MUMBAI, India – Christian families in a village in India say they feel uncertain about Christmas celebrations amid local pressure from Hindu nationalists.
The tensions began in on November 24 in the central state of Chhattisgarh, a day after a group of locals did not allow the family of Anthi Mandavi – a 35-year-old local Christian who died from tuberculosis – to perform her burial. According to Newslaundry, Anthi’s brother Charan claimed the police were present but did not intervene after a mob stopped the funeral and the family eventually had to take the body elsewhere for the burial.
Station House Officer alias Police Inspector Ganesh Yadav said the police have increased patrolling in the area, which has a population of around 400, following the assault.
But local Christians have accused the police of inaction. They said the required report was never lodged, and even the complaint by seven Christian villagers about the assault was “reworded” to link it to a “land dispute” instead of “religious hatred.”
A day after the police complaint, the Hindu group that attacked them served all the 23 Christian families a show cause notice referring to their homes – about engaging in “illegal” construction on tribal land.
“We were told by more than 150 villagers that these families have encroached on land and that’s why we have issued a show cause notice to them,” a revenue officer told Newslaundry.
This story was originally published in cruxnow.com. Read the full story here.