1000 Christians subjected to violence in Chhattisgarh some forcibly converted to Hinduism Civil rights groups
New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Some civil rights groups have claimed that about 1,000 Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh were subjected to violence over their religion and some of them were forcibly converted to Hinduism. The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in partnership with All India Peoples Forum, All India Lawyers Association for Justice and United Christian Forum constituted a fact-finding committee which visited the state. Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism who led the fact-finding committee, claimed that there is an "organised campaign to forcibly convert Christian Adivasis to Hindu religion". He said the team found that about 1,000 Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh were subjected to violence over their religion. Between December 9 and December 18, there were a series of attacks in about 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 villages in Kondagaon displacing about 1,000 Christian Adivasis from their villages, he said at a press conference here. "Those displaced were threatened to denounce their Christian faith and convert to Hindu religion failing which they would have to leave their village or face dire consequences, even death. Many Christian Adivasis were gravely assaulted and beaten with bamboo canes, tyres, rods, etc. At least two dozen people had
‘Sustained campaign’ to convert tribal Christians in India’s Chhattisgarh state hit
From December 9 to 18, at least a thousand Christians were reportedly displaced and at least two dozens were injured Rights activist John Dayal; Michael Williams, president of the United Christian Forum; and Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, release the result of their investigation on the reported attack on Christians in 18 villages of Narayanpur and 15 villages in Kondagaon districts in Chhattisgarh during a press conference in New Delhi on Dec. 29, 2022. Close to a thousand tribal Christians are languishing in camps in India’s central state of Chhattisgarh for refusing to be converted to Hinduism, according to a Catholic priest. Father Nicolas Barla, secretary of the Office of Tribal Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, said the Christians refused to renounce their faith so they were pushed out of their villages and were forced to live in the open camps in the middle of winter. The priest said there seems to be a sustained and organized campaign to forcibly convert Christian tribals to Hinduism in the state’s “tribal belt.” From December 9 to 18, at least a thousand Christians were reportedly displaced, at least two dozen injured, due to attacks in 18 villages in
1000 Christians subjected to violence in Chhattisgarh, some forcibly converted to Hinduism: Civil rights groups
New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Some civil rights groups have claimed that about 1,000 Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh were subjected to violence over their religion and some of them were forcibly converted to Hinduism. The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in partnership with All India Peoples Forum, All India Lawyers Association for Justice and United Christian Forum constituted a fact-finding committee which visited the state. Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism who led the fact-finding committee, claimed that there is an “organised campaign to forcibly convert Christian Adivasis to Hindu religion”. He said the team found that about 1,000 Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh were subjected to violence over their religion. Between December 9 and December 18, there were a series of attacks in about 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 villages in Kondagaon displacing about 1,000 Christian Adivasis from their villages, he said at a press conference here. “Those displaced were threatened to denounce their Christian faith and convert to Hindu religion failing which they would have to leave their village or face dire consequences, even death. Many Christian Adivasis were gravely assaulted and beaten with bamboo canes, tyres, rods, etc. At least two dozen people had
1,000 Christians subjected to violence in Chhattisgarh, some forcibly converted to Hindus: Civil rights groups
Between December 9 and December 18, there were a series of attacks in about 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 villages in Kondagaon displacing about 1,000 Christian Adivasis from their villages, the fact-finding committee found. The government has weaponised laws to target Adivasis and called it a very dangerous precedent, a human rights activist said. 1,000 Christians subjected to violence in Chhattisgarh, some forcibly converted to Hindus: Civil rights groups Some civil rights groups have claimed that about 1,000 Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh were subjected to violence over their religion and some of them were forcibly converted to Hindus. The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in partnership with All India Peoples Forum, All India Lawyers Association for Justice and United Christian Forum constituted a fact-finding committee which visited the state. Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism who led the fact-finding committee, claimed that there is an “organised campaign to forcibly convert Christian Adivasis to Hindu religion”. He said the team found that about 1,000 Christian tribals in Chhattisgarh were subjected to violence over their religion. Between December 9 and December 18, there were a series of attacks in about 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 villages in Kondagaon displacing
Myth of Forcible Conversions: A Fact Finding Report
This is the first part of a special report after a fact-finding team’s visit to the Congress-ruled state in central India. THE Hindu nationalists have quite successfully propagated that Christians are converting Hindus with either inducements, fraud or through coercion on such a large scale that there would be a demographic imbalance sooner rather than later. My visit to villages in Narayanpur and Kondagaon in the state of Chhattisgarh as a member of fact-finding team constituted by CSSS, UCF, AIPF and AILAJ showed once again that the shoe fits on the other foot. It is the Christians who are being subjected to violence, threats and forced displacements if they do not convert to Hindu religion. Some Christians have been converted forcibly, while others who resisted were forced to leave their villages and seek refuge from violence elsewhere. According to Adv. Sonisingh Jhali, All India People’s Forum, based in Jadalpur and who has been helping the displaced Christian Adivasis, more than one thousand of them have been displaced from their villages. According to the District Collector and Magistrate of Narayanpur, 250 have been displaced from the villages in his district and have sought shelter in indoor stadium of the district. However, another about 150
