Members of both the community during an altercation at Raigarh, Curtsey: Khabar Khuleaam
Chhattisgarh police have reportedly detained around a dozen people after raiding a premises in Savitri Nagar colony of Raigarh on information of an alleged attempt of illegal conversion by a group of people belonging to the Christian community on Saturday, January 27.
According to the reports, a group of people from the Christian community organised a meeting in a private premise in Savitri Nagar where around 25-30 people from the Hindu community were also invited.
It’s been learned that the organisers were also broadcasting propagandist materials via DVDs to lure people when the premise was raided by the members of the local Hindu outfit, who subsequently informed the police about the meeting.
It’s been reported that upon receiving the information, a police team immediately rushed to the spot and detained around a dozen people in connection with the alleged attempts of illegal conversion. “Upon receiving the information of conversion, we arrived at the spot and detained a few people. Action will be taken after the investigation, said a police official while speaking with the media.
The matter came to light after one of the volunteers of the local Hindu outfit, after receiving some input about the ongoing attempts of conversion in the said premises, reached the spot, following which he informed the other members of the community, leading to disclosure of the matter.
Speaking to the media, one of the volunteers of a local Hindu outfit informed, that when we first entered the premises, we witnessed around 40 to 50 people who were watching the broadcast made available by the event organisers.
They were indulged in conversion activities, and when we tried stopping them, they started manhandling our volunteers. They also pushed their womenfolk at the forefront and started abusing us, he added.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that an altercation has broken out between the members of the two communities over alleged attempts of conversion, and reports pertaining to similar clashes between the two groups over conversion have come to the fore from separate corners of the State lately.
Earlier, in a similar altercation that occurred between the two communities in Vasudevpur village under Duldula police station limits of Jashpur, members of the Christian and Hindu communities of the same village got into an intense verbal spat after the latter group questioned the frequent visits of a Pastor and his associates in the village.
It’s been learned that the verbal spat between the two groups soon turned violent, leading to minor injuries to a number of people from both communities on January 21.
According to the reports, when the members of the Hindu community were questioned about the frequent visits of a Pastor named Mahesh Mahananda and his associates on the premise of a villager named Shivkumar Mahto, the Christian group allegedly started pelting stones, leading to injuries from both sides.
Further, an FIR under sections 294, 506 and 323 has also been registered against Shivkumar Mahto, his father Majnu Mahto and others on the basis of the complaint of Naresh Yadav. Meanwhile, another FIR under similar sections have also been lodged by the police on the basis of a complaint file by Shivkumar Mahto.
It is to be noted that the tribal-dominated State of Chhattisgarh has been on the boil over cases pertaining to illegal conversion promoted by missionaries for years. Most of these cases include conversion on the pretext of lure, money, treatment, a job and education.
Recently, while speaking at a public event, the first Vanvasi (tribal) Chief Minister of the State, Vishnu Deo Sai, also remarked that the district of Jashpur holds the second largest church on the Asia continent, and large-scale conversions took place there.
While highlighting the contribution of the former union minister Dilip Singh Judeo, Chattisgarh’s CM had asserted that Dilip Singh Judeo started the Ghar wapasi campaign, which ultimately saved our Jashpur district; otherwise, it holds the second largest church of the Asia continent, and widescale conversion took place there.
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