A group of men chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’. climbed on top of a church in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua and planted saffron flags, ahead of the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony. In a video, now viral, the men can be seen climbing the building, and attaching a flag on the Christian cross. The saffron flag had a picture of the Ayodhya Ram Temple and ‘Jai Sri Ram’ inscribed on it. The incident took place on Sunday, 21 January, a day before the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony.
Speaking to The Quint, the pastor of the church, Narbu Amaliyar, said that the group of men arrived yelling the slogans right after the Sunday prayer had completed.
“This happened at around 3 pm when we had just finished our Sunday prayer. These men arrived out of nowhere, screaming ‘Jai Sri Ram’. There were at least 25 men, and a few of them climbed on top of the church with the flag,” Pastor Amaliyar told The Quint.
The church is in village Dabtalai in Ranapur, in Jhabua district.
Amaliyar said he recognised the men, as they are from a neighboring village. “I recognised them. I even know some of their names. I tried to tell them that this is not right. I told them that we are just worshipers here and they should not trouble us, but they refused to listen,” Amaliyar said. “I didn’t understand what was happening, this has never happened before," he added.
'No Complain Registered Yet': Police
Speaking to The Quint, Jhabua Superintendent of Police (SP) Agam Jain, said that no FIR has been registered yet.
“Our team visited the site on Sunday evening. We inquired what happened. This was a person’s home, that he uses for prayer, it wasn’t a church. So we didn’t file an FIR suo moto. The person didn’t want to file a complain, so no complain has been filed yet,” the SP said.
Amaliyar however denied that it is his home. “It is a church I started back in 2016. Every Sunday, 30-40 people come here for prayers. It’s a place of worship. My home is separate,” he said. However, he did agree that he hasn’t filed a complain yet.
“The men called me later apologising. So I am not sure if I want to file a complaint yet. I will discuss with my village sarpanch and take a call on that,” Amaliyar added.
The Ram Temple consecration ceremony took place on Monday afternoon, with PM Modi having performed the first aarti.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)