Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a fabricated case filed against Dattu Rupa Valvi (33), Vijay Rupa Valvi (45), Ganesh Rupa Valvi (36) and five other Christian adivasis with regards to a broken Hindu deity in Mogalbara village, Surat district, Gujurat on 13 February 2004.
On February 13 Dattu Rupa Valvi and his brother Vijay Rupa Valvi were shopping in Maharashta, whilst their other brother Ganesh Rupa Valvi was fishing in the reservoir of the Ukai Dam. The three Christian adivasis brothers were not present in the village, however they were all later charged along with five other Christian adivasis for an alleged crime that took place in the Mogalbara village that day.
In Mogalbara, there are approximately 110 families, or 1,000 people, who live in the village. The majority of these families are Christian adivasis. There are about 10 families who do not associate with the Christian faith. Despite the differing religions there has generally been a peaceful coexistence between both religious communities. When the Hindus adivasis celebrate their feasts, the entire village contributes money to the celebration.
However, on February 13 about 10 members of the Hindu fundamentalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from outside the Mogalbara village came into the village in jeeps and on motorcycles on the pretext of offering incense to the Hindu deity Dev Mogra Mata. The RSS group was led by Mahipal, a non-adivasi who was not from Gujarat. The RSS group proceeded to go around the village with the deity and forced people to pay homage to it. A few of the Christian adivasis obliged, however, the RSS group wished for the whole village to pay homage to Dev Mogra Mata. However, not everyone in the village wanted to do so. As a consequence of the failure to ensure entire homage to the deity, the group created an intense atmosphere within the community, in which the group began to verbally abuse the villagers. Many of the Christian adivasis asked the group why they were forcing everyone to worship their deity. Due to that the majority of the crowd were Christian adivasis, the RSS group left the Mogalbara village, and visited four or five other nearby villages repeating what they had done in Mogalbara.
At about midnight, the RSS group and a mob of people then went to the Uchchhal police station and made a complaint against the villagers of Mogalbara. The RSS group reported to the police that they had been in a procession in Mogalbara and that the villagers had abused them and broken their deity.
It is believed, however, that the RSS members cut the deity into two pieces and gave it to the police as evidence; for if the villagers had, indeed, broken the deity, it is unlikely that it would have been broken into just two pieces and the RSS members would not have been able to go to the other villages in the area. However, Barja P. Valvi of Mogalbara village and who is of no relation to Dattu Rupa Valvi made a statement to the fact that she was the last person in Mogalbara to see the deity and that it was in perfect condition and not broken into two pieces.
Dattu Rupa Valvi, as the village head, later inquired about the incident, and was told by police Sub Inspector C. T. Damor, an adivasis, that there was pressure on them regarding this case from above, including from some politicians who shared the same ideology as the RSS group. As a result, Dattu Rupa Valvi and seven other Christian adivasis were charged over the incident. The eight Christian adivasis were later taken to the police station and on the way Ganesh Rupa Valvi was beaten by the crowd. It was reported that the police whilst acknowledge that these eight people might not be responsible for breaking the deity the police had to take action because of the RRS group and the mob of people. In this incident, non-adivasis used adivasis to beat up adivasis and make a complaint to the police about adivasis. The police later kept the eight Christian adivasis overnight for their protection, and the police warned the eight that upon their release and return to Mogalbara they might be beaten by the RSS group. The eight Christian adivasis were released on bail and now have to go to the court in Vyara, a community 50 kilometers away, every three months to attend a hearing into the criminal case that was filed against them.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the relevant authorities listed below calling for an immediate investigation into Dattu Rupa Valvi and the other seven Christian adivasiss case requesting that they put a halt to the constant delays in inquiries, and conduct a full investigation into this incident, for until this occurs the case cannot proceed and the real perpetrators are free to live their lives. In addition, please remind the authorities of the international and constitutional obligations of the government and police to protect religious freedom and the rights of minorities in India.
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To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
INDIA: Fabricated case and delay of justice involving persecuted Christian adivasis in Gujurat
Name of victim:
1. Dattu Rupa Valvi (33)
2. Vijay Rupa Valvi (45)
3. Ganesh Rupa Valvi (36)
Five other Christian adivasis of Mogalbara village, Uchchhal Taluka, Surat District, Gujurat, India
Name of alleged perpetrators: Members of the RSS group led by Mahipal and the Uchchhal police station
Date of incident: 13 February 2004
Place of incident: Surat District, Gujurat, India
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the fabricated case filed against Dattu Rupa Valvi, Vijay Rupa Valvi, Ganesh Rupa Valvi and five other Christian adivasis with regards to a broken Hindu deity in Mogalbara village, Surat district, Gujurat on 13 February 2004.
According to the information I have received, in the Mogalbara village there are approximately 110 families who are residents of the village. The majority of these families are Christian adivasis. There are about 10 families who do not associate with the Christian faith. Despite the differing religions there has generally been a peaceful coexistence between both religious communities.
