Chattisgarh, India - Around 200 Hindu activists attacked a church in Moti Chowk village in Durg district, Chattisgarh, India, while Sunday services were being held on June 6.
The activists were from the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council). They came fully armed and, according to eye witnesses, were accompanied by two police officers.
Pastor Jaichand Dongre and other church members were physically assaulted. The mob also looted the church, took away Bibles, other Christian literature and musical instruments.
Church Members Jailed
Nine church members — seven men and two women — were then taken to the police station.
According to local sources, they were charged with “disturbing the peace” under Section 151 of the Indian Penal Code, which states: “Whoever knowingly joins or continues in any assembly of five or more persons likely to cause a disturbance of the public peace, after such assembly has been lawfully commanded to disperse, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.”
Dongre and his congregation were meeting peacefully for worship in full accordance with their rights as outlined in Article 19 and 25 of the Indian Constitution. Article 19 promises the right to freedom of speech and expression, and the right to assemble peacefully without arms; while Article 25 provides for freedom of conscience and the free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
Eye-witnesses said police slapped Dongre several times and attempted to humiliate him. The crowd following Dongre to the police station also slapped him, with no intervention from the police officers.
Christians Said to 'Deserve' Beatings
When a representative of the Minority Commission in Madhya Pradesh, Patras Habil, contacted the police station by phone, he was told that the beatings and arrests were due to conversion activities carried out by the Christians and that they “deserved” it.
When the representative revealed his connection with the Minority Commission, the tone of the police officer changed. He then claimed to have rescued the Christians from the mob who had gathered to attack them.
Church members later met with the local superintendent of police, who promised to help them. However, the nine Christians taken to the police station were kept in prison for two days before being released on bail.
At press time, the situation in the village remained tense. The Bajrang Dal had mobilized people against the Christian community; Christians were no longer able to use the community well or buy food supplies in local markets after a social boycott was ordered by the activists.
Christians Asked to Renounce Their Faith
Meanwhile on June 3, also in Chattisgarh, the Sarpanch (village headman) of Hathod village, Balod, Durg district, called 13 Christians to a village meeting. At the meeting, they were asked to renounce their faith or face the consequences.
Seven of the 13 refused. They were immediately locked up in the Balod jail and charged under Sections 151, 107 and 116 of the Indian Penal Code.
Compass spoke to Ram Kishore Sahu, the lawyer representing the seven, who said this type of threat was not new to the area. A similar incident occurred two years ago. The Christians charged in that incident still await trial.
Sahu said these tactics were commonly used against rural Christians to encourage them to give up their faith.
The police have also made it difficult for the Christians in Hathod village to be released on bail. The bail orders explicitly stated that the security of 10,000 rupees ($230) per person must come from within the village itself; no person outside the village could provide security for the bail amount.
However, fellow villagers who sympathized with the Christians were reluctant to post bail, due to the social influence of the Sarpanch and Hindu activists living in the village.
At press time, bail had not been secured and the seven Christians of Hathod village remained in jail.
Chattisgarh state is still ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), renowned for its negative attitude towards religious minorities. In state assembly elections held in December 2004, the BJP campaigned on an anti-conversion platform. In one “cartoon” advertisement placed in local newspapers, a bishop was depicted forcibly converting a tribal man while an assistant stood guard over others who were held in a cage, waiting to be baptized.
In their party manifesto, the BJP also promised to ban conversions to Christianity if they were voted into power.
Based on this campaign, the BJP won 50 of the 90 available seats.
Following the election, Bishop Victor Kindo of Raigarh said that the outcome was not favorable, and the Christian minority community in Chattisgarh was likely to face “tough times.”
In March this year, the Dainik Bhaskar, a local newspaper, reported that, “The state government has prepared a draft to amend the provisions of the Dharma Swatantraya Adhinayarn (Freedom of Religion) Act, making them more stringent to restrict conversions of poor tribals to Christianity,”
Reconversion
Reconversion is also high on the agenda of the Hindu Jagran Manch, an activist group closely associated with the BJP. The Manch claimed in April that hundreds of Christians were “reconverted” to Hinduism in a ceremony held in Chamtari district, Chattisgarh.
During the reconversion ceremony on April 2, former BJP cabinet minister Dilip Singh Judeo threatened Christian workers, saying, “If Christian missionaries don’t stop converting people, we will take up arms.” (See Compass Direct, “Hindu Activists in India ‘Reconvert’ Christians, Threaten Missionaries,” April 7, 2005.)
Only 1.9 percent of Chattisgarh’s 20.8 million residents are Christians, according to the 2001 census.