India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Religious leaders from various faiths led a candle march on Sunday evening to express solidarity with the tribal Christians of Chhattisgarh and condemn attacks on them by members of the Hindu-right groups.
The candle march was organized by the Delhi Archdiocese’s Commission for Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The religious leaders of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Bahai and Christianity came together on one platform and asked the state and central governments to end the violence against the tribal Christians of Chattisgarh.
Interfaith leaders who attended the candle march to denounce violence against tribal Christians of Chhattisgarh included Prof. Mohammed Salim Engineer of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Navaid Hamid of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawart (AIMMM) representing Islam, Swami Goswami Sushil Maharaj from Hinduism, Rabbi Ezekiel from Judaism, Dr. A.K. Merchant from Bahai, and Kabir Saxena from Buddhism. Bishop Paul Swaroop from CNI church, Bishop Deepak Tauro, Auxiliary Bishop Delhi, Fr. Vincent D’ Souza Vicar General, Fr. Swaminathan were the church dignitaries who participated in the prayer service and candle march.
According to a fact-finding team, about 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 villages in Kondagaon districts were attacked by radical Hindus on December 9, 2022, and December 18, 2022, resulting in the displacement of about 1,000 tribal Christians and severe fracture injuries to about two dozen others. Many of them are in serious condition and undergoing treatment in different hospitals.
The fact-finding report said that those displaced were threatened to denounce their Christian faith and convert to the Hindu faith, failing which they would have to leave their village or face dire consequences, even death.
The report said that early warnings of the campaign to forcibly convert Christians manifested as early as October 2022. But the district administration, the report alleged, ignored the warnings of threats and intimidation targeting Christian tribals.
The fact-finding report claimed that the administration was lackadaisical even after escalated and violent campaign against tribal Christians around December 9, 2022. No action was taken against the accused persons despite complaints filed by the Christian victims. The report alleged that Christian Adivasis were beaten in presence of 10 to 15 policemen.
“The policemen neither stopped the attack nor filed any FIRs. With the perpetrators enjoying such impunity, the violence against tribal Christians continued to escalate,” alleged the fact-finding report that was released to the media a few days ago. However, FIRs have now been belatedly registered by the police on trivial charges only.
