christmas this year,” reported News washing.
Earlier in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, eight village councils passed a joint resolution on November 17 banning Christians from staying in their villages.
The resolution declared that Christians in these villages would either have to leave or renounce their faith, and if they failed to do either, all their fields, belongings and property would be plundered. About 100 Christians are affected by the order.
The issue was brought to the attention of the head of one of the affected villages, who confirmed the resolution and argued that the village council’s rule superseded that of the Indian constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of religion and belief under Article 25.
The next day, November 18, the Christians submitted a written complaint to the Gadira police station in Michwar and provided audio evidence of what the village chief had said. However, the police initially refused to make an official report, which would have been required for them to open an investigation. Instead, they asked them to take them to their fields. By the time they got there, a mob of at least 1,500 people had looted the Christians’ crops and continued to demand that they renounce their faith or leave the village. The police then left the area without offering further assistance.
About 40 villagers from eight families whose fields were looted have moved from their land and are now living in a church building in Michwar.
The eight villages are as follows: Dabba, Doodhiras, Gonderas, Gurli, Jagadlanar, Kundanpal, Kunna and Michwar.
According to the 2011 census, over 93.25 percent of the state’s population practiced Hinduism, above the national average of 80 percent. The Christian population is approximately 1.9 percent, below the national average of 2.3 percent.
Father Thomas Vadakumkara, press officer of Jagadalpur diocese said that these things happen only in Sukhma town.
“This is affecting almost Christians in many districts,” he said Crux.
“Basic human rights routinely denied to Christians: Burial of the faithful; staying on their own land; and cultivate and harvest their fields and farms,” he said.
According to the United Christian Forum (UCF), a civil society organization based in Delhi, violence and discrimination against Christians is increasing in 23 of the 28 states of India.
The highest number of hate crimes have been recorded in Uttar Pradesh with 182 incidents, closely followed by Chhattisgarh with 139 reported cases.
Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Jagadalpur Diocese told Crux he has heard about the current incidents from the media.
“However, the persecution of the Christians in Chhattisgarh has not stopped regardless of which state government is in power. Whether the Congress or the BJP rules, lawlessness continues, village non-denominational churches are routinely targeted and persecution of Christians continues,” he said.
“We are a peace-loving people, we are law-abiding citizens and we follow the constitution,” the archbishop said.
