Hindu activists climbed on top of the four churches and prayer halls in Jhabua, shouting Jai Shri Ram (“Hail Lord Ram”), a frequent battle cry of Hindu nationalists, and planted saffron flags on the roofs.
They demanded that tribals who convert to other religions should be barred from government benefits so that they could not be able to avail other reservation benefits reserved for the Scheduled Tribes category.
BJP MP Guman Singh Damor on Sunday said he had been organising ‘delisting’ rallies across Madhya Pradesh for the past few days seeking that tribals who convert to any other religion must not be given reservations mandated for Scheduled Tribes.
“Even an act of Christian charity can be construed as a case of illegally attempted conversion,” Father Rocky Shah, public relations officer of the Diocese of Jhabua, said of the anti-conversion law in Madhya Pradesh.