Construction of unauthorised church on tribal lands suspended in Gujarat

Result of Hindu opposition

Dev Birsa Sena had submitted a memorandum to the administration along with Hindu leaders

Surat (Gujarat) – The construction of an unauthorised church on the land of tribals of Bahar village in Umarpada, Surat district has been stopped. As soon as the Hindus of the village came to know about the construction, they strongly opposed it and filed a complaint with the authorities. After this protest, the construction of the church has been stopped.

The village has a large Hindu population and very few Christians. Yet, the construction of a church had begun in a field outside the village. Permission had not been obtained from the Panchayat for this, nor had the villagers been informed about it. The ‘Dev Birsa Sena’, an organisation operating in tribal areas, had submitted a memorandum to the administration along with Hindu leaders, demanding an immediate stop to the construction, warning of an agitation if action was not taken soon. After the growing opposition, the Christians gave a written guarantee to the Sarpanch and the villagers not to build the church and requested them to withdraw the given memorandum. After receiving the guarantee, the villagers withdrew the memorandum.