Chhattisgarh: Christian denied burial, Supreme Court intervenes
Bastar district village council's act of intolerance is upheld by the local high court following son's appeal for justice. He is not even allowed to bury him in his own land. Archbishop of Raipur: “Endorsement of such acts promotes lawlessness in the country.”
Raipur (AsiaNews) - India's Supreme Court has ordered the Chhattisgarh state government to intervene in the case of a Christian family that was prevented from burying its deceased in a cemetery. At the center of the affair is a village in Bastar district, where Subhash Baghel, a Pentecostal Christian, died of a long illness on Jan. 7.
A group of village residents objected to burial in the local cemetery, forcing his son Ramesh Baghel-a farmer belonging to a community group surveyed among the disadvantaged castes-to keep his father's body in a mortuary until today.
Baghel had already approached the Chhattisgarh High Court, which, however, proved him wrong, relying on a certificate issued by the gram pachayat-the village council-according to which there would be no separate burial areas for Christians and arguing that because of this, burial could cause unrest and disharmony in the population.
In contrast, Baghel relates that the village of Chhindawada has a cemetery orally assigned by the gram panchayat for the burial and cremation of bodies. In this cemetery, separate areas are allocated for the burial of tribals, burial or cremation of Hindu people and people belonging to the Christian community.
Lawyer and human rights activist Degree Prasad Chouhan, who is providing legal assistance to Baghel, commented, “This is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of religion. They are not allowing the petitioner's family to bury the body even on private land owned by them. Ramesh Baghel's grandfather had converted to Christianity more than three decades ago, and two of his relatives, including his grandfather, were buried in their village cemetery Chhindawada. Many other tribal-majority villagers converted to Christianity. When the villagers turned violent, the petitioner's family filed a complaint with the police, who reached the village with 30-35 officers. And the police themselves also pressured the family to take the body out of the village.”
The Supreme Court criticized the Chhattisgarh government for not yet intervening and demanded a response on the appeal filed. “Following the village panchayat, the high court issued a strange verdict. What is the state government waiting for to intervene?” the judges said.
The Archbishop of Raipur, Msgr. Victor Thakur, commented to AsiaNews, “The Supreme Court has rightly asked the Chhattisgarh government to address basic human rights issues. If people on the street can decide what can be done and what cannot be done and the Court accepts it, then we are making a mockery of the Constitution and promoting lawlessness in the country.”
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16/03/2021 10:30
