While protesters rallying against attacks on Christians in Orissa say churches have come under attack in the Capital of late, the police call it only a coincidence that these incidents in Delhi have taken place at the same time.

According to locals and church officials, a mob at the Punjabi refugee colony in Peeragarhi attacked the church being constructed in their locality on September 9. Residents blame the church priest for allegedly encroaching on public land, and the attempts to convert people.

But Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern range) Ajay Kashyap says: “In Punjabi refugee colony, where people do not let even neighbours raise a concrete structure, how could they let an outsider (church) do it? People in Peeragarhi and Trilokpuri are probably not even aware of what is happening in Orissa and Karnataka.” The police, he says, are “alert and doing their best to maintain peace in the city”.

Newsline looks at some churches allegedly attacked:

PEERAGARHI

Subhash Chandar and Surinder Kaur say their son Raju, baptised in 2005, died in an accident the following year. A month later, their daughter-in-law died, and their younger son met the same fate within days, the couple says. They blame the bad omen on the family following Raju’s baptism. Raju is survived by a son, 5, and daughter, 4.

Raju’s last rites were performed as per Christian rituals, Chandra says, “and church people took his body. But they said they did not have space for our daughter-in-law. So we cremated her according to Hindu rites.”

Kaur claims the church gave Raju Rs 2 lakh for converting and assured him that they would take care of his children’s education and other needs. “But everything just got over after his death,” she alleges.

Residents, who do not want to be named, say they attacked the church following this. They say locals in the refugee colony live in tents and that making concrete structures is not allowed. “We are not allowed to make concrete roofs; how can the church do that?” local leader Radha Krishan Mahajan asks. “Besides, the church was also trying to encroach public land.”

Another resident says: “We do not want these people here. They will ruin more families.”

No one from the church has visited the area since the incident, locals say. Church representatives, however, deny any conversion took place in lieu of money.

TRILOKPURI

On September 14, some residents of block-13 in Trilokpuri put up an idol of Shiva and Hanuman on walls of the local church. For two days women of the neighbourhood prayed at this “open temple”. The makeshift temple was removed on the third day.

“We knew it would create a tussle between the church and locals over time. So we called the SHO and got the temple removed,” Father Peter Emmanuel of the church says.

And just a day after the idols were removed, some 15 people locals broke open the gate and entered the church lawn, says church caretaker Rajesh, present when the incident took place. Locals contend they are at no fault, for the lawn is built on public land.

Emmanuel says, “The plot was lying vacant and people used it to dump garbage. The church took it over to maintain it — it is government land and they can make anything on it.”

Two policemen have now been deployed in the church.

Locals, though, say nothing of the sort happened. Prem Chand, an area resident, says, “We go out for work the whole day and our women are at home. We don’t know about any protest.”

PITAMPURA church, opposite New Academy School Construction of this church begun six months ago, and church officials say locals manhandled construction workers while work was on. “Residents said they did not want a church here,” Father Santosh from the church says. After the reported ruckus, construction work was stopped temporarily but the church was attacked again in July. This time, they called the police.