Hindu mob attacks Catholic NGO staff on Indian train
The youth attackers accused them of being involved in conversion activities and continue to keep a watch on their institution Hindu mob attacks Catholic NGO staff on Indian train Women from a Catholic NGO in Dhule district in the western state of Maharashtra were forced to sit on the platform of a railway station while being questioned by the police after being accused of conversion activities. A Catholic priest sought police protection for his non-governmental organization (NGO) in western India a few days after his staff members were attacked by Hindu nationalists on a running train alleging they were missionaries involved in conversion activities. Seven teachers of a Catholic NGO working in Dhule district in the western state of Maharashtra were assaulted by a mob of around 15 Hindu youth while traveling by an express train. The team was out on an education tour when the attack took place at Sangli railway station on the night of Jan. 16. “I was pulled down from the berth and hit on my head with a steel object until blood began to ooze out from a wound,” says Gunilal Pawara, supervisor of a team of 42 teachers including 14 females who work for the NGO named Shirpur Vishwa Mandal
New BBC documentary puts Narendra Modi back in the dock
It reveals a secret British foreign office report that found him culpable in the 2002 Gujarat riots. That the British government found Narendra Modi culpable in the 2002 Gujarat riots is the most significant takeaway from the first episode of the two-part BBC television investigative documentary, India: The Modi Question, which was broadcast in Britain on January 17. Soon after the riots, the British foreign office had undertaken an investigation. The BBC documentary claims that the probe’s conclusions—hitherto classified—are being disclosed for the first time. According to the show, the inquiry carried out by a United Kingdom diplomat was headlined: “Subject: Gujarat Pogrom”. Its summary read: “Extent of violence much greater than reported. At least 2,000 killed. Widespread systematic rape of Muslim women. 138,000 internal refugees. The targeted destruction of all Muslim businesses in Hindu and mixed Hindu-Muslim areas.” It went on to state: “Violence planned, possibly months in advance, and politically motivated. Aim was to purge Muslims from Hindu areas. Led by VHP (Hindu extremist organisation), under the protection of the state government. Reconciliation impossible while Modi remains Chief Minister.” The report then entered into detail: “Their (the Hindu mobs’) systematic campaign of violence has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing.” Furthermore: “The VHP
Christians urge Indian govt to protect minorities
Latest wave of violence against indigenous Christians in Chhattisgarh state is a worrying trend, activists say Tribal Christians in the central Indian state of Jharkhand protest against targeted attacks on fellow Christians in the neighboring state of Chhattisgarh, in the state capital Ranchi on Jan 15 Tribal Christians in the central Indian state of Jharkhand protest against targeted attacks on fellow Christians in the neighboring state of Chhattisgarh, in the state capital Ranchi on Jan 15. (Photo supplied) Tribal Christians in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have appealed to the federal government to safeguard minority rights in the wake of rising attacks on Christians and vandalism of their properties in neighboring Chhattisgarh state. The community members from different church denominations took to the streets in the state capital, Ranchi, on Jan 15 in a show of solidarity with their fellow Christians in Chhattisgarh who have been forced to flee their villages amid threats of social boycott and continuing violence. The protesters turned up in traditional attire and held placards that read “Stop persecution in the name of religion,” “Save Christians from attacks” and “Stop dividing people in the name of religion,” as they marched on the streets in Ranchi. Ratan Tirkey, a former member of
Recant or Leave: Mobs Expel Christians in Central India
Hindu extremists in Chhattisgarh destroy churches and homes and attack tribal believers. Tribal Christians from three villages shelter in the Chhattisgarh town of Kondagaon on December 21, 2022 after they were forced to leave their villages. On New Year’s Day, a 500-person mob assembled in the village of Gorra, a small community in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, and summoned the town’s Christians. After about 15 people arrived, the Hindu extremist crowd attacked. “About 20 of us quickly rushed to the village to carry them to the hospital and met the mob on our way while entering the village. The mob caught us and began to assault us,” Dhruw said. While most of the young people outran the mob, Dhruw’s father Bahadur, along with three others, were tracked down. “They beat my father and three others with sticks, legs, fists, bricks, and stones until they all fell unconscious,” Dhruw said. While Dhruw and his friends managed to take the victims to the hospital, Dhruw had to release his father from the hospital the same night when two of the assailants identified him in the hospital and threatened to call the mob on them again. “We did not return to our village since that day,” Dhurw said. The
Indian state chief vows action against church attackers
A Catholic church was vandalized and a senior police officer injured in the attack in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district The chief of the provincial government in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has promised action against those behind Monday’s attack and vandalism at a Catholic church. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel met Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur within hours of the attack on Sacred Heart Church in Narayanpur district on Jan. 2. “We discussed the serious threat Christians face in the state and the failure of the police and district officials to prevent targeted attacks against them,” Archbishop Thakur told UCA News on Jan. 3. The chief minister assured him he would do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice, the prelate added. "They broke the church doors and smashed windows to gain entry" Sporadic violence has flared in Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts in the past few months in the tribal-dominated southern region of Bastar. The roots of it lie in non-Christian indigenous people insisting that their Christian counterparts give up their faith and return to traditional animist practices. The Sacred Heart Church was attacked by a mob armed with wooden sticks and iron bars. They broke the church doors and smashed windows to gain entry and
Senior cop attacked, church vandalised during protest by tribals in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh
The tribals staged a demonstration to protest against a clash that took place between 2 communities over alleged religious conversion in Edka village on Sunday, police said. Narayanpur: A church was vandalised and a senior policeman was attacked and injured during a protest by a group of tribals in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur city on Monday, police said. Narayanpur district Superintendent of Police (SP) Sadanand Kumar was attacked during the protest that took place in the afternoon and was being treated at a hospital, an official said. A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the city, located around 300 km away from capital Raipur, after the protest turned violent, he said. As per preliminary report, tribals staged a demonstration to protest against a clash that took place between two communities over alleged religious conversion in Edka village in Narayanpur district on Sunday, police said. Talking to reporters at the hospital, SP Kumar said that protestors arrived near Vishwa Dipti Christian School in the afternoon and tried to charge towards a church located in the school premises. “After being alerted about it, I immediately rushed to the spot with other officials and tried to pacify the protestors. They seemed convinced and were about to return, but
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
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
