Chhattisgarh: Hindutva group attacks Christian families, forces to sign pact to ‘convert within ten days’

On 12 June, Christian families were allegedly attacked by a Hindutva mob in Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur and given an ultimatum to denounce their religion within 10 days. At least two victims were left unconscious while three were hospitalised after the attack in Bade Paroda village, under Badanji Police station.

One of the injured had a broken leg indication of the intensity of the violence, the lawyer representing the families told Maktoob. The village has been a flashpoint for these religious clashes since 2023, with the Christian minorities being the target of these sporadic attacks and intimidation.

The lawyer representing the families since 2023 noted how all the attacks were aided by the local police eventually leading the families to flee from their village.

“The families are now banished from the village and have been coerced into signing a statement, in the presence of local authorities and signed by the village sarpanch, stating they will convert within ten days if they wish to return. They fled the village, fearing for their lives, as they believed they would be killed if they did not comply,” the lawyer, who wants to remain anonymous, told Maktoob.

While sharing the information about the incident, United Christian Forum (UCF) said at least 23 cases of violence against Christians have been recorded in just the past week. about 200 hate crimes against Christians have been reported in just the first three months of 2024, according to data maintained by the group.

The Hindutva group further attacked the properties, demolishing the field walls and destroying crops which resulted in huge financial loss worth lakhs of rupees. After physically assaulting the victims, the assaulters issued death threats to the families asking them to denounce their religion or face further brutality.

“The villagers, Shoba, Chetan, and Savitri were being forced to denounce Christianity to cultivate their lands. The issue persisted since 2023, but it escalated into brutal violence earlier this month. The families are now prohibited from cultivating their crops and the money generated from their lands was distributed among the authorities with only a sixth of it being shared with the families,”

On June 12, when villagers went to cultivate their lands, a group affiliated with the Bajrang Dal and RSS declared that they could not work until they denounced their religion as the lands belonged to the village ‘deities’. Later, at around 9 AM the families were dragged out of their homes, beaten relentlessly, and detained in the Panchayat Bhawan up till around 3 PM.

This included a few underage girls being detained with the aid of the police, the complaint, accessed by Maktoob, claimed.

“A few months ago, these groups even burnt down the cornfields that belonged to the Christian families to intimidate them to convert. During the June 12 attack, Shoba sustained a fractured leg due to a severe beating,” the lawyer claimed.

For a long time, complaints had been lodged by the village’s Christian community regarding an absence of adequate police protection. With repeated cries for help, the law enforcers have largely remained absent, making the communities easy targets for these attacks. Of late, this latest incident has triggered fears among the Christian families, forcing them to flee the village in search of safety.

A report published by an advocacy group, in December 2023 stated that there had been an increase in violence against Christians in the past few years, from the minimum cases of 505 in 2021 and 599 in 2022 to 687 in 2023.

This article is originally published on https://maktoobmedia.com/india/chhattisgarh-hindutva-group-attacks-christian-families-forces-to-sign-pact-to-convert-within-ten-days/