Bail to MP priest, Bajrang Dal activist held for arson
BHOPAL: Catholic priest, Father George Mangalapilly, who was booked by Satna police for alleged forced religious conversions on Thursday was released on bail by a sub-divisional magistrate’s court on Friday evening.
None of the 29 others who had been held in this connection were charged, said police.
Mangalapilly is a professor at the St Ephrem’s Theological College in Satna has been booked under the Freedom of Religion Act. Satna SP Rajesh Hingankar said they arrested Vijay Shukla, a member of the Bajrang Dal, for reportedly setting fire to a Catholic priest’s vehicle.
On Thursday evening, a group of 30 Christians including Father George Mangalapilly and several other members of the clergy were accosted by local Bajrang Dal members in Jawahar Nagar Bhumkahar village near Satna city. The activists allegedly accused the priests of forcible conversion by lure and force during a carol singing programme. The arrest was made on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Dharmendra Kumar Dohar, who said he was lured with money to convert to Christianity.
The priests were allegedly beaten by the Bajrang Dal activists and then taken to the Civil Lines police station. Police have denied reports of the assault.
Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh spokesperson Richard James said that the charges are trumped up. “The members of the community have been singing Christmas carols before Christmas for the past 45 years in Satna. They were going to the house of another Christian when the incident took place.” The Catholic Church of Madhya Pradesh denied the allegations of forcible conversion and accused police of siding with the Hindu activists.
James said this is the fourth such incident this year in which Christians have been targeted unfairly. “In June this year Sister Bina Joseph who was coming from Jharkhand to Bhopal along with some Christian students, was stopped and accused of conversion, but was later released. In two separate incidents two pastors were also beaten by right wingers and false cases were foisted on them.”
Religious conversion is a sensitive issue in India with Hindu groups often accusing Christian missionaries of luring poor villagers. Madhya Pradesh, a BJPruled state, has an estimated 2.1 lakh Christian population, as per the 2011 census.