Bastar, India: Locals in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district vandalised a church in the area over suspicion of carrying out religious conversions.
A police official, who was stationed at the spot to control the mob, was also injured during the protest.
On December 31, 2022, members of tribal communities took out protest rallies against the alleged religious conversions, following which clashes took place between the tribal groups and Christian tribals.
Sadanand Kumar, the Superintendent of Police in Narayanpur said that protesters arrived near Vishwa Dipti Christian School in the afternoon and tried to charge towards a church located in the school premises. He said when he along with other officials was trying to specify the protests, he was hit on the head.
Earlier, Indian civil rights groups have said 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, at a press conference in New Delhi said 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.
He said, 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 that 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 to be hospitalised with injuries like fracture of collar bone, wrists, etc,” he said.
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