A mob of over 100 allegedly attacked a pastor and his family on Sunday in a remote village of Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district in protest of the rampant conversion attempts. As per a police official, the mob even raised slogans against religious conversions carried out in tribal areas by groups of Christian missionaries.
The incident reportedly took place at around 11 am on Sunday, 29 August, when the mob barged into the home of pastor Kawalsingh Paraste (25), when a prayer was underway. Reports suggest that Paraste’s home was also vandalized and his family manhandled.
Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg informed, “As per the preliminary information, a crowd of over 100 people stormed into his house and allegedly damaged articles of worship and household items, and tore scriptures.”
“They allegedly beat up Paraste, manhandled his family members and raised slogans to stop religious conversions,” he added further.
Garg additionally informed that a team of police rushed to the spot as soon as they were alerted about the attack. “A case is being lodged in the matter and further action will be taken accordingly,” said Garg.
‘Very dangerous trend’: Alleges Christian Forum
Reacting to the incident, the president of Chhattisgarh’s Christian Forum, Arun Pannalal claimed, “This is a very dangerous trend, which has become prevalent in the state.”
Pannalal accused the police and state government of being a mere spectator to these attacks and not taking any concrete steps to curb the attacks.
“In the last 15 days, at least 10 such attacks allegedly occurred at our religious places across the state, but in none of the cases did the police take any action. We just want justice, however, repeated occurrence of such incidents suggest that the government has been favouring those who are involved in vandalism,” alleged Pannalal.
Pannalal has also threatened to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court submitting all evidence of vandalism of churches. He also said that the PIL will explicitly mention the police’s alleged inaction in such cases.
Viral video causes trouble for pastor in Chandigarh
Recently, a video had surfaced from Punjab where the missionary pastor Bajinder was seen using a child to spread superstition and fool people. NCPCR has asked Mandip Singh Brar, Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh to initiate action against ‘Prophet Bajinder Singh’ for using a minor boy for his superstitious conversion propaganda. The child was coerced by Bajinder to say to the public that his speech impaired sister suddenly started talking due to ‘miracle’ by Yeshu.
