NEWS: Families in India Driven from Homes for Receiving Christ

Families in India Driven from Homes for Receiving Christ
Nirmala Carvalho & Vishal Arora
Tribal peoples retaliate for villagers converting; in Karnataka, more
specious charges.

MUMBAI, India – Adherents of a Bodo tribal religion in Assam,
northeast India, forced nine families from their homes last Tuesday
(November 14) for converting to Christianity.

The villagers destroyed six of the nine families' homes, forcing the
Christians to take shelter in a primary school. The nine families live
in four villages in the Kokrajhar district of Assam.

Their ordeal began when Christians attended a Pentecostal meeting held
in Haldibari village last Monday (November 13).

"This meeting infuriated the Bodo tribals, who organized their own
religious gathering the next day," a source told Compass.

At 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning (November 14), the tribal people of
Haldibari gathered for their own meeting at the village council hall,
said the Rev. Madhu Chandra, Delhi regional secretary of the All India
Christian Council.

"Some of them were sympathizers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
[RSS, a Hindu extremist group]," Rev. Chandra said. "Under their
influence, the group resolved to evacuate Christian families from the
village."

At around 2:30 p.m. that day, 25 Bodo villagers went to the homes of
three Christian families in Haldibari and attacked their houses. The
violence soon spread to the neighboring villages of Moflabari,
Jamduguri and Basdari.

The district administration rushed security forces to the area to
guard the nine families, who had taken shelter in a lower primary
school building.

Kokrajhar police officer Manoj Kumar Saikia told Compass that a case
had been registered against the 25 alleged offenders. At press time,
police had arrested seven of the 25 but released them on bail.

Advocates have submitted a memorandum to the Bodoland Territory
Council, asking it to investigate the attack, pay compensation to the
Christian families who lost their homes, and provide safety to other
minority Christians in the district.

Attacks in Karnataka
In the southern state of Karnataka, Christians will hold a rally on
December 2 in the wake of specious arrests for "forced conversion' and
vandalism of a church in the past week.

A quarry owner filed a police complaint against two Christians,
including a pastor, accusing them of "forced conversion" on Wednesday
(November 15), said Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the
Global Council of Indian Christians.

A pastor identified only as Hoysala and his companion, medical doctor
Anup Kumar, were accused of forced conversion in Karnataka's Mandya
district.

The pastor and Kumar had gone to visit a friend at a quarry in
Jaknahalli village in Pandavapura Taluka in Mandya District on
Wednesday, George said. Not finding the friend there, they started
back and a woman approached them requesting that they pray for her as
she was suffering from a severe headache. As they were praying, the
owner of the quarry came and shouted at them, accusing them of
forcible conversion.

Nevertheless, the two were able to leave peacefully.

The following day, the quarry owner filed a complaint against them at
the Pandavapura police station, accusing them of conversion. The two
were arrested and released on bail the following day.

The Christians could not be released on bail the day of their arrest,
Thursday (November 16), because all officers of the rank of inspector
or sub-inspector were occupied on security for a visit of political
leaders at a Bharatiya Janata Party rally, George said.

On November 17, a lower court refused their bail application and sent
them to the Mandya jail. "However," George said, "a higher court
granted them bail in the evening."

Also in Karnataka, on November 18 Hindu extremists vandalized a statue
of Mary in a Catholic theological institution. About 10 unidentified
people marred the statue in the Carmelram Theological College, on
Sarjyapur Road on the outskirts of Bangalore, George said.

He added that spit and vermillion (red powder applied on the forehead
by certain Hindus) was found in the vicinity of the statue. College
authorities could not identify the attackers as they fled in a blue
car and on a few motorbikes at 11:15 p.m.

Condemning the incident in a public letter, George urged the chief
minister of Karnataka to "instruct the government machinery" to
maintain religious harmony and peace in the state.
Representatives of various Christian organizations, mainly Catholic,
had on Wednesday (November 15) urged Deputy Commissioner of Police
M.S. Srikar to provide security to Christians in the wake of rising
attacks on them in the Hubli-Dharwad region in Karnataka.

Copyright 2006 Compass Direct News