1. Communal violence had erupted in Jhabua on 4th December 2003. One life was lost and nine persons had sustained grievous injuries. While many houses of minority community members were ransacked, many others were demolished. The victims had filed a complaint with the Alirajpur Police Station. The Madhya Pradesh Minority Commission Chair was also informed of the incident through the representative Mrs. Indira Iyangar.
2. Irate mob had attacked a priest while he was driving his jeep on 30th December 2003. The frenzied mob had pelted stones at the jeep, which resulted into the sustaining of injuries by the priest. The crowd also smashed the breakables of the jeep when it had entered the Antarvelia village of Jhabua District. Later the crowd went on a rampage setting afire the house of aged father of village Sarpanch Mr. Phala. The mob also demolished some of new houses of the area.
3. Fundamental religious organisations took the pretext of brutal rape and murder of a minor girl in church owned school premises and launched an agitation against the Christian community in Jhabua on 11th January 2004. Numerous local Christian churches and their education centers were attacked and buildings were ransacked or demolished. The members of certain fundamental religious organisations misbehaved with the priests and nuns. The activists also targeted Christians in the adjacent regions. This matter was also reported to The Madhya Pradesh Minority Commission by Fr. Bhuria of Christian Community on 14th January 2004.
4. Sadhvi Krishna Ben led a group of her disciples that attacked the missionary school of Church of North India (CNI) on 16th April 2004. The enraged mob pulled down parts of school building, destroyed the school furniture, equipment, computers etc. The group of miscreants left the place after misbehaving with all those present in the school campus.
5. Police arrested twelve Christians on 16th January 2004 in connection with a road accident involving MLA, Alirajpur. When the MLA was on his way to Aamkut with his associates, his jeep was afire after falling into a ditch. The accident occurred 3 kilometers ahead of Aamkut. There was some ruckus, which resulted into a firing. One Arjun Pal sustained serious injuries to which he succumbed later in the Kattiwad Hospital.
6. A murderous assault was made on Sobhana Oonkar of CNI in which she was seriously injured on 16th January 2004. The Church, in the campus of which Sobhana was attacked, was partially demolished and set afire, while the Qualis vehicle of Sobhana Oonkar that was parked in her house within the CNI Church compound was set on fire. The mob also targeted some houses of Christian community and some houses were gutted. Sobhana Oonkar had personally reported the incident to the State Minority Commission.
7. Fr. Stenny Ferra of Don Bosco School (situated 3 kilometers away from Alirajpur) was on his way to Alirajpur in his jeep, people armed with lethal weapons attacked the vehicle, fired gunshots at the jeep and punctured the tyres on 16th January 2004. When the priest along with the driver attempted to run away for saving life, he was mercilessly beaten up and he sustained serious injuries on his head. The priest a shelter in an adjacent house and saved his life. The priest had to undergo a one-month treatment in Mumbai.
8. The unprovoked anger of a mob resulted into the destruction of the farm house of Don Bosco School. The violence also inflicted on the Christian community a property loss worth Rs.16.00 lakhs.
9. Member of the Madhya Pradesh Minority Commission Mrs. Indira Iyengar made a spot inspection of Jhabua District to apprise herself of the condition on 21st January 2004. The visit was also to serve the purpose of evaluating and assessing the law and order situation in the district, which was shaken by a series of communal violence targeted against Christians. She and sent her written report to the government.
10. A mob consigned to flames nine houses of Christians who lived 10 to 15 km from Jhabua on 20th April 2004. Almost all Christians of the area fled to Rajasthan for refuge. They had to flee from Madhya Pradesh only because they belonged to Christian community.
11. Again during the period from 25 to 28 April 2004, I had visited Jhabua District to assess the condition and the state of affairs after obtaining permission from the concerned authorities. I had called on the twelve Christians who were jailed in Alirajpur jail of Jhabua district. My meeting with the jailed Christians revealed a surprising fact that not even a single person from the other religious community other than the 12 Christians were neither arrested or jailed in connection with the murder Arjun Pal. The Police had neither fixed responsibility of the incident on any of Hindus in the case that the police had filed on 16th April 2004 nor filed an FIR on behalf of Christian community. Besides, the state government took no action on the report of the National Minority Commission and the State Minority Commission. The Christian community had expressed its reservations on the credibility of the one-member Narendra Prasad Commission, which was appointed by the state government to probe into the Jhabua incidents.
