By Ravik Bhattacharya, Sweety Kumari
In several districts of West Bengal, Christian groups have suspended house prayers and visits following a series of attacks on prayer meetings, including one in Uluberia in Howrah over a week ago, where police had to rescue the pastor and the congregation.
There have also been reports of disruption of a burial in Purba Bardhaman, and vandalization of an under-construction church in Subhasgram in South 24 Parganas on July 5.
In a video that went viral, a mob entered a house in Uluberia on August 23 while Sunday prayers were on, and claiming “forced conversions”, beat up the gathering and ransacked the premises. Pastor Mithun Hazra told The Indian Express that like every Sunday, they had “rented a house for a prayer meeting, where around 60 people, men and women, were gathered”. “Prayers started around 11 am. At around 3 pm, a mob chanting slogans barged in. They assaulted me and others… ransacked the house, destroyed the sound system, podium, tables, chairs, and fans. They beat up men and women.”
The pastor said police rescued them and took them to hospital. “After treatment, we went to the police station and filed a complaint. Since that day, we have not held house prayers in the area.”
Superintendent of Police, Howrah Rural, Amit Verma confirmed receiving a complaint. “An FIR has been registered. Investigation is on.” No arrests have been made in the case.
Herod Mullick, founder of the Bangiya Christiya Pariseba (Bengal Christian Council), said what happened at Uluberia was “not a stray incident”. “There have been a series of such attacks recently… We are providing legal help to the victims, who are scared,” Mullick said, adding that last Sunday (August 30) too, incidents were reported during house prayers, at Jagatballavpur in Howrah and Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas.
On August 14, there was an attack on a gathering at the St Claret Church in Sahanagar, Purba Bardhaman district, with a funeral disrupted and mourners allegedly assaulted.
Parish Priest-In-Charge Father Samuel Hembrom told The Indian Express that the mob demanded “to see the papers for the burial ground”. “We said give us some time to get them from the church… we protested. But they did not allow the burial. The body had already been lowered into the grave, the mob took it out. The body had to be taken to another cemetery in Bardhaman town,” said Hembrom.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.