Christians claim Hindu repression in Maharashtra

(Jan. 09, 2013) Christians in western India’s Maharashtra State have accused local Hindu nationalists of leading a campaign denying them basic necessities, including water and firewood.
The Christian community, mostly tribal people in the small town of Manor have been told not to draw water from wells and shopkeepers have refused to sell them firewood to cook food.
“A social and economic boycott of Christians is in force in the town by Hindutva [right-wing Hindu] forces,” said Joseph Dias, a campaigner for Christians in the area. He said the village council called a recent meeting to impose economic sanctions and restrictions on worship against all Christians in the area. He added that said these measures follow an attack by Hindus on a church on December 30. Witnesses said a mob of some 500 Hinduvta fundamentalists barged into the church and asked worshippers to stop the Sunday service, beating members of the congregation – including women and children – desecrating copies of the Bible and damaging musical instruments.
Brother Ravindra Jadhav, who preaches in the village, said tribals there, are no longer able to worship freely in the church and must instead travel 20kms to do so. Dias, president of the Catholic Secular Forum, said he suspects the hardline stance taken by right-wing Hindus in the village is a precursor to Maharashtra state elections next year.
Lower level Hindutva – a nationalist philosophy of loosely affiliated groups including the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – are reported to have said that they have received orders from seniors to prevent Christian practices in the state.
“The fundamentalists want to consolidate the Hindutva votes,” said Dias. “That might be the motive behind this move against Christians.”