Christian medical camp disrupted in Agra

A mob of about 150 people stormed a medical camp organised by Sparsh Sewa Samiti on the outskirts of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, on 25th October 2011. They shouted anti-Christian slogans, and accused the medical team of converting people under the garb of medical treatment.

Rev. Prabhat Kashyap, the organizer of the event, told Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), "At about 12pm, local leaders of the Bajrang Dal entered the camp and asked for the permission letter for the medical camp. The letter was shown but one of the leaders, Digvijay Tiwari, asked for a copy for himself." Rev. Kashyap refused to give a copy to Tiwari as he did not represent any government authority. This angered Tiwari, who went back but returned with a mob an hour later.

Rev. Kashyap further told EFI, "The mob then broke the tent structure, overturned chairs and tables and started manhandling people. The medical team had to run to the roof in order to escape to adjacent buildings. Seeing this, the Bajrang Dal activists chased and stopped them."

"Rev. Charles Gola, co-ordinator for medical team, was badly manhandled. They wanted to bring them back into the rooms to lock them up but the medical team refused to go downstairs," he added.

Rev. Kashyap was forcibly brought downstairs and made hostage by the mob. The fundamentalists accused him of being the kingpin of this so-called conversion racket. He was severely manhandled, abused and humiliated in front of the whole mob. In the meantime, the medical team managed to escape, as local volunteers heard that the fundamentalists were planning to lock the entire team downstairs and burn the room.

A local volunteer called the police, and Rev. Kashyap was taken to the Shahganj police station by the mob, where the activists repeatedly pressurized the police to put him in jail.

However, as the organisers of the event had sought prior permission to conduct the camp from the Chief Medical Officer of Agra, Rev. Kashyap was able to lodge a complaint against members of the mob. Copies of the permission had also been duly provided to the District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police.

EFI, on hearing about the incident, immediately intimated the Additional Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer who assured their cooperation and support.

After a formal complaint was registered by the police, the Bajrang Dal leader, Digvijay Tiwari, was arrested and put in jail. He was later released on bail.