Hindu Nationalists in India Plan ‘Religious Cleansing’ in Madhya Pradesh
District
("Compass News Direct," May 20, 2010)
New Delhi, India - Hindu nationalist organizations in Madhya Pradesh state
have declared their intentions to rid Mandla district of all Christian
influence by starting preparations for a large “reconversion” event next year.
A similar event in Dangs district, Gujarat state in 2006 was filled with
Christian hate speech. As a result of anti-Christian sentiment stirred at the
April 22 ground-breaking ceremony for the Madhya Pradesh “reconversion”
rally to be held next February, Hindu nationalists attacked a house church
in the district’s Bamhni Banjar village on May 2, Christian leaders said.
More than 100 Hindu devotees from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar
Pradesh and Maharashtra attended the ground-breaking ceremony in Mandla,
reported Patrika newspaper. A source present disclosed that leaders announced
a
list of objectives to be achieved before the festival, with one prominent
agenda item being to drive away Christian pastors, evangelists and foreign aid
workers from the district.
The newspaper quoted four Hindu leaders who have spoken out against foreign
Christians and renewed their oath to obtain “reconversions” from supposed
Hindus who had become Christians. The leaders pledged to “cleanse Mandla
of Christians” and cleanse the Narmada River by means of the kumbh.
The Maa Narmada Samajik Kumbh (Mother Narmada Social Kumbh, with kumbh
literally meaning, “pot”) is scheduled for Feb. 10-12 on the Narmada, a river
that flows through Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
After anti-Christian speeches at the ground-breaking ceremony, Mandla
district reported its first attack against Christians in Bamhni Banjar village
on May 2, said Pastor Rakesh Dass.
“This is a repercussion of the inaugural pledges revived by the Hindu
community,” Pastor Dass told Compass.
Around 40 Hindu nationalists from the Bajrang Dal surrounded the house of
Pastor Bhag Chand Rujhiya, who has led a home fellowship for five years, and
accused him of forceful conversion as they shouted anti-Christian slogans.
Using abusive language, they pelted his house with stones as about 60
people were attending a worship service, Pastor Dass said.
“The mob was carrying deadly weapons like knives and rods,” he said.
The mob left but soon returned with police, and officers took Pastor
Rujhiya and his wife into custody. Their three frightened and crying children
followed them to the police vehicle, Pastor Dass said. The couple was detained
for around three hours and questioned while the Hindu mob gathered in
front of the station and demanded that the pastor be handed over, with some
shouting that they wanted to kill him.
The 60 church members also arrived at the police station, protesting the
arrest of the pastor without evidence, and the Hindu mob began to try to
persuade them to return to Hinduism.
“How much have these Christians paid you?” said some of the Hindu
nationalists, according to Pastor Dass, who said they added, “We will pay you
double the amount for returning back to Hinduism.”
Police finally dispersed the mob and sent the pastor and his family away
after forcing them to sign statements that they would no longer lead Sunday
worship or pray with friends or relatives inside their house, and that they
would not evangelize again in the area.
As the family returned, motorcyclists harassed them with intent to harm,
said Pastor Dass.
Pastor Rujhiya, 36, and his family went into hiding. He returned to Bamhni
Banjar on May 7, though he said he was still fearful as threats from Hindu
nationalists continued.
“My wife and children say that we are ready to face whatever comes our way,”
he said. “We will not renounce our faith.”
Pastor Rujhiya told Compass that local police have refused to provide any
kind of security for him and his family. Officers have also refused to file
a First Information Report, saying they do not register complaints for such
“trivial matters.”
Bamhni Banjar police station constable T.L. Jagela refused to comment to
Compass, though he acknowledged that the couple had been forced to sign the
pledges to forego evangelism and Christian activities in their home. Asked
the reasons for the forced pledges, he said only that his senior officers “
would know.”
Christian leaders in Mandla submitted a memorandum to Superintendent of
Police Kamal K. Sharma requesting his intervention. He promised local
Christian leaders that he would look into the matter, but he told Compass, “I
don’
t know what you are talking about.”
Sharma denied any knowledge of the attack on Pastor Rujhiya’s home or of
the memorandum.
The violence against Christians in Madhya Pradesh state signals a major
onslaught in the offing, warned Kurishinkal Joshi, president of the Madhya
Pradesh Isai Sangh, an assembly of Christians in the state.
If Christians do not come forward to protest such atrocities, “the next
Kandhamal will be in our state,” Joshi told some 1,500 people at the meeting
in Indore, the state’s commercial capital, on May 2.
Kumbh Damage
Organizers of the kumbh hope for some 2 million participants, though
attendance at such events often falls short of projections.
Originally the kumbh was a gathering of holy men to discuss Hinduism. Since
then Hindu nationalists led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have
steered the traditional definition toward their own ends. RSS leader Mukund
Rao said the “social kumbh” began in 2006 with the Shabri Kumbh in Dangs,
Gujarat – described as an attempt to counter the influence of foreign
Christian workers in the area. It resulted in propaganda against Christians
and
heightened tensions.
Besides hate speeches before, during and after the event, the kumbh also
led to the beating of Christians, with many abandoning the area, and much
loss of Christian property, including graveyards. Christian graves were dug up
and crosses desecrated.
A Compact Disc produced by the Shabri Kumbh Samaroh Aayojan Samiti
(Organizing Committee) entitled “Shri Shabri Kumbh 2006: Spirituality along
with
the Wave of Patriotism,” was banned by the Supreme Court of India because it
incites “Hindus against the Christian community and suggests that
Christians be attacked and beheaded.”
The CDs were widely circulated, distributed and openly sold in the states
of Gujarat and Maharashtra, as well as in northeastern states.
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