By Scroll Staff
More than 10 churches in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district have in the past month put up notices outside their premises asking non-Christians to enter at their own risk amid fears of backlash by Hindutva groups, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
“According to rules, only Christians are allowed to enter this church for prayers,” the newspaper quoted a notice outside one of the churches as saying. “If others come of their own free will, they would be held responsible [for their choice].”
The Hindu quoted a notice outside another church as saying: “Worship here is exclusively for Christians; if you are not legally a Christian, you will be held personally responsible.”
Diamond Filus, general secretary of the Dhamtari District Christian Forum, told The Indian Express that the organisation had also asked members of the community to put up the notices outside their homes where persons gather to pray, as a “precautionary measure”.
The advice followed more than 1,000 self-declaration applications being submitted to the district administration by non-Christians stating that they were going to the churches voluntarily, the forum told The Hindu.
The applications had irked certain “right-wing members”, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified community leader as saying.
They were filed after a new law aimed at discouraging religious conversions took effect in the state in August. The law states that any person who wants to convert religion must submit a declaration to the authorities.
While the law does not say anything about a person visiting a church casually, the community leaders do not want to take a risk, the newspaper reported.
Filus was quoted as alleging that since the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in the state in 2023, Hindutva activists had been “given a free hand”. He alleged that the activists “disrupt the prayer meetings”.
Edited by Sneha.
This story was originally published in amp.scroll.in.