Christian Groups Hail Supreme Court Stay On Exhumations
A video played at the Press Club of India on 19 February set the tone for a press conference by the United Christian Forum (UCF): the body of a Christian woman being dug out of her grave in Chhattisgarh. Wrapped in a white shroud, the remains were placed on the ground and covered in plastic as villagers stood around, a burial undone.
The footage, UCF members said, was not an isolated incident but part of a growing pattern in which Christian families are allegedly forced to exhume their dead and transport the bodies 50 to 100 kilometres away for reburial, sometimes to locations unknown even to relatives.
Against this backdrop, the Supreme Court’s interim order staying further exhumations in the State has brought immediate relief to several Adivasi Christian families who, even in mourning, had been drawn into legal battles for the right to bury their dead with dignity.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that “in the meantime, no further exhumation of buried bodies shall be permitted” while issuing notice to the Chhattisgarh government on a public interest petition filed by the Chhattisgarh Association for Justice and Equality.
At the press conference, UCF president Michael Williams described the order as “a decisive step in protecting the dignity of the dead,” saying the practice had turned mourning into a site of intimidation. “You are not only making their lives miserable while they are alive, but even after death their dignity is not being tolerated,” he said.
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Christmas Optics And The Politics Of Silence: Unmasking Anti-Christian Violence
BY Apoorvanand
Pages:
[1]