By SABRANGINDIA
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”.
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