Agitated villagers reacting to Kondagaon SDM Pawan Kumar Premi who tried to pacify them (Photo | Israr Ahmed)
RAIPUR: Tension prevailed in the south Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district where the inhabitants of five village panchayats assembled and warned the local Christian families to leave their villages. The houses belonging to Christian families were also allegedly ransacked.
Over 1500 villagers gathered at Singanpur in Kondagaon and held a demonstration. Many of them threatened that they would not allow any Christian to live in their area.
The local officials reached the spot to pacify the villagers but in vain as they remain adamant.
The villagers had asked the local Christian families to return to the tribal folds and worship the native deities if they wish to continue living with them.
A couple of days ago, the members of the Christian community living in the villages had lodged a police complaint at Kondagaon alleging that the locals are repeatedly harassing them and they fear for their lives and property.
“The Christians are being beaten up, their properties ransacked and intimidated in spite of the presence of senior officials such as collector and SP. As many as 10 Christian families from different villages have approached cops for protection from the mobs. The affected families are living in an absolute helpless situation”, alleged Arun Pannalal, president of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum.
The Kondagaon district collector Pushpendra Meena told that he was at the spot where the tension prevailed but didn’t reveal anything about the situation.
SP Sidharth Tiwari was not available for his statement. Local MLA and state Congress president Mohan Markam too was not available for his comment.
