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You are here: Home / Archives for Church

Alleged Bajrang Dal members vandalise church in Raipur, thrash worshippers

March 7, 2016 by Nasheman

church-attack

Raipur: A group of about 15-20 youths sporting saffron bands on their forehead and allegedly belonging to right wing Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal today barged into a church on the city’s outskirts while prayers were underway and vandalised the premises and thrashed those present.

The president of Chhattisgarh’s Christian Forum Arun Pannalal alleged that the slogan-shouting attackers belonged to Bajrang Dal and that women and an infant were also not spared while the police in the state capital remained tight-lipped on their identity.

“Around 15-20 youths entered the church premises located at Kachna village while prayer was underway,” Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chandrakar told PTI.

They allegedly damaged chairs, fans and other articles in the premises and even beat up the people present, he said. The accused were reportedly sporting saffron bands on their forehead, he said. They fled the spot when the police arrived, he added.

Based on the victims’ complaint, a case has been registered under sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 147 (rioting) of the IPC, he said.

Three motorcycles belonging to the accused were seized from the spot, he said, adding efforts are on to nab the miscreants. Pannalal claimed that today’s incident was the fourth attack on a Christian place of worship in the past one month in the state.

“Around 15-20 men with saffron bands on their forehead entered the church while Sunday prayer was under way at around 12 PM, and started vandalising the premises and started breaking everything,” Pannalal said and claimed that the “Bajrang Dal youth indulged in sloganeering and were raising Jai Shree Ram slogans”.

“They started damaging chairs and fans. They did not spare women and even tore up their clothes. They also thrashed an infant,” he said. The assailants were heard accusing that people were being converted in the church, he said.

“A group of 40-50 people from downtrodden families in the village had set up the church under a tin shed, where they perform prayers every Sunday,” he said, refuting the conversion charge.

He said, “We are thankful to the police that they reached immediately and took the necessary action.”

(PTI)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Bajrang Dal, Chhattisgarh, Church

The Country with no place for its Minorities: Church set on fire in Bengaluru

May 30, 2015 by Nasheman

Representational Image

Representational Image

Bengaluru: A Church was set on fire by miscreants over an alleged dispute here on Saturday. The incident took place at Narasipura layout in Vidyaranyapura.

Property and furniture worth lakhs of rupees were destroyed and the building was completely charred. Enquiries by the Vidyaranyapura police revealed that the management of the church allegedly had a dispute with a resident.

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Church, Communalism

Four held in Navi Mumbai church attack case

March 25, 2015 by Nasheman

Navi Mumbai church attack

Navi Mumbai: Three days after the attack on a church here, police today claimed to have cracked the case with the arrest of four persons.

“Four persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on the Saint George Catholic church,” Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner K L Prasad told PTI.

The IPS officer, however, refused to share further details at the moment.

Under fire from the opposition, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis yesterday had set a 48 hour deadline to police to nab the culprits.

The Opposition members had yesterday walked out of the Assembly in protest against the incident.

Police had announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for any information leading to the arrest of the accused.

Fadnavis is likely to make a statement in the House later today.

According to Khandeshwar police, the attack was carried out by two masked persons, who were riding pillion on a motorcycle at around 1.30 AM on Saturday when they hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church located near a bridge in New Panvel.

In the incident, the covering glass outside the statue of Saint George got damaged.

The trio, comprising the biker and the two pillion riders, were covering their faces, a police official said.

An offence has been registered against the unidentified men under sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 427 (mischief) of the IPC, police said.

The church was built in 2007 and can accommodate over 800 people for prayer.

(PTI)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Christians, Church, Communalism, Devendra Fadnavis, Navi Mumbai Church Attack

Church vandalised in MP, culprits in Maharashtra attack still at large

March 23, 2015 by Nasheman

CHURCH

Jabalpur/Mumbai: A cathedral premises and a Catholic school where people had gathered for a religious convention were vandalised allegedly by Hindu activists at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the second incident to come to light after yesterday’s attack on a church in neighbouring Maharashtra, drawing outrage from the Christian community.

