Indian bishops say Manipur riots targeted tribal Christians
Bishops' body in Kerala says the 'well-orchestrated' violence in the northeastern state exposes BJP’s ‘double standards’ A man walks past a house that was set on fire and vandalized by mobs in Khumujamba village on the outskirts of Churachandpur on May 9 in a violence-hit area of the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur. The sectarian violence in Manipur state in north-eastern India was "well-orchestrated" and "targeted the Kuki tribe," 90 percent of whom are Christians belonging to different denominations, alleged a Catholic bishops’ body from southern Kerala state. “It is true that the normal conflict between the majority local Hindu community representing Meiteis and indigenous people, mostly Christians, was communalized and used to destroy tribal Christians,” said Father Michael Pulickal, secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, which carried out an inquiry into the Manipur riots. Father Pulickal told UCA News on May 29, three days after releasing a report of the commission, that “the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) changes its colors for power” and the violence “has exposed the double standards” of the party. The BJP rules India and Manipur state. The priest, a member of Carmelite of Mary Immaculate, said the commission had gathered inputs from reliable
Indian Christian educators denied bail in conversion case
Catholic residents have voiced concerns about the historical structure they say has been in use since the 17th century when it was built. To beautify a Daman football ground, a 400-year-old church could be demolished Special arrangement A 400-year-old chapel in Daman could soon be history as the local administration is in the process of acquiring land on which it stands. The purpose of the move, the administration says, is to “beautify a football ground” adjacent to it. The notice from the district collector for acquisition of land on which the Chapel of Our Lady of Angustias stands has shocked the Catholic community in the Union Territory. “They [the authorities ] did not tell us so but we fear they may even demolish the church,” said Father Anselmo D’Souza, a priest in Daman. The matter has also drawn the attention of the National Commission for Minorities, which has asked the administrator of the Union territory to send it a detailed report on the matter by March 21. According to church officials, the Chapel of Our Lady of Angustias or Our Lady of Sorrows, located next to the popular Moti Daman Fort, was constructed in the early 1600s, and has been in use since then. It is
Christians seek protection as violence continues in central India
Elected village bodies dictate to Christians what they should believe and how should they live and work Christians seek protection as violence continues in central India An Indian policeman looks at damaged windows at a house in Bhopal on Jan. 28, 2006, after a group of Indian Christians were attacked during a prayer meeting. Christians in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have appealed again to their state chief minister to protect them as hundreds of indigenous Christians continue to live in the forest amid rising violence. A delegation under the ecumenical Ecclesia United Forum (EUF) met chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and urged him to take “immediate steps to end violence," said Father Johnson Thekkadayil, a Catholic priest working in the state. “The brutal attacks unleashed on the Christians in Chhattisgarh, especially in the tribal regions, continues unabated,” Father Thekkadayil, who was part of the delegation told UCA News on Feb. 26, three days after they met Baghel. Christians in the Bastar region, dominated by indigenous people, have been witnessing unprecedented violence, reports say. The forms of violence include social boycotts, assaults, parading men and women nude, and encroachments of Christians’ land. Increased violence in the past six months has forced more than 1,000 Christians to flee
Demolition threatens 400-year-old chapel in India
Local Catholics say the administration plans to raze the chapel to expand a football stadium A four-century-old chapel in western India dating back to the Portuguese colonial era faces a threat of demolition as the administration aims to acquire land to turn it into a football stadium, local Catholics say. Catholic leaders say the chapel of Our Lady Of Remedies in Daman faces threat due to a controversial beautification drive planned by Praful Patel, the administrator and a leader of the pro-Hindu Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Daman and Diu is a federally ruled territory that comes directly under the administrative control of the BJP-led government in New Delhi. Territory's administrator Patel neither confirmed nor denied the move to demolish the chapel to expand the football field. “No, I have no idea, you ask the local authorities,” he told UCA News. But local Catholics said the administration was firm about the demolition plan. "They want to acquire the chapel's land
Mob Tries To Attack Church In Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, Cop Injured In Attack
The injured officer is Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar, who has been shifted to a hospital. A church was vandalised and a senior policeman was attacked and injured during a protest by a group of tribals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district in Bastar on Monday, police said. The injured officer is Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar, who was seen clutching his head as blood trickled down his face. He has been shifted to a hopsital. A meeting was called in by an Adivasi group to protest against a clash that took place between two communities over alleged religious conversion in Edka village in Narayanpur district on Sunday, say preliminary reports. It quickly escalated into a big argument between two opposing groups. Chairs, stones were thrown around and people came to blows. Soon, it turned into a full-scale fight. Talking to reporters at the hospital, SP Kumar said that protesters 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 protesters. They seemed convinced and were about to return, but suddenly someone hit me with a
‘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
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
