By Matters India Reporter
Komali, Oct 2, 2022: A group of Jamatia tribe on October 2 pulled down a Catholic prayer shed a Komali village in the northeastern Indians state of Tripura
The incident happened when some 15 Catholic families were attending the Sunday prayer service in the shed.
“The group removed the tarpaulin shed during the Sunday prayer service. We cannot term it as an attack, the people belong to the same community,” said Bishop Lumen Monteiro of Agartala.
A video of the prayer shed demolition has gone viral on social media platforms.
The village comes under St Joseph Vaz parish in Amarpur. Komali village is one of the 15 villages under the parish.
The shed was put up on the land owned by the parish, said parish priest Fransalian Father Leejesh Mathew.
“The Hindu villagers had opposed the construction of a church there last year. They were afraid that their numbers would dwindle,” the priest told Matters India.
However, the Hindu villagers had not disturbed the prayer meetings. “This is the first such incident,” Father Mathew said.
He also said they are trying to find out the real issue behind the incident. The parish has initiated a peace talk with the community.
The diocesan headquarter in Agartala is some 100 km away from the parish.
The village has Mass only once in three weeks. So the parish priest was not present when the incident occurred.