Father RB Dionysius is the principal of a church-affiliated school in Madhya Pradesh. Government agents inspected the school facility where he was staying, and he was subsequently taken into custody due to multiple charges. The court granted him bail a few days later, and he was released afterwards.
Charges on Father RB Dionysius
After being detained on several charges, including disturbance of peace and using criminal force against a public servant on duty, Father R. B. Dionysius, the principal of St. Mary's School in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh, which is ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was released on Friday, Mar. 28.
UCA News reported that on Tuesday, Mar. 25, Dionysius was arrested after government officials led by a member of the state's commission for the protection of child rights, Nivedita Sharma, conducted a surprise raid on his residence on the school campus. Following the operation, Sharma said that the group had successfully seized bottles of alcoholic beverages, condoms, and religious items.
As mentioned, this action was reportedly taken as part of a well-planned strategy to smear the reputation of the priest and the school, which has a solid standing in the community.
Those familiar with the situation asserted that the priest was falsely accused of destroying the reputation of the Catholic school in the Diocese of Gwalior, a state with a population of 72 million, of which only 0.29 percent are Christians.
According to a colleague from the diocese who requested anonymity, Father Dionysius is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "We are now helping him to recover," the priest added.
Moreover, the priest asserted that there are about 1,800 pupils enrolled at St. Mary's School, and not a single parent or student has lodged a complaint against the institution. The diocesan priest indicated that the state child rights panel and district officials were only going after Christian schools in the city of Gwalior, which has a population of 6,098,000 people and is home to a population of formerly untouchable people known as Dalits.
Around 21.1 percent of Madhya Pradesh's population comes from a tribal background, contributing to the state's reputation for being economically backward and having a literacy rate of only 64.11 percent.
A diocesan official indicated that Dionysius was the target of the attack because he had cancelled a contract awarded to a right-wing Hindu leader linked with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
About St. Mary's School
According to Sagada.org, in 1904, Rev. Father John Staunton, an American missionary, established St. Mary's School in Sagada. By 1907, there were 17 students, and in 1912, the construction of the first school building at the Mission of St. Mary the Virgin in Sagada was finally finished. It was a two-and-a-half-story building that measured 36 by 90 feet and had pine shingles for both the siding and the roof.
St.School Mary's gives quality education to all children to improve their lives, regardless of caste, race, tribe, or religion. The school's eco-warrior and innovative teachers make learning more effective and fun. Teachers attend seminars to enhance the way they teach, which helps students become better citizens.
Furthermore, instruction is provided in English as the primary language. Hindi, which serves as the national and regional language, is one of the languages students must learn as their second language. Sanskrit, an ancient language that dates back to our homeland, is also taught to students starting in the sixth grade and up. Thus, since people live in the age of computers, students begin learning about computer science in elementary school.
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