No arrests have been made so far in connection with the Jabalpur incident which took place on March 20 and the wee hours of March 21, when some members of the Christian community were allegedly assaulted and threatened by members of Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sena who attacked the school and a parsonage alleging that religious conversion had been taking place there.

There was also no breakthrough in the probe into the church attack in New Panvel area in Navi Mumbai though police were grilling some suspects.

The CCTV footage showed that the attack was carried out by two masked persons who were riding pillion on a motorcycle at around 1.30 AM yesterday when they hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church located near a bridge in New Panvel.

There are no eyewitnesses to the incident and the scanning of CCTV footage has also not thrown up any substantial leads to identity the attackers, police said.

However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the culprits will be nabbed soon.

In Jabalpur, police booked a leader of Dharma Sena and some others but church authorities questioned the “delay” in arresting the culprits.

“Dharma Sena leader Yogesh Agrawal and Raju Rai and a few others have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and efforts are on to track down and arrest them,” Jabalpur Superintendent of Police HC Mishra told PTI today.

The church authorities alleged that the miscreants stormed into the Cathedral premises and a school housing a grotto with St Mary’s idol.

They broke earthen pots and and shattered glass panes of windows of the parsonage, accusing Father Thankachan Jose of converting the Hindus to Christianity.

Ravi Francis, claiming to be a witness, said he was roughed up by Dharma Sena and Bajrang Dal activists who stormed into Saint Thomas School campus, where some people who came for a convention were staying.

Though Fr Thankachan and police officials held talks with leaders of the Hindu outfits to ease the situation, some of them stormed into the premises and started abusing them, he alleged.

Police sought to chase them from the campus but they refused to give in and marched to the nearby Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral where the first day of the convention was held.

They then barged into the Cathedral premises shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and demanded that Fr Thankachan be handed over to them. As they could not find him there, they vandalised the parsonage, close to the Cathedral, Francis said.

“Though our Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, it is being violated openly,” Fr Thankachan said, adding that the church had given to police the CCTV footage of the incident.

Congress leader Manish Tewari slammed the attacks as “part of an orchestrated campaign” and a “conspiracy by the right wing to terrorise the minorities”.

The Nationalist Congress Party demanded that the governments at the Centre and in the states take serious note of such “mischievous activities” which damage the democratic fabric of the country.

Archbishop of Goa Rev Filipe Nery Ferrao said the Christian community felt “intimidated and unsafe” in the wake of the attacks.

Referring to the attacks on churches and the VHP’s “Ghar Wapsi”, the Archbishop said, “It is an undeniable fact that Christians feel intimidated and unsafe in many parts of the country due to the ongoing incidents that pose a big threat to the unity of this secular nation.”

The incidents come close on the heels of an under- construction church in Kaimri village near Hisar in Haryana being vandalised by a group, triggering tension in the area.

Earlier, after a string of church attacks in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured at a religious congregation that his government will not allow any religious group to incite hatred and will strongly act against any religious violence.

The Prime Minister, who has been accused by opposition and Christian groups of turning a blind eye to such attacks on five churches and a Christian school in Delhi, had said his government “gives equal respect to all religions”.

Meanwhile, Jabalpur IG of Police D Sriniwas Rao told reporters that those indulging in unlawful activities would not be spared. “We are going to arrest the accused soon,” he added.

Narrating the incident, Francis claimed the episode ended only after a large police contingent was deployed around the premises.

“They came to the Cathedral premises around 9 PM on March 20. They created such a scare that we had to hide ourselves till 4 AM of March 21, by when a large contingent of police had been deployed around the campus,” he said.

Security has been stepped up at religious places in Navi Mumbai after yesterday’s attack.

“We are questioning several people on grounds of suspicion of their involvement in the crime. However, we are yet to lay our hands on concrete clues,” Assistant Police Commissioner S B Suryavanshi said.

Asked about clues from the CCTV footage, he said, “The attackers covered their faces. There is nothing much to get from the CCTV.”

However, offences have been registered against the unidentified men under sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 427 (mischief) of the IPC, police said.

The church was built in 2007 and can accommodate over 800 people for prayer.

The masked miscreants, who came on a motorcycle in the wee hours yesterday, hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church of the Syro Malabar hierarchy, damaging the glass case of the statue of Saint George.

