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Chhattisgarh, Christian activist: attack on Gurur faithful "reprehensible"
by Nirmala Carvalho
For Sajan K George abuses against the "peaceful" Protestant community violate religious freedom and the laws of “secular” India. The president of the GCIC against state law that allows "arbitrary arrests" of Christians. On June 19, 40 extremists attacked Grace Church threatening its pastor. Intimidation in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
Delhi (AsiaNews) - The attack by Hindu fundamentalists against the peaceful Christian community of Gurur is a "reprehensible" act which must be dealt with according to "rules in force in secular India”, says Sajan K George, president of Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) speaking to AsiaNews, in the aftermath of the violence suffered by a small Protestant group in the state of Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh Christians denounce hostility and incitement to violence against the religious minority by the president of the local section of the BJP (Bharatiya Janatha Party), the ultra-nationalist Hindu party.
On June 19 at about 11:45 in the morning a group of 40 Hindu extremists from Baljrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), attacked the faithful of Grace Church, a small Protestant community in Gurur, Durg district, Chhattisgarh State in central India. During the raid, the fundamentalists, led by Narayana Teke, devastated the place of Christian worship and threatened the pastor Mohan Thomas. The local community is made up of about thirty faithful and for the past two months has organized prayers on Sundays between noon and 9 and has never created problems for public order.
The extremists have stolen photos and ordered the Christians to leave the city immediately. The pastor reported the incident to the Christian activists of GCIC, who have pledged their support and condemned the attack on a peaceful community of the faithful. Sajan K George points out that those who gather in prayer houses and live in independent Pentecostal churches are living "with a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads," because of the risk "of being arbitrarily arrested under the Chhattisgarh Law on Religious Freedom of 1968 " .
He recalled that Chhattisgarh "is one of five states where an anti-conversion law is in force", which has been transformed over time into a pretext to "stop and put innocent Christians in jail" on fabricated charges. Through "fear and intimidation," the nationalists of the BJP have been in power in the state since 2003 and carry out abuse and harassment. The congregation of Grace Church, adds Sajan K George, was "traumatized by the threats of the assailants," but the violence will be treated according to "rules in force in secular India."
In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Christian leaders from ISAE Mahasangh have appealed to the head of the Election Committee to denounce the demonstrations of hostility by Prabath Jha, president of the BJP in the state in central India. The reference is to what happened in the Assembly vote in the constituency of Jaber, in which the Christian candidate was accused of forced conversions. Fr. Anand Muttungal, coordinator of the organization, said that "it is not the first time" that the Hindu extremists have used the pretext of forced conversions to "target Christian candidates," passing "Christians as demons."