Raipur: Hoardings erected to prevent forcible conversion by way of allurement or fraudulent means cannot be termed as unconstitutional, the Chhattisgarh High Court has held.
The Court disposed of a petition seeking the removal of hoardings from at least eight villages that prohibit the entry of pastors and “converted Christians”.
The division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru stated in its that: “The hoardings appear to have been installed by the concerned Gram Sabhas as a precautionary measure to protect the interest of indigenous tribes and local cultural heritage.”
Digbal Tandi, a resident of Kanker district, had moved the Court raising the issue of segregation of the Christian community and their religious leaders from the mainstream village community.
The Panchayat Department was instructing the zila panchayat, janpad panchayat and eventually the gram panchayat to pass resolution/oath in the name and style “Hamari Parampara Hamari Virasat (Our tradition, our heritage)” and the real intention of the circular to the gram panchayat is to instruct them to pass a resolution prohibiting the entry of Christian pastors and “converted Christians” in the village, it was submitted by Tandi.
He further stated that at least eight villages in the Kanker district have erected hoardings banning the entry of pastors and “converted Christians”, creating a fear of violence among members of the Christian minority over entering villages they used to visit.
Tandi also alleged that the circular was passed by misusing provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to Schedule Area) Act (PESA), 1996, to spread religious hatred against members of the Christian community.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) Y S Thakur, however, contended that PESA rules empower the gram sabha to protect local cultural heritage, such as places of deities, worship systems, institutions (like gotul, dhumkudia), and humanistic social practices from any kind of destructive behaviour.
“The hoardings installed by the concerned gram sabha are only for the limited purpose of prohibiting only those pastors of the Christian religion belonging to other villages who are entering the village for the purpose of illegal conversion of the tribal peoples,” Thakur submitted.
He added the hoardings state that illegal conversion by alluring the tribals is harming their culture. He also cited law and order problems over the issue in the past, including the 2023 rioting incident in Narayanpur district, where tribals desecrated a church and assaulted policemen, including the Superintendent of Police (SP).
“…the installation of the hoardings for preventing forcible conversion by way of allurement or fraudulent means cannot be termed as unconstitutional,” the bench observed after hearing both sides.