Lucknow, March 26 A Christian hospital faces an imminent shutdown after the staff, doctors and nurses faced constant harassment by Hindutva forces and the police in Indian Uttar Pradesh state ruled by the BJP. The trouble began for the hospital management in April 2022 when a Hindutva mob disrupted Christian prayers at the Evangelical Church of India (ECI), which is 10 minutes away from the hospital in Fatehpur city in the state. Half of the worshippers at the ECI were staff from the hospital.
Sujith Vargeshe Thomas, managing director of Broadwell Christian Hospital, told Clarion India over the phone from Fatehpur that they live in fear as his colleagues were either jailed or forced to flee the hospital due to the police action against them.
On 23 January this year, Kotwali police station registered three FIRs against the hospital administrative staff along with members of the Christian community of the area alleging fraud conversions. The FIRs were registered on the complaint of people associated with Hindutva party Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.
A notice was also issued to Dr. Samuel Mathew, chairman of the hospital, and clerk Parminder Singh.
According to hospital administration, the police conducted several raids on the hospital and staff members staying on the premises.
“Many staff from the hospital are not present. They are living like refugees in different places due to fear. They are living almost in hell. If they are in the hospital, they face arrest. They are on the run for months after taking leave,” said Thomas.
Vinay Kumar, who works in hospital as a dental technician since 2011, told Clarion India that he had to flee the hospital and live somewhere else after he was arrested in October 2022 on the facke case on allegations of converting people and forging documents. He was released in December after getting bail from the Allahabad High Court.
“I faced a lot of trouble after getting out of jail. I went into depression. My family had to struggle a lot. My children had to leave their education. I fell sick and was admitted to a Kanpur hospital. I’m still being harassed by the police,” said Vinay.
He said that the fake, baseless and false cases levelled against him . “The man who was presented as a witness was not present there. I have never seen him. Even he does not know me by face,” said Vinay.
“Injustice happened to me. Everybody has the freedom to practice his religion as per the constitution. What can we do if we don’t go to mosques and temples,” said Vinay.
Amit Kumar Mishra, SHO of Kotwali police station in Fatehpur, told media men that the police have filed chargesheets against 46 people in connection with these cases. All these people are associated with the hospital, he said.
Thomas wrote an open letter to the media said that they have faced “physical, mental, and emotional abuses ”.
Thomas said “After the church, the police started targeting the hospital over . Our hospital has 130 staff members, half of them non-Christians. They are either Hindus or Muslims. Ours is a Christian mission hospital. We also do prayers here. There is nothing like conversion here.”… agencies