Eight village councils in the central Indian state Chhattisgarh just voted to ban Christians from their towns. They have given the Christians the options to renounce their faith entirely, or lose everything they own.
Around 100 Christians are affected by the resolution, which was passed in November.
From The Christian Post:
A local leader from one of the affected villages, Michwar, upheld the decree, reportedly asserting that the authority of the village councils supersedes India's Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion under Article 25.
Will India allow this religious prosecution in contradiction to their constitution?
So far, about 40 people have fled their homes in these eight villages. As for those who have tried to get the police to help them, well, things like this have happened:
On Nov. 18, a group of Christians lodged a complaint at the Gadiras Police Station, presenting audio evidence of statements made by the village chief of Michwar. However, the police refused to register a formal complaint, which is necessary to initiate a legal investigation.
Instead, police officers asked the complainants to take them to the fields. When they arrived, they encountered a mob of about 1,500 people who had begun looting the Christians' crops and demanding their renouncement of Christianity. The police subsequently withdrew without intervening, leaving the community without protection.
The police literally abandoned them to a violent mob.
The United Christian Forum in Delhi has recorded 673 violent incidents against Christians from January through October of this year. 139 of these were in Chhattisgarh.
In a separate incident on Oct. 30 in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, a group of 14 Christians was reportedly attacked by a mob as police officers watched, reported the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern.
The Christians, who had defied orders to abandon their faith and proceeded to harvest crops from a communal field, were beaten with wooden rods. Several victims, including two women, sustained serious injuries, including broken bones and head trauma. The homes of the victims were also destroyed, and the police officer attempting to intervene was injured during the attack.
Stealing the crops of Christians seems to be a common tactic for driving them to flee their homes.
Where is the international outcry for these oppressed and marginalized Christians? Where are the demands from the international community for India to be more tolerant and inclusive and equitable?
Or does that kind of thing only work one way?
I think I know the answer to that.
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