Chattisgarh: 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 after visiting more than 30 villages in districts where attacks allegedly took place against Christians.
BJP VHP start campaign, the report of fact-finding team led by Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society & Secularism and Brijendra Tiwari, Convener of All India People’s Forum Chhattisgarh said, “From 9- 18 December 2022, there were 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.”
The report said, “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.
Many Christian adivasis were gravely assaulted and beaten with lathis, tyre, and rods. At least two dozen people had to be hospitalised with injuries like fracture of collar bone.” BJP VHP start campaign
The report quoted Manglu Koram, a resident of Madamnar village, who claimed that he and members of 21 Christian families of his village were forcibly taken to the village temple where the priest sprinkled some water on them and conducted some rituals before declaring them as Hindus.
“They also forcibly took away copies of the Bible from their homes. Likewise, 18 families from Udidgaon village, 3 families from Fulhadgaon, 3 families from Putanchandagaon village were also forcibly converted,” the report claimed.
“Even persons with disabilities and pregnant women were not spared of the brutal violence.”
“The district administration ignored the early warnings such as threats and intimidation targeting Christian Adivasis,” the report said. “These intimidations were reported but no action (was taken).” Shibu Thomas, founder of Persecution Relief said that Uttar Pradesh has seen the highest number of instances of persecution of Christians between 2017 and 2019.
“I think the administration and the religious fanatics are hand in hand. The police, especially, is supporting the fanatics rather than protecting Christians, because the percentage of Christians is very low in Uttar Pradesh.”
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