12. Workers of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had launched another tumultuous agitation in Sidhi district of Satna diocese in April 2004 following the suicide of a girl in hostel. The mob, led by leaders of fanatic Hindu organisations, blockaded the Church establishments and sloganeered against the Church keeping the dead body of the girl. The mob pressed the Church authorities to allow cremation of dead body in Church campus, which was however disallowed.
13. Another attack was launched against Christians in Neemuch in May after one minor Hindu girl eloped with a minor Christian boy. Workers of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad took the issue to attack the Christians and declared a "Bandh" in Neemuch. They terrorized the Christians and the entire family of the Christian boy had to leave Neemuch.
14. Two Christian priests, Pastor Dayal and Pastor Singh were unreasonably kept in police station after workers of some Hindu organisations had picked them up accusing of attempting to convert. The two missionaries were kept in police station while the mob had shouted slogans in front of the Police Station. They created an atmosphere of terror and fear in the city. The priests were released the next day.
15. Another dreadful violence shocked the Christian community in the last week of June, in which a minor Christian girl Aakamksha (Bulbul) daughter of a Police couple was brutally murdered by the son of a police constable. The boy evaded arrest for very long but when the police caught him, an effort was made to defend to defend. Deliberate attempt is being made to save him by diluting the cases and avoiding the necessary legal clauses under IPC and other provisions.
16. Father Vincent, Principal, St. Xavier's School, Bhopal was entrapped in a false rape case in July 2004. The priest was kept in police confinement day into night even as the members of Bajrang Dal had thronged outside the police station shouting slogans. The furious activists had threatened to of dire consequences to Christian community if the priest was released. It is evident from these violent incident that there are concerted efforts to threaten, intimidate and terrorize the Christian community in Madhya Pradesh.
NOTE: This is a list only uptill July 2004. Incidents till the present date are much more.
Please raise your concern about these incidents to the following people:
Mr. Babulal Gaur, Cheif Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Email: cm@mp.nic.in, Fax: 0091-755-2551781, 2540501
Mr. Abdul Kalam Azad, President of India. Email: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
2. Irate mob had attacked a priest while he was driving his jeep on 30th December 2003. The frenzied mob had pelted stones at the jeep, which resulted into the sustaining of injuries by the priest. The crowd also smashed the breakables of the jeep when it had entered the Antarvelia village of Jhabua District. Later the crowd went on a rampage setting afire the house of aged father of village Sarpanch Mr. Phala. The mob also demolished some of new houses of the area.
3. Fundamental religious organisations took the pretext of brutal rape and murder of a minor girl in church owned school premises and launched an agitation against the Christian community in Jhabua on 11th January 2004. Numerous local Christian churches and their education centers were attacked and buildings were ransacked or demolished. The members of certain fundamental religious organisations misbehaved with the priests and nuns. The activists also targeted Christians in the adjacent regions. This matter was also reported to The Madhya Pradesh Minority Commission by Fr. Bhuria of Christian Community on 14th January 2004.
4. Sadhvi Krishna Ben led a group of her disciples that attacked the missionary school of Church of North India (CNI) on 16th April 2004. The enraged mob pulled down parts of school building, destroyed the school furniture, equipment, computers etc. The group of miscreants left the place after misbehaving with all those present in the school campus.
5. Police arrested twelve Christians on 16th January 2004 in connection with a road accident involving MLA, Alirajpur. When the MLA was on his way to Aamkut with his associates, his jeep was afire after falling into a ditch. The accident occurred 3 kilometers ahead of Aamkut. There was some ruckus, which resulted into a firing. One Arjun Pal sustained serious injuries to which he succumbed later in the Kattiwad Hospital.
6. A murderous assault was made on Sobhana Oonkar of CNI in which she was seriously injured on 16th January 2004. The Church, in the campus of which Sobhana was attacked, was partially demolished and set afire, while the Qualis vehicle of Sobhana Oonkar that was parked in her house within the CNI Church compound was set on fire. The mob also targeted some houses of Christian community and some houses were gutted. Sobhana Oonkar had personally reported the incident to the State Minority Commission.
