By A C Michael
New Delhi, March 5, 2020: The year 2020 has barely begun and has already witnessed 26 incidents of violence against Christians spread over 10 states.
Contrast this against 29 incidents in 13 states in India in January 2019. Uttar Pradesh continues to lead with the highest number of incidents of eight in 2020 and nine in 2019.
Eight states Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh continue to witness violence in 2020 January as in 2019 January.
This year Chhattisgarh has climbed to the number two position, with five incidents, whereas last year it was Tamil Nadu with the same numbers.
Another difference this year is in the registration of FIRs … four registered as against nil in 2019. Credit goes to the lawyers, human rights activists and networking partners of United Christian Forum (UCF) and other such organizations who are working on the ground to ensure much-needed assistance to the victims who are facing false allegations of forceful conversion. UCF was launched on 19th January 2015 providing a 24-hour toll-free helpline number (1800-208-4545) for any Christian citizen fearing an attack on their Constitutional rights.
Last January all 29 incidents fell in the category of mob attacks or threats/intimidation. This year it has reduced to 13 incidents in this category. This again goes to the credit of our alert lawyers and activists. Physical violence has reduced to 3 incidents this year from 6 last year. Restrictions imposed on religious functions have come down to 19 this year from 28 last year. However, there is a sharp rise in the number of Tribals who received injuries in these attacks.
15 this year from mere 1 in 2019.
What remained unchanged is that there was no visible public condemnation of these unwarranted atrocities on Christian minorities either by the people in power, opposition, officials, religious or civil society leaders. There is not even talk about compensation leave alone getting actual compensation for a property damaged by an unruly mob.
Damage to religious properties stayed at 2 for both January 2019 and January 2020.
Four incidents were reported on the 5th day of the year 2020 with one each in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The first incident of 2020 was in the village of Kotri Guda in Odisha wherein Christian families were threatened to leave their faith and were forced to stop a peaceful prayer service inside the church.
In the second incident, a mob barged into under-construction church premises in Tirupur District, Tamil Nadu and brutally beat up the Christian family members sleeping inside, abusing them and using derogatory casteist remarks. They damaged the parked vehicles as well.
The third incident saw a mob of 150-200 entering and disrupting a Church service, beating up the believers and threatening to burn one of the ladies alive. The police, instead of taking action against the perpetrators, arrested two members of the Church. Our lawyers managed to get them bail on January 7.
In the fourth incident, a mob accompanied by the police entered the Church while the service was going on in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh and threatened the Pastor with dire consequences if he continued conducting the service.
Next two days, January 7 and 8, 2020, an incident each took place in Nala Sopara, Mumbai and Aankhihara, Chhattisgarh respectively.
On January 7, in Nala Sopara, a mob accompanied by police personnel entered and stopped the Pastor conducting the Church service and took him to the police station where they filed a false FIR of conducting black magic. Anticipatory bail was obtained for the pastor to avoid arrest. On 8th the villagers banned Christian families from using the public utilities and meeting their relatives. These matters are pending at various stages.
Two incidents took place on January 9, 2020. One is from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh where the Pastor was arrested on false accusations of conversion. The pastor took bail from SDM Court. Second, in Rahwadi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh wherein the pastor was accused of conducting conversion by a group of people claiming to be members of RSS.
On January 11 police filed FIR against 15 Christians for conducting prayer in a house in Jainagar, Jharkhand. So far 3 out of 15 Christians have got bail. Bail for the rest of them is being pursued.
Four incidents were recorded on January 15 three in Uttar Pradesh and one in Chhattisgarh.
The first one was in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. The police disrupted a prayer service of a 50-member congregation and took the Pastor to the police station and charged him with a false allegation of conversion. The second one was in Mau, Uttar Pradesh wherein again a mob of 100 plus disrupted the Sunday service and pressurized the police to arrest the Pastor. The police happily obliged. It has taken nearly four weeks to get the pastor released on bail.
