Catholic Mission Attacked, Church Desecrated In Ujjain

UJJAIN, APR. 10, 2008, 11.30 Hrs (CBCI News):

Harsodan, a Catholic mission center of the Diocese of Ujjain, 200 km away from the state capital Bhopal and 11 km away from Ujjain, was ransacked by a group led by the Hindutva extremists on April 5.

A group allegedly led by Mr. Om Patidar of Tajpur village who called himself the district coordinator of Bajerangdal, desecrated the Church, broke the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and destroyed the holy materials in the church very badly.

Also, the group vandalised the school causing enormous suffering to the religious sentiments of the Christian community.

Besides the school and the church has suffered a lose of property worth at least Rs. 200,000/-

This is already the second serious and deliberate attack on Christian missionaries in the area and the place of worship in Ujjain in the year 2008. The administration has practically ignored the incident and the media supported by the communal group have tried to make the attack an effort against attempt of forced conversion, which is a blatant lie.

On April 5th 2008 morning, from 9 AM onwards, the students of the Jai Amala Convent School, Harsodan, class 1 to 9, were having school examination. Students of the LKG and UKG were having their classes.

All on a sudden, a TATA Indica V2 model car, without number plate, rushed towards the principal's office. There were only two persons in the car. They brought the vehicle and stopped it just in front of the office of the principal.

As the principal requested them to take the vehicle to the parking area, they responded with indecent words. She then called the manager. When he found that Mr. Om Patidar of Tajpur was his acquaintance, Fr. Jose P, the Manager, requested him not to make unnecessary disturbance and also asked him to remove the car from that place. But he did not budge.

When the manager again requested them to remove the car they did so, but they furiously threatened him that with-in an hour they would teach him a lesson and Father will have to face dire consequences. Mr Om Patidar claimed that he is the district coordinator of the Bajerangdal. He immediately called his gang on mobile to the school premises.

In the meantime the school staff called Mr. Jethendra Patidar, the paternal brother of Mr. Om Patidar, from Tajpur. Mr Jethndra Patidar tried very much to convince Mr. Om Patidar but he did not pay any heed to him.

By this time 15 to 20 more people came on motor cycles shouting slogans and they rushed to the school office. They took up a spade from the compound and broke down the notice board in front of the school office.

They violently tore into pieces the holy picture of Mother Mary. Then they rushed to the class rooms and went on breaking window glasses, benches, desks and chairs. The teachers, who were in the staff room checking the answer papers, came out and tried to pacify them. But they were furious and pushed away the lady teachers.

Immediately, Mr. Om Patidar and his companions rushed towards the church in the mission compound, pushed open its door and started to desecrate the holy place. They broke the altar, tore the holy books into pieces, and broke the confessional. The beautiful statue of Mother Mary, of four and half feet tall, was also broken into pieces. Even though the lady teachers pleaded them not to destroy the statue, the attackers pushed them violently and destroyed wha ever they could find in the church.

The extremists did not even spare the mentally disabled children staying in the respite home in the campus. They pelted stones at their residence breaking the windows and frightening the children who were having their mid-day meal. The children were very much terrified by this unexpected incident and yelled for help. Though the school teachers tried to pacify attackers they did not mind, on the contrary, they pushed off the lady teachers and used abusive words. They also beat up the Chawkidar of the school, Mr. Mohan, hurting him seriously.

The police had been informed of the incident as soon as the trouble began, but they reached the scene only after the vandalism got over. When the police came the miscreants went out of the compound. When the priest-in-charge, sister principal and some of the teachers reached Chimangang Mandi Police station Ujjain, to lodge a complaint, the VHP, Bajarngdal gang had already reached there and were shouting anti-Christian slogans. After some hesitation the police accepted the complaints of the priest-in-charge and registered an FIR against the attackers. But the police have also accepted the complaints of Mr. Om Patidar and group against the priest-in-charge and sister principal of attempted forced conversion of the students and their parents and misbehavior against the attackers.

They cooked the story of forceful attempt of converting the school children offering fees concession. The print media of Sunday carried mainly this version of theirs. So far the police have not take any action against any one and no responsible police or administrative officer has yet visited the place.

In resent times, attacks on missionaries and their institutions, especially on holy places, are in increase in Ujjain. The Christian community in the area feels very insecure and is deeply pained by this horrible and inhuman act against their faith and place of worship.

Fr. Jaison Thachilattu
Ujjain