Local Protestant community leaders had been arrested after clashes with members of other animist tribes in the Narayanpur district. The Archbishop of Raipur, Msgr. Takhur, declared to : “A courageous decision by the judiciary. There was no evidence against them, only pressure from the nationalist right.”
Raipur () – The Bilaspur High Court, the highest court in the state of Chhattisgarh, granted bail to 10 Christian leaders from Protestant communities who had been arrested in January following sectarian violence between tribal Christians and animist believers in Raipur. traditional religions, promoted by the nationalist right.
Son Singh, the lawyer representing the Christian leaders, stated that his clients had been framed in a bogus case in which they had played virtually no role and that their innocence would be proven in court. He charges them with riot, possession of deadly weapons, willful harm to public officials on duty, criminal intimidation and assault. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison, in addition to paying fines.
The ten Christian leaders had been arrested in the first week of January, amid violent clashes in the Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh, between people who follow the traditional animist religion and Christians. According to a task force report, 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 in Kondagaon district were involved.
Archbishop Victor Thakur, Archbishop of Raipur and Chairman of the Chhattisgarh Council of Catholic Bishops (CBCG), told : “I thank the Bilaspur High Court for granting provisional release to the ten Christians. Our honest judiciary has shown great courage: if they were granted provisional release, it means that there was absolutely no substantial evidence to detain them, otherwise Otherwise they are very reluctant to grant it. In the run up to the elections, there was a public campaign against Christians by various groups affiliated with the nationalist right to socially and economically boycott Christians and Muslims. That is why I praise the courage of the Court Superior by granting provisional freedom to these innocents.”
