Kolkata, Oct. 11 -- The MAITC fact-finding team, examining alleged attacks on Christians, visited Christ the King Church in Balichak, West Midnapore, where devotees alleged that a Christian body was forcibly exhumed and cremated in Moninathpur village. They also claimed that Christian communities were being denied water supply and access to graveyards, raising concerns over where they could bury their dead.
MAITC MP Sagarika Ghose alleged that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal had carried out unprecedented attacks on Christian-majority villages, churches and institutions across Bengal.
Ghose, Maria Fernandez and Shirshanya Bandyopadhyay gathered information about alleged attacks on Christian institutions in Kolkata and rural Bengal. The team first met the Archbishop in Kolkata before visiting Divine Mercy Church in Bamapukur, North 24-Parganas.
Ghose alleged that self-proclaimed VHP worker Swami Shivananda had threatened Christians with conversion to Hinduism at the church. She further claimed that a mob had threatened Christian nuns at Auxilium Convent in Shimultala, Barasat, over allegedly lawful construction work. An attack on a church in Jalalkhali, Krishnanagar, was also cited.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.