Introduction
In the memorandum dated July 20, 2024 and signed by the national president of United Christian Forum (New Delhi), Dr. Michael Williams, the Forum submitted its grievances to Minority Affairs minister, Kiren Rijiju, against increased violence and hostility against Christian community in India. It noted that in 2023, a total of 733 incidents of violence against Christians were reported to it, with an average of 61 incidents per month. It said the figures only includes incidents reported to it over the calls, and excludes any incidents from Manipur, which is embroiled in ethnic violence since May 2023. It also said that as of June this year, 361 incidents targeting Christians have already been reported to the Forum. Incidentally, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the leading states in targeted violence against Christians, with 96 and 92 incidents reported from these states, respectively.
The memorandum has categorised incidents into four categories, namely, “Violent Attacks”, “Violence against Scheduled Tribes in Bastar Region, Chhattisgarh”, “False complaints and Third-party complaints”, and “Police Complicity and Failure to Verify the Veracity of The Incident”. The memorandum citing the PUCL report, “Criminalising Practice of Faith”, provided details about several reported incidents of targeted violence against the minority community, and said that on many occasions police would collude with Hindutva groups to turn blind eye towards atrocities committed against them, and instead register cases against members of the minority community under IPC Sections 295A and 298 (outraging religious feelings). It also tried to corelate the increase in attacks on Christians with the enactment of anti-conversion laws, and further said that when actual crimes are committed against minorities due to religious reasons, the police would often register cases under property or personal dispute to brush aside the issue of hate crimes.
Violent Attacks
The Forum cited several instances of physical attacks on their community, especially from Chhattisgarh. For example, it said that on “May 4, 2024, Kosa from Kapanar, under the jurisdiction of Police Station Darbha; Bastar, Chhattisgarh, was tragically murdered by his relatives due to his Christian faith during a village celebration…Despite the urgent pleas of Kosa’s wife, Kosa was brutally attacked and fatally injured, while his wife was assaulted and subsequently hospitalized.” The memorandum notes that while the police registered an FIR in the case, it framed it as a land dispute instead of “religious persecution”.
Violence against Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh
The memorandum observed that “series of attacks displacing Adivasi Christians” have taken place in Chhattisgarh since December 2022 and Adivasi Christians have been threaten to denounce Christian faith and convert to the Hindu religion. Giving example of one such incident, it said that “on January 2, 2023, three Adivasi Christian women in Narayanpur were stripped naked publicly and physically assaulted in a bid to force them to give up their Christian faith.” In another incident it cited, a person along with his family members from Bastar was denied a burial rights for his Christian mother, Pando, and were asked by the villagers to undergo Gharwapsi (reconversion to Hinduism). The complaint in this regard was filed with the Superintendent of Police (SP), the Inspector General (IG), and the collector of Bastar but without much avail, and it took the family to reach the High Court to secure their burial rights.
Lawfare: False Complaints and Third-party complaints
The United Christian Forum (UCF) was severely critical of false cases filed against members of Christian community in the name of illegal religious conversion and accused the Hindutva groups of filing malicious cases against them. It said that recent amendments to the State Freedom of Religion Acts allow only person directly affected by forcible conversion to file the complaint, but the in practice, police have often registered cases and acted on it following the third-party complaints registered by Hindutva fringe elements. Referring to the Article 14 study, the Forum said that the analysis of over 100 FIRs filed under Uttar Pradesh’s the anti-conversion law reveals that 63 of these were registered after third-party complaints and 26 came from extremist groups.
To illustrate its case, the memorandum read that “On August 20, 2023, Santosh Nishad from Maharzajganj District in Uttar Pradesh was hosting a prayer gathering and get-together at his house when a group of approximately 10 individuals trespassed his property and physically assaulted him, accusing him of engaging in fraudulent religious conversions. On the evening of August 21, Pastor Santosh was taken into custody at the Nichlaul police station. An FIR bearing number 0410/2023 was registered under IPC sections 323 and 506 and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 leading to his imprisonment.”
Police complicity and failure to verify the veracity of the incident
The Forum accused police authorities of acting at behest of Hindutva forces aimed at targeting the minorities and registering false cases without checking the authenticity of the claims. It remarked that while false cases linger years in courts, the weaponisation of anti-conversion laws by police and mob meant growing legal costs, resulting in “undue violation of the right to life and liberty.” In one such example, it said that the Uttar Pradesh police registered an FIR on the complaint of Bajrang Dal leader on November 23, 2022, naming Harkhuram and Achhelal as the accused in the case registered under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, even though Harkhuram had passed away 12 years ago.
Conclusion
Even as the Forum highlighted the grievous violence and atrocities that have been committed against the Christian community, it also suggested several “recommends” to Kiran Rijiju to take remedial actions to ameliorate the situation. Its recommendations include: training on human rights and religious freedom standards and practices to the state and central police and judiciary; central government advisory to state governments to repeal the anti-conversion laws; an active and operational Commission for Human Rights and Commission for Minorities in every state with transparency in appointment of its members; strict judicial follow up on cases involving atrocities against members of minority communities, ensuring dialogue between different stakeholders to address genuine cases of fraudulent conversions, adequate compensation for victims of targeted religious violence, financial assistance to missionary schools, and implementation of the recommendation of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities to remove religious criteria for determining eligibility for Scheduled Caste membership.
Memorandum can be read here.
Related:
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Environment of targeted hate and violence against Christians: Report
Bastar violence: Anti-Christian Campaign causes breach in Adivasi unity