Tikli villagers convene mahapanchayat against church construction on private land

Pal said that some villagers had forcibly stopped the construction works a month back but police had got it restarted after the contractor had approached them after taking into account that there was no violation in the construction work being carried out.

More than 350 people gathered in a “mahapanchayat” at Badshahpur in Gurugram on Friday to protest against the construction of a church on a private land in Tikli village, police and local leaders said.

Local police confirmed they are monitoring the situation closely, but stated the construction appears legally sound.

The assembly included residents from over a dozen nearby villages and was organised by local village heads and leaders of right-wing groups, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.

Local police confirmed they are monitoring the situation closely, but stated the construction appears legally sound. Inspector Vijay Pal, station house officer of Badshahpur police station, said, “The Delhi based property owner building the church has all the legal permissions, including a change of land use (CLU) certificate from the state government’s department of town and country planning.”

He added that though no prior information about the Friday’s gathering was given to police but concluded peacefully and that police are alert to prevent any antisocial elements from exploiting communal tensions.

Protest leaders, however, argued the church would “disrupt communal harmony” in an area with “no Christian population”.

Brahm Dev, former sarpanch of Tikli, claimed villagers persuaded the owner to halt construction on Wednesday. “After getting to know that a church was coming up, villagers asked the property owner to stop the construction work on Wednesday. It was immediately stopped,” he said.

He stated that a delegation plans to meet the Gurugram deputy commissioner on Monday to formally demand a stop to the project.

VHP leader Kulbhushan Bhardwaj echoed the sentiment, stating, “We will take any required action and will even move court to stop its construction if the administration fails to step in.”

HT could not approach the property owner for a comment on the matter.

A Tikli villager, Mahendra Singh Yadav, alleged the landowner initially told the community he was building a school, and they only learned it was intended to be a church from the contractor. The structure is being built on a two-acre plot.

The protest occurs amid incidents of violence and intimidation targeting Christians in several states during the Christmas season.

Recent weeks have seen reports of attacks on prayer gatherings and churches in states including Madhya Pradesh and Assam. In Assam and Chhattisgarh, right-wing vigilantes sought to harass Christians and disrupt celebrations on Christmas and the days preceding it. A video from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, was shared on social media showing a visually impaired woman attending a Christmas programme being abused by a local leader.