After tension prevailed in a village in Hisar district following the incident of vandalism of an under-construction Church, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Monday said that the situation is under control and the investigations are going on.
Giving a statement on the issue in Haryana Assembly, Khattar informed the House that a case has been registered against 14 people and investigation was in progress. There is peace in the Kaimri village in Hisar district,” he added.
Khattar said the priest Subhash Chand of the “under-construction Church" had gone out of the village on March 6 and returned on March 13 to find the place vandalised. 14 people were booked for rioting, damaging a place of worship, theft and promoting enmity, following a complaint lodged by the priest.”
The Chief Minister said the villagers had also complained to police and district authorities earlier against the priest, saying he was propagating teachings of the Bible to a group of labourers working in the under-construction premises. People have also alleged that Subhash was trying to prompt people to accept Christian as a religion and convert. As per the information, there is no Christian in the village, said he.
“That matter is being investigated by police,” Khattar said. The attackers had damaged the cross at the church and allegedly took away some other items and installed the statue of Hanuman. The priest had earlier told mediapersons that certain activists of the Bajrang Dal and others had threatened him earlier. He had alleged that the same people could be behind the attack on the church.
On the other hand, some villagers had alleged that the priest was trying to construct the Church despite the fact that there was no Christian in the entire village. Khattar informed the House that the villagers called a panchayat (village council) meeting on Monday to discuss the incident, and opposed any move to arrest people. He informed the Haryana Assembly that a complaint has been registered against Subhash, the Father of a church that was ‘vandalised’ for assaulting a youth who ran away from a prayer meeting where Hindu gods were allegedly insulted.
The Chief Minister said residents of the village also met the Deputy Commissioner on Monday and complained against Subhash.
“Everyone has a right to practice their religion and strict action will be taken against accused in the case. If there is a wrong intention then it too should be checked,” added Manohar lal Khattar.
Intervening in the issue, the Congress MlA Karan Dalal termed it an “RSS agenda.” Hitting back, Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said that the names of two persons close to a senior Congress leader have figured among the accused in this case.