India’s Blocking of BBC Documentary Reflects Broader Crackdown
Program Highlights New Evidence of Government Role in 2002 Gujarat Riots Victims of the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state, which left more than 1,000 dead, gather for a protest The Indian government’s blocking of a BBC documentary on the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state in 2002 is just the latest attempt to prevent criticism of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Last week, the BBC released the first of a two-part series, “The Modi Question,” highlighting findings of a previously unpublished report of the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office that investigated the 2002 riots when Prime Minister Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state. Soon after the documentary’s release, Indian authorities invoked emergency powers under the Information Technology Rules to compel social media platforms to take down the video in India. In February 2002, there was a retaliatory spree of rape and killings across Gujarat after some Muslims attacked a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. More than 1,000 were reportedly killed in the riots, most of them Muslim. Allegations that the state authorities did not act to stop the violence against Muslims, which was often led by leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or affiliates, sparked international condemnation. The UK
Indian Christians demand halt to police survey
Assam state cops have been collecting details about Christians, their churches, institutions, and conversion activities A Christian group in northeast India's Assam state has demanded a halt to a clandestine survey by police to gather details on the community, their churches, other institutions, and so-called religious conversion activities. The United Christian Forum (UCF) in Golaghat district wrote to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Jan. 20 urging him to issue a directive to the district’s police to stop harassing Christians. Police denied undertaking any such survey with Dipak Tamuly, deputy superintendent of police, Golaghat district, telling local media that “no survey of Christians or their churches is underway.” The UCF petition signed by its president, Jiden Aind, and secretary, Leader Toppo, alleged that some police officers were involved in collecting information about churches, their leaders and conversion activities in the district. "This sort of harassment has been reported across the state" The information has been collected since Jan. 2 through personal visits, or through messages sent on cell phones, which has left Christians in Golaghat “confused and disturbed,” they added. “Therefore, we humbly request you to kindly intervene and address our grievances. As a peace-loving and serving community we ask you to abide by the constitutional guarantees,”
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
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
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
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
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
