Image for representational purpose only (Organiser)
Raipur: An altercation broke out between the local residents and a group of people led by a pastor over organising a prayer ceremony in Manki village under Arjunda police station limits of Balod district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, September 1.
The scuffle between the two sides occurred after a local pastor identified as Rakesh Nirmalkar organised a religious gathering aimed allegedly at inciting a section of villagers for anti-Hindu activities despite repeated objection by the villagers.
According to the details, the said pastor Rakesh was continuously visiting Manki and other adjacent villages and was indulged in convincing/misleading people to attend “Prarthana Sabha” (prayer ceremony). His continuous anti-Hindu activities have rattled the villagers who confronted him on Sunday when the former was organising a similar prayer ceremony in Manki village.
The intervention made by a group of villagers led by a few local political activists triggered a heated exchange of words between the pastor and the villagers which further escalated the tension between the groups, prompting a few to inform the police about the incident.
Arriving on the spot, a police team then tried calming down the agitated villagers alongside detaining the said pastor and a few of his accomplices. Later the police booked Rakesh Nirmalkar under section 170 of the Bharataiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and produced him before the court. He has been sent to judicial custody subsequently.
Attempts to lure locals into conversion
It must be noted that incidents linked to inciting the local residents of remote villages for conversion have been keep surfacing from the state of Chhattisgarh on regular basis, underscoring about the continuous attempts being made to promote illegal conversion in a planned manner.
Earlier Organiser on August 12 reported a similar incident from the bordering district of Balrampur where a pastor identified as Ranjit Bada was too apprehended by the police on charges of inciting a group of villagers to embrace Christianity.
It was then reported that the accused pastor was luring villagers to change their religion on pretext of providing them with free education, money and health benefits. The incident came to light after a woman of the same village lodged a written complaint against the said pastor alleging that the pastor has brainwashed his husband who in turn is now pressuring her to change her religion.
The victim lady in her complaint had further disclosed that such has been the influence of Ranjit on his husband that it has now resorted to regular strife in the family. Notably this is not the only incident where attempts made at conversion has resulted in serious strife between the family members and such cases have been keep coming to the fore on regular intervals.
In a similar case reported by Organiser a fortnight ago, a serious scuffle broke out between members of a family in Surta village under Ramanujganj Nagar police station limits of Surajpur district over performing of rituals of a deceased lady.
The incident occurred after Kanhiya Lal, son of the deceased lady tried performing the after death ritual of the deceased lady as per the Christian faith prompting a strong objection from the members of his extended family, this led to a confrontation between the two sides.
The situation deteriorated further after a group of outsiders tried creating a ruckus by arriving on the spot only to be opposed by the villagers who sided with the rest of the family members and informed a few Hindu activists about the incident. The tension between the two side diffused only after the police detained around a dozen people who tried pressurising Kanhaiya Lal to perform the rituals as per the Christian faith.
Significantly, many such incidents linked to scuffle between the local Hindu community and followers of Christian faith over issues such as burials of the deceased individuals of Christian sect have surfaced in separate places of tribal populated Bastar division of the state underscoring the growing discomfort between the two communities over traditional practices.
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