Organised campaign to convert Christian Adivasis to Hindus in Chhattisgarh: Report
There was no forcible religious conversion and the situation was under control, Mahendra Chhabra, chairman of the Chhattisgarh minorities commission, said. State authorities, however, denied that the violence was related to forcible religious conversions. There was an “organised campaign” to forcibly convert Christian tribals into Hindus in Bastar’s Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts, a team of civil society representatives said in a report on Monday after visiting more than 30 villages in districts where attacks allegedly took place against Christians. State authorities, however, denied that the violence was related to forcible religious conversions. “From December 9, 2022 to December 18, there was a series of attacks in about 18 villages in Narayanpur district and 15 villages in Kondagaon district, displacing about 1,000 Christian Adivasis from their own villages,” said the report of a fact-finding team led by Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, and Brijendra Tiwari, convener of the All India People’s Forum, Chhattisgarh. “Those displaced were told to give up their Christian faith and convert to Hindu religion, failing which they were threatened their village or face dire consequences, including death,” the report said. “Many Christian adivasis were gravely assaulted and beaten with lathis, tyre, and rods. At
Christian Adivasis forcefully converted to Hinduism in Chhattisgarh: Report
According to the report, "the district administration disregarded early indications such as threats and intimidation targeting Christian Adivasis." Although these intimidations were reported, nothing was done. A civil society report shed light on an organised campaign to convert Christian tribals into Hindus in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts. After visiting more than 30 villages in the districts where alleged attacks against Christians occurred, a team of civil society representatives claimed in a report released on Monday that there was a “organised campaign” to forcibly convert Christian tribals. State officials, however, disputed that the violence was a result of coerced conversions to a particular religion. According to a fact-finding team led by Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, and Brijendra Tiwari, convener of the All India People’s Forum, Chhattisgarh, “There was a series of attacks in about 18 villages in Narayanpur district and 15 villages in Kondagaon district from December 9, 2022 to December 18, displacing about 1,000 Christian Adivasis from their own villages.” The fact-finding team, which also included organisations like the United Christian Forum and the All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice, was established in response to episodes of violence against Christians in the districts of Narayanpur
A year of martyrs and persecution for Indian Catholics
The Vatican canonized Blessed Devashayam while the Catholic community seeks justice for Father Stan Swamy Indian Catholics celebrated the canonization of their first layman saint in 2022 amid a spike in violence against Christians across the nation and growing strife over a liturgy dispute within an Oriental Church. Pope Francis canonized Blessed Lazarus, popularly known as Devasahayam, at the Vatican on May 15. “In Devasahayam we have the first Indian who is acknowledged to have won the crown of martyrdom on Indian soil,” observed Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, the archbishop of Goa and Daman and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI). Devasahayam is also the first married person from India to be conferred a sainthood, he added underlining the special significance of his canonization for the Church in India. The Vatican scored another first in India when it appointed Archbishop Anthony Poola of Hyderabad as the country’s first cardinal from a Dalit or formerly untouchable community. About 201 million of India’s 1.3 billion-plus people are Dalits, many having converted to Christianity and Islam over the centuries to escape caste-based discrimination. Some 60 percent of India’s 25 million Christians are believed to be of Dalit or tribal origin. "Dalit Catholics have been demanding important
Statement
Extremist outfits and their proxies in America should think deep and hard as to what they are actually doing on the US soil. December 21. 2022, Washington DC. Last May, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in D.C. accusing Mr. John Prabhudoss, the Chairman of the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations, along with the co-founders of Hindus for Human Rights, Ms. Sunita Viswanathan and Mr. Raju Rajagopal, and Prof. Audrey Truschke and Mr. Rashid Ahmed of IAMC, of defaming HAF in commentary each made about reports in the press that HAF and other extremist Hindu nationalist organizations had obtained federal COVID relief. The reports were that HAF and others received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. government meant for companies trying to survive the pandemic. On December 20th, 2022 Federal Judge Amit Mehta dismissed the case against all defendants. While he ruled that there was no personal jurisdiction over Ms. Viswanathan, Mr. Rajagopal, Prof. Truschke, and Mr. Ahmed, Judge Mehta dismissed the claims against Mr. Prabhudoss on the merits. He found that HAF “does not plausibly allege that Prabhudoss’s statements are verifiably false” because they amounted to statements of opinion. He further found
ATTACKS ON MINORITIES: In Bastar, hundreds of Christian Adivasis flee villages, alleging a series of attacks against them
The violence had been instigated by local leaders, they said in a complaint submitted to the police on Monday. In Bastar, hundreds of Christian Adivasis flee villages, alleging a series of attacks against them Christian Adivasis sat on protest outside the Narayanpur district collectorate for two days before they were forcibly evicted. On Sunday, hundreds of Christian Adivasi protestors gathered outside the district collectorate in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, to demand that the administration ensure their safety. In a complaint submitted to the police on Monday, they alleged they had been beaten up and forced to leave their villages because of their faith. Kunao, a 22-year-old man from Bhatpal village, 25 km from Narayanpur district headquarters, said he was summoned to a meeting by fellow villagers on Sunday morning. He said the villagers beat him up and threatened him by saying: “If we see you here tomorrow, we will beat you, demolish your home and throw you out of the village.” At around 3 pm on Sunday, he and his family hopped on a tractor trolley and fled the village along with five other Christian families. “They targeted us because we are Adivasi people and follow the Christain faith,” the 22-year-old said. “I was told at the
