It was only after a wait of over four days and that too after a court order that the body of a deceased Christian lady was eventually buried in a private land amid tightened security arrangements in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday afternoon, July 2.
The development took place amidst protests from a large section of villagers who have been opposing the burial of the deceased lady within the boundaries of the village. Those who opposed the move are of the opinion that as the deceased lady was a follower of the Christian religion she should be buried in a Christian crematorium.
However, bounded by the orders of the court, the villagers eventually agreed to let the burial take place in the private land owned by the deceased son. Though a section of them in the meantime reached the Tokapal block and submitted a memorandum opposing the ongoing burial of the deceased within the village limits.
The memorandum as reported by a few local dailies talks about the objections raised to the burial of the deceased within the village boundaries and not in the Christian crematorium, indicating the brewing anger among the local community over the latter’s funeral in a private land of the village.
The dispute between the two groups in Errabota village under the Parpa police station limits of Bastar arose when the family members of the deceased lady, Pando Kashyap tried to bury her within the boundaries of village after her demise on Friday, June 28.
However, the attempts of the family members met with a strong resistance from the other community of the village who opposed the burial within the village limits citing Pando’s religious beliefs before her death.
The villagers opposing the burial of Pando within the village limits were of the opinion that Pando should be cremated in a Christian crematorium as she was following the Christian religion and the village do not have a Christian crematorium.
The resistance shown by the other section led the deceased’s son Ramlal approaching the court for allowing the cremation within the village limits to which the court agreed and instructed the administration to make adequate security arrangements.
Following the court’s direction, the deceased lady was eventually buried amidst adequate security arrangements on Tuesday afternoon though not without the resentment that is brewing among the other section of the villagers.
Clashes over burial of dead one’s
It is noteworthy that this is not the only time that tension has gripped the interiors of the tribal dominated Bastar over burials of dead ones and such cases have already made headlines in the past as well.
The Organiser in March last year reported a similar incident that too from the Parpa police station limits where clashes occurred between the two group over a similar dispute in Bhejipadar village.
It was then reported that the initial altercation between the members of the Christian community and local Hindu villagers turned violent after the former attempted to bury a deceased lady within the village limits.
A few policemen along with villagers had sustained injuries after the clashes which ultimately led to the deployment of security personnel in the village until both the groups agreed to the burial in a private land with some reservation.
Communal scuffle over conversion attempts
It must be noted that incidents of scuffle over illegal conversion and conversion-born disputes such as over observing age-old traditions and traditional festivals, burial of dead ones and reservation benefits have been keep coming to the fore from the tribal dominated State.
The growing cases of altercation between the local Hindu Vanvasi/Janjati (tribal) community and the newly converted Christians have also triggered protests by the former in various part of the State who have been demanding a de-listing exercise to identify and remove those within the community who have embraced any other religion.
Notably the issue of conversion and its ramifications in the hinterlands of tribal dominated Surguja and Bastar region was also among the crucial issues raised by the then opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the run-up to the state assembly elections promising a stringent anti-conversion law if voted to power.
