Chhattisgarh asked to reverse ban non-Hindu missioners

Christian leaders in Chhattisgarh say the move also should be seen as a ploy by iron ore mining barons to clear the area, muffle the dissent and hand it over to the miners.

(Villagers of Sirisguda. Photo courtesy: The Hindu)

New Delhi:  A Church group based in New Delhi has launched a campaign urging Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh to act against some 50 village councils that have passed resolutions banning non-Hindu missioners.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India's (CBCI) Office for Justice Peace and Development that launched the campaign yesterday said media reports show that some 50 villages in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region have passed resolutions banning non-Hindu missioners.

These resolutions passed over a period of last six months banned all non-Hindu religious propaganda, prayers and speeches in villages. The ban also has negatively affected rationing of food to local non-Hindu citizens– in violation of their right to food and, consequently, their right to life, said Father Charles Irudayam of the CBCI office in a sample letter he prepared and circulated.

"The ban is in blatant violation of such fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India as the right to freedom of faith, the freedom of movement, expression and association, and the right to right to food," the letter said.

Chhattisgarh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian people’s party) that now heads the federal coalition government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

By providing a background of the situation, Father Charles said local Christians consider the ban as an outcome of "aggressive campaign by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (world Hindu council) to curtail the spread of non-Hindu religions, especially Christianity."

Christian leaders in Chhattisgarh say the move also should be seen as a systematic ploy by iron ore mining barons to clear the area, muffle the dissent and hand it over to the miners.

The sample letter appealed to the chief minister to immediately reverse the ban and to restore peace and normalcy in the area. It also wanted his intervention to check "hate campaigns by certain organizations that seek to engineer communal tensions and conflicts by polarising local communities."