Terror Returns To Jhabua
By Hartosh Singh Bal
The Indian Express
21 January, 2004
Nightmares are revisiting Jhabua. And police don’t seem to be bothered. As many as 12 Christians have been arrested for violence while the Vishwa Hindu Parishad men who led the mobs that terrorised the converted tribals and the Sadhvi from Gujarat who provoked their action still roam free.The facts so far: On January 13, a 9-year-old was found raped and murdered on the premises of the Catholic Mission School. The next day, a mob led by VHP district chief Khum Singh entered the school premises and attacked the priests. The police then took several of the priests and kept them at a police station for days for their ‘‘safety.’’ Later, a Hindu was arrested for the rape but no action has been taken against those in the mob.
But worse was in store. Three days later, on January 16, a few sadhvis from Gujarat led by Krishna Behn, disciples of Asaram Bapu, went to the village of Amjut, 60 km from Jhabua. After a discourse against conversions, Krishna Behn led a procession to the premises of the CNI mission.
The mission has celebrated its centenary. The church was built in 1914, and most of the villagers in this predominantly Christian village are second- or third-generation Bhil converts.
The sadhvis were accompanied by a policeman who stood outside as they entered the campus, raised slogans against Christians, distributed inflammatory material, went into classrooms where examinations were being conducted and tore down posters of Jesus, people who were part of the procession told The Indian Express.
Pramod Gladwin, home on leave from Indore, was present on the campus when the sadhvis enetered the mission. ‘‘The Standard 8 students were taking their pre-board exams when the sadhvis entered the campus. They were shouting slogans Padriyon ko bhagao, Isai dharam chodo. They then went into the classrooms, tearing down posters and villifying the students.’’
Rajesh Sursi, a Class VII student, says: ‘‘They entered the class and asked us why not even one of us had a tilak on our forehead and wanted to know if we were Christians. I raised my hand. She told me, ‘Why don’t you go to America?’.’’
By the end of this performance by the sadhvis, testified to even by the Hindus, the entire village had gathered at the spot. They pelted those in the procession with stones, forcing the sadhvis to flee. When news of this reached the nearby town of Alirajpur, several vehicles carrying armed men led by Alirajpur MLA Nagar Singh rushed to the village in the afternoon. But the Bhil converts were ready for them. One of the vehicles was ambushed outside the village of Punniawat, 3 km from Amjut. The vehicle bearing Gujarat numberplate burst into flames, several of the men inside were injured and one of them died. They were all outsiders, none of them hailing from any of the villages around Amjut. In fact, even Sewa Bharti men such as sarpanch Har Singh say: ‘‘We have no problems with the church. There has been no trouble here ever. And the church has always been here as far back as anyone can remember.’’ When news of the incident reached Alirajpur, according to DIG R.S. Meena, a mob comprising mainly of ‘‘Sewa Bharti, VHP and BJP men’’ attacked churches and Christian homes in the town.
The CNI church campus is only a 100 yards from the police station. The station in-charge stood and watched as the Sangh men attacked the church, entered the houses of Christians. ‘‘I was alone at home with my mother and my children when they forced their way in after setting the Qualis outside on fire. I sent my mother to one of the inside rooms along with the children. They hit me on the head with a lathi repeatedly and set the house on fire,’’ says Shobna Onkar. That night, at an extraordinary midnight conference, addressed by Chief Minister Uma Bharti and DGP S K Das, it was stated that the sadhvis had only raised slogans standing outside the campus.
It was also made out that when they were attacked, the mob reassembled and was was fired upon from the church. IGP P L Pandey today admitted that none of this was true. Bharti promised tough administrative action. But action has yet to reach the VHP activists. The 12 persons arrested so far include the head of the mission Theophile Stephen, two of the female teachers, and a priest. All of them were at least 3 km away from the scene where the jeep was attacked. Pandey says they have been booked for being part of the mob that pelted stones at the sadhvis.
A case of trespass has been registered against unknown persons even though Bharti and the DGP both named the sadhvi, Krishna Behn. Police are still looking for perpetrators of the Alirajpur violence.
© 2004: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.