Jharkhand, Hindu radicals devastate a Jesuit college. 'Completley destroyed'

The St. John Berchmans Inter College in Mundli was destroyed and raided by a crowd of 500 people. The pretext of the attack was a quarrel between students and tribal boys hosted in the hostel adjacent to the school. The management asks for help from the National Commission for Human Rights and the Commission for Minorities.

Sep 13, 2019

NEW DELHI: A Jesuit-run Catholic school in Jharkhand was devastated last week by a crowd of 500 people, presumed radical Hindu nationalists, and no one intervened to bring the culprits to justice

The incident was denounced by Fr. Thomas Kuzhively, secretary of the institute, who yesterday released an official statement condemning the inertia of government authorities. The school is the St. John Berchmans Inter College of Mundli and is run by the Jesuits of the Dumka-Raiganj province. The priest complains: "Everything is destroyed. We can't reopen college ".

The school leadership appeals to the governor of Jharkhand, the Chief minister and the presidents of the National Commission for Human Rights and the National Commission for Minorities. The incident took place last September 3, in a long sequence of discriminatory acts against the state's Christian minority.

According to Fr. Kuzhively, unleashing the fury of Hindu activists would have been a quarrel between some students living in the adjacent hostel, which is home to tribal youth. "Why - he asks - was no one arrested after eight days? Is this not letting these antisocial elements take over, being passive [to their] cynical activities? "

The secretary said the crowd showed up at the college armed with sticks, chains, iron clubs, knives and guns. Then they selected the tribal students of the Loyola Adivasi Hostel and beat them fiercely. Two of them suffered serious injuries and were saved only thanks to the intervention of the sisters who came between the attacked and the criminals. The crowd also tried to block the ambulance called to transport the injured to the hospital.

Fr. Nobor Bilung, the principal, tried to calm people, but "he just managed to dodge a blow on the head. The crowd was in no condition to listen to anyone. " The attackers shattered the windows, bent the fan blades on the ceiling, damaged the exhaust pipes, the furniture, the electrical panels and the stereo system.

After devastating the school, they went on to the hostel, destroying CCTVs, bulletin boards, chairs, benches, pictures hanging on the wall and everything they encountered on their way.

 "Not satisfied," he adds, they tried to harass the sisters and the girls; finally they broke into the veranda where some motorcycles were parked, smashing them into pieces; then they stole three used phones from the hostel's kids and the money stored in the principal's office. The estimated damage of the entire devastation amounts to 1.5 million rupees (19 thousand euros).

Even the policemen from the Tinpahar station were not spared from the crowd's fury: some of them were injured, including a deputy inspector, after stopping a group of rioters. "It is obvious - concludes Fr. Kuzhively - that someone from outside fomented them ".--Asia News