At least three instances of Hindutva groups barging into gatherings and accusing those congregating of religious conversions have emerged so far in August. Videos from each of these instances — in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh, Raipur, Chhattisgarh and Balasore, Odisha — show pro-Right activists taking matters into their own hands, with little regard for law and thrceatening and harassing citizens.
These instances come after two Catholic nuns from Kerala and a man from Chhattisgarh were arrested in Durg, Chhattisgarh, last month, over allegations by members of the Bajrang Dal that they were coercing three tribal women into conversion and taking them to different parts of the country against their will. Videos even showed a woman associated with Durga Vahini, the women’s equivalent of Bajrang Dal, checking their documents and questioning them in police presence. The three tribal women and their families later clarified that they were already Christians and were travelling with the nuns willingly. The women also alleged that members of Hindutva groups linked to the Vishva Hindu Parishad slapped and touched them inappropriately. The nuns — Sisters Vandana Francis and Preethi Mary — and the man, Sukhman Mandavi, who was a cousin of one of the three women, were granted bail on August 2 after spending nearly a week in judicial custody.
Alt News documents the three cases in this report, which follow a similar narrative to what happened in Durg.
1. Sehore, Madhya Pradesh
On August 17, Instagram user @royal_kanha_dhangar posted a video showing men entering a house and recording those inside. The video also showed a Bible there. The post was in collaboration with the account of Bajrang Dal Sehore and had the watermark ‘Bajrang Dal Sehore’. The caption accompanying the video said, “…On Sunday, acting on information of a religious conversion racket in Sehore, police raided a house in Housing Board Colony. The information was first given to the police by Bajrang Dal workers… In this conversion racket, a police officer named Ahirwar was also involved…Those present at the spot, during questioning, expressed support for Christianity…”
In the background of the video, the official track of the Bajrang Dal by YouTube channel Vyshakh Achappa played on.
This story was originally published in altnews.in. Read the full story here.