Sad news from Jaipur India...

[arthra]

It appears a group perhaps politically motivated attacked the groundkeeper of a Baha'i cemetery in Jaipur India and damaged a prayer house under construction there....

An FIR has been registered at Jaipur’s Sanganer Sadar police station on Friday following an attack by a mob of about 40-50 persons, allegedly led by a sarpanch, at the local Baha’i community burial ground.

The FIR says not only did the mob beat up the security guard and damaged the guard room, they also damaged portions of an under-construction prayer house within the premises of the burial ground about 11.30 am on Friday.


Shocked Baha’i community leaders have termed it the “first” such incident in India against their community.

On Saturday, Baha’i community members, who number just about 1,000 in Jaipur, came together and issued a joint statement, seeking prompt action against the accused.

Detailing the incident, one Niyaz Alam said, “During elections to appoint village heads (sarpanch) about a year-and-a-half ago, a contestant promised that he will take possession of our ground and will set up a playground or a school instead, and he was subsequently elected. But we didn’t pay any attention as it is in our religion to be apolitical.”

Read more at

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...-vandalises-jaipurs-lone-bahai-burial-ground/

An "FIR" in India is an investigation

See:

http://www.fixindia.org/fir.php

 

[Devils' Advocate]

Alas no group is free from what is inherently in our nature.

 

[Aussie Thoughts]

It appears a group perhaps politically motivated attacked the groundkeeper of a Baha'i cemetery in Jaipur India and damaged a prayer house under construction there....

A real shame that, but after spending a month in India, nothing that goes on there would surprise me. Our crew was welcomed with open arms in most areas, but in some we were met with downright animosity. Overall though I'd have to say that the vast majority of Indian people are peaceful and loving. Definitely got some bad eggs about though.

 

[arthra]

Thanks for your comments above! I have received some additional information about the situation in Jaipur... Notibly:

"The Baha’is have been coming to India since 1850, making the country their home and constituting one of the smallest religious minorities, pointed out Kavita Srivastava, president of the People’s Union For Civil Liberties, Rajasthan, a human rights organisation that has taken up their cause. “They have never before seen this kind of intolerance and aggressive behaviour towards them in the country.”


Representatives of Jaipur’s 1000-strong Baha’i population appeared before the media on Saturday to describe what happened. They said that Nathu Jangid, sarpanch of the village, had spearheaded a campaign against the burial place. This forced Rajesh Meena, treasurer of the local Spiritual Assembly of the community, to register an FIR with the Sanganer Sadar police station on October 30.


The community representatives pointed out that Jangid won his election on the ground that he would get the burial place removed and get it replaced by a school playground.


Land allotted by government


One of the considerations for choosing the location for the burial ground was that it was adjoining the cremation ground of the village, Anant pointed out.


The JDA’s Land and Property Committee in its resolution of August 8, 2002 not only decided to allot the land for the burial place but also resolved to build a boundary wall around the premises. Accordingly, the boundary wall was constructed by the authority while handing over the place to the community. Copies of the related letter of the JDA to the community and the resolution are with The Wire.


Since the land, being close to National Highway-12 (Jaipur-Jabalpur), had become very valuable over the years, the sarpanch decided to communalise the issue and get the land back, Srivastava alleged. Consequently, he motivated the tehsildar of the JDA, Juhi Bhargava, to stop construction of the prayer hall. Bhargava then gave a report to her superiors that on “orders” she would carry out demolition, Srivastava charged...."

Source:
http://thewire.in/2015/11/01/bahai-burial-ground-vandalised-hand-of-bjp-sarpanch-alleged-14518/

The concern though is that a Baha'i cemetery may be desecrated and this has been a very serious problem in Iran where Baha'i cemeteries have been destroyed and desecrated.