Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, January 5, 2023: Police arrested 10 persons in connection with the vandalism in a Catholic Church and subsequent violence in Chhattisgarh state in Central India.
The police tightened security in and around the violence hit Sacred Heart Church in the heart of Narayanpur district headquarters amidst a day long bandh (shut down) in the Bastar region including the strife torn district on Jan. 5
The arrested including leaders of pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been remanded in judicial custody.
Sadanand Kumar, Superintendent of police (SP), the top police official of district told media that police provided round the clock protection to the Sacred Heart Church and other Catholic institutions including a high school inside the Church campus.
The officer also said, four cases have been registered against unidentified persons for attacking the Church, desecrating religious worship place, assaulting police officials and violence.
Ten persons arrested in connection with the attack in the Church and subsequent violence were remanded in judicial custody. Their arrests were made on January 3-4.
Police have also intensified searches for other accused based on the CCTV footage and mobile phone recordings.
Police also beefed up security to the Church run Vishwadeep high school in the Church campus and appealed the school authorities to reopen it.
The school was closed since Jan. 2 after an angry mob of tribal people armed with stones, iron roads, axes and sticks barged into the Church compound and pelted stones at the Church especially the windowpanes.
Soon after they broke open the main door of the Church and destroyed everything inside including the crucifix, statues, furniture, music equipment among other things.
The crowd also destroyed the Marian statue in the grotto inside the Church campus, presbytery, guest rooms and the crib.
They also stole close to half-a-million Indian rupee from the office of the parish priest Jomon Devasia who is also the principal of the school.
The Church and the school belong to the diocese of Jagadalpur.
The diocesan authorities have estimated a loss to the tune of more than 2 million Indian rupees in the attack besides the stolen money.
The violence is result of retaliation for the reported injuries suffered to tribal people following their traditional animist belief at the hands of their counterparts following Christian faith.
Clashes between both the groups have been reported from Narayanpur and its adjoining Kondagaon districts in the recent months, but Christian leaders said the police did not act upon their complaints leading to the current situation.
More than 1000 tribal Christians were driven out of their homes and forced to take shelter in other places in the district.
Meanwhile Father Devasia told Matters India on Jan. 5 “we are considering the demand for reopening the school in view of the assurance from the police for protection”.
The priest also said, “the situation is normal” and no fresh incident violence was reported as the day long bandh ended peacefully.
Meanwhile, the National Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP) from the Catholic Church filed a complaint with the National Commission for Minorities on Jan. 4 seeking action against the perpetrators of violence in Narayanpur and Kodagaon districts in the past couple of months.
Jesuit Father A Santhanam, a practicing lawyer in Tamil Nadu high court in southern India appealed the Federal statutory body empowered to safeguard the interests of minorities, “to ensure protection to the embattled Christians, take steps to prevent further violence and compensate them for the damages” among other things.
Father Santhanam, the convenor of the forum condemned the violence in the name of alleged religious conversion and appealed everyone for peace saying “violence is not a solution to any problem”.
The Congress Party that is known for its secular credentials rules Chhattisgarh, but still Christians feel unsafe in the state as they continuously face persecution.
Christians form less than 2 percent of the close to 30 million people of the state, a majority of whom are Hindus including tribals.