The third incident of Uttar Pradesh took place in Hariyan Village of Basti district, where police officials summoned the local pastor and warned him about continuing to preach. The fourth incident took place in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.
Revenue officials accompanied by the police demanded I.D. documents from the Pastor and Christian congregation members. When asked why only from Christians, they said their orders are from “higher authorities”. But on being pressurized to show written instructions, they left the place quietly.
January 13 and 14 witnessed one incident each in Chhattisgarh. On January 13, a Christian lady in Bastar, Chhattisgarh was asked to pay a penalty of Rs. 1, 50,000 for burying her dead husband in the village. Her family was being socially boycotted for believing in Jesus. They threatened her and asked her to leave the village.
With the intervention of ADF India activists, the police brokered an understanding between the villagers and the Christian family. On January 14 in Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh a Christian family was being harassed for practicing Christianity. They were being pressurized to leave the faith or the leave the village and their land was forcefully being taken to make a pond. With the intervention of UCF allied lawyers and activists and the support of police, the tension was defused. Today, the family continues to live there and practice their faith too.
There was another incident on 14th January. In Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, a Christian running a house church with about 20 members was accused of conversion. Through the intervention of UCF activists and the support of local police, the matter was resolved amicably and the house church continues to function there.
Three incidents took place on January 19 – one each in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. All three witnessed violent attacks by mobs claiming to be members of the RSS. But the outcomes in UP and Karnataka were different from Chhattisgarh. In Chhattisgarh, the police accepted the complaint filed by the UCF activists and imprisoned all 11 violent perpetrators who demolished the pastor’s house and threatened to kill him. In Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh the pastor was detained under the false allegation of conversion. UCF allied lawyers got him bail on January 31. In Mallasamudra, Karnataka a small gathering of 20 faithful were beaten up and were taken to the police station where a case of fraudulent conversion was filed. But with the intervention of UCF allied lawyers, no FIR was registered, and the prayer service continues there without any hindrance.
Remaining days of January 2020 there were incidents of violence against Christians on each on January 23 and 26 and three on January 26 and two on the 27th. On 23rd a mob of 25 claiming to be members of RSS and Bajrang Dal, accompanied by local police, stopped the construction of a Church in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh. The matter is being pursued by the allied lawyers of UCF. On 25th a meeting of 25 pastors in Tripur, Tamil Nadu was stopped by a mob accompanied by local police. The legal assistance is being provided to them.
On January 26 two incidents took place in Karnataka and one in Telangana. One was in K R Puram of Bangalore where an independent pastor was conducting a prayer service for a small gathering of 25-30 believers. Allegedly a member of the RSS barged into the prayer service and demanded to know if they have permission to conduct prayer service at home. On the advice of UCF activists, they have shifted to another venue and their prayer service is continuing without any disturbance.
The second incident on January 26 took place in KM Doddi near Maddur, Karnataka. A Pentecostal Church pastor was brought to the police station to conduct an inquiry. ADF India Representative spoke to the police and the Church service continues there now. On the same day in Hyderabad, a lady pastor was dragged out of an auto and intimidated. Her Church members were also physically abused and services were stopped. With the intervention of UCF activists, FIR was registered against the violence perpetrators.
On January 27 a mob came and beat up a Pastor and fractured his hand for complaining against them for digging up a trench at the entrance of the Church. UCF activists managed to file a medical-legal case and FIR registered against the violence perpetrators. The last incident of January happened in Pongalur, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu where a mob forcefully stopped the Sunday service. The UCF activists filed FIR against the violence perpetrators. Interestingly, there was no valid reason for complaining as the Church was not even using the public system.
Dr. Michael Williams, President of UCF expressed his concern, saying, “The headline may sound like there is some decline in atrocities against Christians. But make no mistake. The pedagogy and planning behind the kind of incidents that have taken place show that they are systematic, orchestrated and done with official cooperation of law enforcement, especially in UP. The community must come together and take these issues up with political leadership, both State and Central, before it further escalates. It is my firm belief that nobody should be targeted for their faith.”