(PTI)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Church, Communalism, Hindutva, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Haryana Police arrest main accused in Hisar church attack case

March 17, 2015 by Nasheman

hisar-church-vandalised

New Delhi: Haryana Police on Tuesday arrested the main accused in the vandalisation of an under construction church in a village in Hisar district.

“The main accused Anil Godara has been arrested from Hisar today,” Hisar SP Saurabh Singh said.

He said that the accused will be produced before a court and police would seek his remand.

“Further investigations in the case are under progress and search is on for remaining accused,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “deep concern” over the gang-rape of a 71-year-old nun in West Bengal’s Nadia district and the vandalisation of a church in Hisar, Haryana.

“The Prime Minister is deeply concerned about the incidents in Hisar, Haryana and Nadia, West Bengal,” the PMO said in a tweet.

On Sunday, an under construction church in Kaimri village in Hisar district of Haryana was vandalized by miscreants and the idol of Hindu god Hanuman was placed inside the premises.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had told the assembly on Monday that the church was reportedly built in an illegal colony and the dispute was the result of an altercation between the priest and those who attacked the place of worship.

Making a statement in the state assembly, Khattar that an FIR has been registered on the statement of church priest Subhash Chander, against accused Anil Godara, Dalbir Singh, Raj Kumar, Kuldeep, Satpal, Krishan, Suresh, Dinesh, Jogender, Kulwant, Sudhir, Bijender, Satnarain, Chhotu Ram and others.

The complainant has alleged that the accused entered into his house and damaged their religious symbol.

The accused persons have carried out this act because an altercation had taken place between the church priest and them on February 8, Khattar told the House.

(Agencies)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Church, Haryana, Hisar

"Stop killing our Christian brothers"

March 16, 2015 by Nasheman

by Dawn

Horror and anger dominated protests across Pakistan on Monday, as members of the Christian community took to the streets in Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and other urban centers following Sunday’s Taliban attack on two churches.

The protests turned violent in Lahore when demonstrators clashed at different points during the day with dozens of baton-wielding policemen. One protester was killed while several were injured when a car hit them at Ferozpur Road.

People from the Christian community attend a protest, to condemn suicide bombings which took place outside two churches in Lahore, in Peshawar. — Reuters

People protest holding placards which asks for peace in Pakistan.— Reuters

Policemen carry bamboo sticks during a protest by Christians mourners in Lahore.— AFP

Christians chant slogans during demonstration to condemn the suicide bombing attack on two churches.— AP

People from the Christian community attend a protest, to condemn the suicide bombings.— Reuters

Members of the Pakistani Christian community chant slogans during a protest rally in Peshawar. — Reuters

People from the Christian community attend a protest to condemn suicide bombings.— Reuters

Christians pray for victims of suicide bombings that struck two churches the day before, in Lahore.— AP

Christians pray for victims of suicide bombings that struck two churches the day before, in Lahore.— AP

Protesters blocked roads Monday in protest over the bombings that killed more than a dozen people in the latest attack against religious minorities.— AP

Filed Under: Photo Essays Tagged With: Christians, Church, Pakistan, Religious Intolerance

Tension in Haryana village after church attack

March 16, 2015 by Nasheman

Chandigarh: Tension prevailed in a village in Haryana’s Hisar district on Monday after an under construction church was attacked and vandalised by miscreants and the idol of a Hindu god was placed inside the premises.

Police officials said on Monday that 14 people were booked for rioting, damaging place of worship, theft and promoting enmity following a complaint from the church priest in Kaimri village in Hisar district, 260km from here.

No arrests have been made so far. The attackers allegedly damaged the cross at the church and took away some other items.

The priest told media that certain activists of the Bajrang Dal and others had threatened him earlier. He alleged that the same people could be behind the attack on the church.

“I was threatened by Bajrang Dal activists and other locals last month,” the priest, Subhash Chand, said.

Haryana has a BJP government since October last year. Local residents in the village alleged that the priest was trying to construct the church despite the fact that there was no Christian in the entire village.

(Agencies)

 

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Church, Communalism, Haryana

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