Tribal group to take up priest assault case in India

July 07, 2012: A tribal political outfit in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh plans to take up the case of an assault on a Catholic priest by two young men in the state. It is sad no action has been taken even a week after Father Johan Quadros was attacked, Harisingh Maradi, leader of the Gondwana Ganatantra Party (democratic party of the land of Gonds), told ucanindia on Friday.
These priests are working for the neglected tribal people, therefore we view the incident as attack on our community, he added.
According to Father Quadros, manager of Bharat Jyoti Higher Secondary School in Mandala, the youth attacked him on June 28 for not yielding to their pressure to give admission to some “unqualified” children. The school under Jabalpur diocese has Hindi and English sections where around 2,000 children, mostly from tribal communities, study.
Narrating the incident, Fr. Quadros said that he was entering the school campus when a youth who had earlier approached him for admission rushed forward and started kicking him. Soon youth’s companion, whom the priest had not seen earlier, joined the attack. The priest’s cries alerted the school principal and other staff who rushed to his help. Seeing them, the youth ran away.
The manager said the youth who attacked him first is associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (all India student council), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party that rules the state. The youth had threatened Fr. Quadros with dire consequences for denying admission.
The priest alleged that the police have taken no action until now because of his attackers’ links with the ruling party. “Such inaction from the police would encourage these groups to take the law into their hands,” he warned.
A police official on condition of anonymity denied his department has ignored the priest’s complaint. “We were busy with the local civic body elections which will be over on July 9,” he explained. Maradi said his party would take up the matter with higher authorities in the state. The Church authorities also plan to take up the issue with top police officials to get justice for the priest.
Principal of another school said Christian schools often come under attack from rightwing Hindu groups for alleged conversion charges. “But when it comes to admission they want their children to study in a Christian school,” he added.