7. Fr. Stenny Ferra of Don Bosco School (situated 3 kilometers away from Alirajpur) was on his way to Alirajpur in his jeep, people armed with lethal weapons attacked the vehicle, fired gunshots at the jeep and punctured the tyres on 16th January 2004. When the priest along with the driver attempted to run away for saving life, he was mercilessly beaten up and he sustained serious injuries on his head. The priest a shelter in an adjacent house and saved his life. The priest had to undergo a one-month treatment in Mumbai.
8. The unprovoked anger of a mob resulted into the destruction of the farm house of Don Bosco School. The violence also inflicted on the Christian community a property loss worth Rs.16.00 lakhs.
9. Member of the Madhya Pradesh Minority Commission Mrs. Indira Iyengar made a spot inspection of Jhabua District to apprise herself of the condition on 21st January 2004. The visit was also to serve the purpose of evaluating and assessing the law and order situation in the district, which was shaken by a series of communal violence targeted against Christians. She and sent her written report to the government.
10. A mob consigned to flames nine houses of Christians who lived 10 to 15 km from Jhabua on 20th April 2004. Almost all Christians of the area fled to Rajasthan for refuge. They had to flee from Madhya Pradesh only because they belonged to Christian community.
11. Again during the period from 25 to 28 April 2004, I had visited Jhabua District to assess the condition and the state of affairs after obtaining permission from the concerned authorities. I had called on the twelve Christians who were jailed in Alirajpur jail of Jhabua district. My meeting with the jailed Christians revealed a surprising fact that not even a single person from the other religious community other than the 12 Christians were neither arrested or jailed in connection with the murder Arjun Pal. The Police had neither fixed responsibility of the incident on any of Hindus in the case that the police had filed on 16th April 2004 nor filed an FIR on behalf of Christian community. Besides, the state government took no action on the report of the National Minority Commission and the State Minority Commission. The Christian community had expressed its reservations on the credibility of the one-member Narendra Prasad Commission, which was appointed by the state government to probe into the Jhabua incidents.
12. Workers of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had launched another tumultuous agitation in Sidhi district of Satna diocese in April 2004 following the suicide of a girl in hostel. The mob, led by leaders of fanatic Hindu organisations, blockaded the Church establishments and sloganeered against the Church keeping the dead body of the girl. The mob pressed the Church authorities to allow cremation of dead body in Church campus, which was however disallowed.
13. Another attack was launched against Christians in Neemuch in May after one minor Hindu girl eloped with a minor Christian boy. Workers of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad took the issue to attack the Christians and declared a "Bandh" in Neemuch. They terrorized the Christians and the entire family of the Christian boy had to leave Neemuch.
14. Two Christian priests, Pastor Dayal and Pastor Singh were unreasonably kept in police station after workers of some Hindu organisations had picked them up accusing of attempting to convert. The two missionaries were kept in police station while the mob had shouted slogans in front of the Police Station. They created an atmosphere of terror and fear in the city. The priests were released the next day.
15. Another dreadful violence shocked the Christian community in the last week of June, in which a minor Christian girl Aakamksha (Bulbul) daughter of a Police couple was brutally murdered by the son of a police constable. The boy evaded arrest for very long but when the police caught him, an effort was made to defend to defend. Deliberate attempt is being made to save him by diluting the cases and avoiding the necessary legal clauses under IPC and other provisions.
16. Father Vincent, Principal, St. Xavier's School, Bhopal was entrapped in a false rape case in July 2004. The priest was kept in police confinement day into night even as the members of Bajrang Dal had thronged outside the police station shouting slogans. The furious activists had threatened to of dire consequences to Christian community if the priest was released. It is evident from these violent incident that there are concerted efforts to threaten, intimidate and terrorize the Christian community in Madhya Pradesh.
NOTE: This is a list only uptill July 2004. Incidents till the present date are much more.
Please raise your concern about these incidents to the following people:
Mr. Babulal Gaur, Cheif Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Email: cm@mp.nic.in, Fax: 0091-755-2551781, 2540501
Mr. Abdul Kalam Azad, President of India. Email: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
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