However, on February 13 eight Christian adivasis were charged for a fabricated crime due to an altercation between the Hindu and Christian communities. On this day, Dattu Rupa Valvi and his brother Vijay Rupa Valvi were shopping in Maharashta, whilst their other brother Ganesh Rupa Valvi was fishing in the reservoir of the Ukai Dam. The three Christian adivasis brothers were not present in the village, however they were all later charged along with five other Christian adivasis for an alleged crime that took place in the Mogalbara village that day.
The incident stemmed from when approximately 10 members of the Hindu fundamentalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from outside the Mogalbara village came into the village on the pretext of offering incense to the Hindu deity Dev Mogra Mata. The RSS group was led by Mahipal, a non-adivasi who was not from Gujarat. The RSS group proceeded to go around the village with the deity and forced people to pay homage to it. A few of the Christian adivasis obliged, however, the RSS group wished for the whole village to pay homage to Dev Mogra Mata. As a consequence of the failure to ensure entire homage to the deity, the group began to verbally abuse the villagers. Due to that the majority of the crowd were Christian adivasis, the RSS group left the Mogalbara village, and visited four or five other nearby villages repeating what they had done in Mogalbara.
At about midnight, the RSS group and a mob of people then went to the Uchchhal police station and made a complaint against the villagers of Mogalbara. The RSS group reported that they had been in a procession in Mogalbara and that the villagers had abused them and broken their deity. However, Barja P. Valvi of Mogalbara and of no relation to Dattu Rupa Valvi made a statement to the fact that she was the last person in Mogalbara to see the deity and that it was in perfect condition and not broken into two pieces.
Dattu Rupa Valvi, as the village head, later inquired about the incident, and was told by police Sub Inspector C. T. Damor, an adivasis, that there was pressure on them regarding this case from above; including from some politicians who shared the same ideology as the RSS group. As a result, Dattu Rupa Valvi and seven other Christian adivasis were charged over the incident and taken into custody. It was reported the police acknowledged that these eight people might not be responsible for breaking the deity, however the police believed they had to take action because of the RSS associated mob. The police later kept the eight Christian adivasis overnight for their protection, and the police warned the eight that upon their release and return to Mogalbara they might be beaten by the RSS group. The eight Christian adivasis were released on bail and now have to go to the court in Vyara, a community 50 kilometers away, every three months to attend a hearing into the criminal case that was filed against them
I am greatly disturbed that this incident has deliberately antagonised the interfaith relations in the region and I wish to remind the authorities of the international and constitutional obligations of the government and police to protect religious freedom and the rights of minorities in India. In addition, I urge you to issue an immediate investigation into Dattu Rupa Valvi, Vijay Rupa Valvi, Ganesh Rupa Valvi and the other five Christian adivasisscase requesting that they put a halt to the constant delays in inquiries, and conduct a full investigation into this incident, for until this occurs the case cannot proceed and the freedom of these eight Christian adivasis continues to be restricted.
I trust that your intervention will be forthcoming in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Manmohan Singh
The Prime Minister of India
Prime Ministers Office
Room number 152, South Block
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: 91 11 23016857
2. Chief Minister Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi
Chief Minister's Office
Block No. 1, 5th Floor
New Sachivalaya
Gandhinagar 382 010
Gujarat
INDIA
Telephone: +91 79-2323-2611 to 18
Fax: +91 79-2322-2101
Email: cm@gujaratindia.com
3. Shri Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel
Tribal Development Minister
Block No. 1, 7th Floor
New Sachivalaya
Gandhinagar 382 010
Gujarat
INDIA
Telephone: +91 79-2322-1186, 79-2323-8075
Fax : 91- 79-2322-2206, 2323-2489
Email: min-fne@gujarat.gov.in
4. Shri Amit Anilchandra Shah
Minister of State
Block No. 2, 3rd Floor
New Sachivalaya
Gandhinagar 382 010
Gujarat
INDIA
Telephone: +91 79-2322-5920, 2324-3403
Fax: +91 79-2323-2453, 2322-1874
Email: mos-home@gujarat.gov.in
5. The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Tel: +91-11 23382742
Fax: +91-11 23384863
Email: covdnhrc@nic.in, ionhrc@nic.in
6. Collector Mr. R. M. Jadav (IAS)
District Collector Office
Ahwa
Dang 394 710
Gujarat
INDIA
Telephone (office): +91 2631-220-201
Fax: +91 2631-220-294
Email: coldang@guj.nic.in
7. Deputy Superintendent of Police Shri Mali
District Superintendent of Dang Office
Ahwa
Dang 394 710
Gujarat
INDIA
Telephone: +91 2631-220-248
Fax: +91 2631-220-226
8. Ms. Asma Jahangir
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
c/o Office Of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations at Geneva
8-14 ave de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: (+41 22) 917 9006
E-mail: freedomofreligion@ohchr.org
9. Mr. Rodolfo STAVENHAGEN
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
c/o Office Of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations at Geneva
8-14 ave de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: (+41 22) 917 9006
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
