Catholic prayer house demolished in Tripura; Believers do not stop praying despite the violence

A Catholic prayer house in the village of Komali in Tripura, a Northeastern state of  India,  was vandalized by villagers belonging to the Jamaatiya tribe. On the 2nd of October, around fifteen Catholic families were praying in the prayer center when the place of worship was demolished. While Sunday prayers were going on, the tribals who came there to tore the prayer hall made of tarpaulin sheet. Even when the violence was going on, the believers were not ready to stop praying.

A video of the demolition of the worship center has gone viral on social media. Komali is one of the 15 villages belonging to St. Joseph Vaz Parish in Amarpur. The parish vicar said that the prayer center is built on the land owned by the parish. Fr. Leejesh Mathew told that the  Hindus of the village were against the construction of a prayer center for fear of reducing their numbers. Leejesh added that Hindus had never interrupted prayers and this was the first such an incident.

Father  Leejesh said that they are trying to find the real reason behind the incident and have started trying to negotiate peace with the tribal community.

According to the 2011 census, Christians constitute only 4.35% of the total population of the Hindu majority state of Tripura.