A Christmas stained with hate: From Kerala to Assam, Hindutva hooligans ruin celebrations

by Kinjal

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished the country ‘hope, warmth and commitment to kindness’ on Christmas and posed a video of himself taking part in a church service on December 25, reports poured in from all over the country of Christmas celebrations being disrupted by people associated with Hindutva outfits. They raided churches, vandalised Christmas decorations, and openly heckled people with chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram’. 

Reports of attacks on churches and Christmas preparations by Right-wing organizations started surfacing December 20 onwards. The most shocking of these incidents were reported from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, where a few days before Christmas, a BJP leader and a group of people associated with Hindutva outfits arrived at a luncheon and created an atmosphere of terror. The Jabalpur city BJP vide-president, Anju Bhargava, was seen verbally abusing people from a blind school who were attending the function. She physically heckled a visually impaired woman for coming to a church. After the incident created a storm on social media, the BJP took action and issued a show-cause notice to Bhargava.

ALSO READ: Hindutva hooligans target Christians across cities: Jabalpur BJP VP leads charge by abusing the visually impaired

Alt News has already reported on four instances of attacks on Christmas celebrations or preparations by Hindutva outfits in Jabalpur, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Puri. In this report, we will document more cases that we could independently verify. These were reported from Chhattisgarh, Assam, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Chhattisgarh: Vandalism in Raipur Mall by Bajrang Dal, Tension in Kanker 

A Hindutva group had called for a state-wide strike on December 24 to protest against alleged illegal religious conversions in Chhattisgarh. The strike-call came in the wake of communal clashes on December 16 and 17 over the Christian burial of a person in the Bade Tewada village in Kanker district.

In Raipur, a crowd chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ entered the Magneto Mall on the Christmas Eve (December 24) for not supporting the bandh and went on the rampage. The mall was vandalised and its staff were allegedly heckled. Several videos of the vandalism at the mall were shared on social media, after which the police registered a complaint against more than 40 unidentified individuals.

A video of the vandalism at the mall shows a crowd entering with weapons in their hands and their faces covered, and then proceeding to destroy decorations.

The mall’s marketing head, Abha Gupta, told the media, “50-100 people forcibly entered the mall even though we had supported the protest and the mall was completely closed.” Abha said that the crowd entered with sticks and hockey sticks… They were angry, and the mall employees were very worried that they might be attacked. Abha also stated that the people in the crowd were checking the ID cards of the staff members and asking, “Are you Christian, Hindu, what is your caste?”

Seven Bajrang Dal members were arrested for the vandalism. A court in Raipur on Monday denied them bail.

Meanwhile, tension between members of the Christian and Hindu communities prevailed in Bade Tewara village in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh over alleged religious conversion. On December 24, amidst the Chhattisgarh bandh (strike) call, more than 30 people attacked homes of those who had converted from Hinduism to Christianity several years ago. The mob carried sticks and rods and vandalised houses.

An Aaj Tak ground report interviewed members of the tribal community who were attacked. They stated that they had been practising Christianity for the last two decades and had changed their religion on their own free will.

Uttar Pradesh: Churches Raided with Hanuman Chalisa, Jai Sri Ram Chants

People allegedly associated with Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad gathered outside St. Alphonsus Cathedral Church in Civil Lines, Bareilly, on December 24. They camped outside the church gate and recited the Hanuman Chalisa. Police officers were present at the spot.

After the video of the Hanuman Chalisa recitation at the gate of the church went viral, reports emerged that Bajrang Dal had alleged that some activities were being carried out during Christmas to defame Hinduism. They also submitted a memorandum to the Bareilly police regarding this.

Bajrang Dal workers also protested outside the Kotwali police station in Bareilly on December 25. They alleged that anti-Hindu activities were conducted at a church event before Christmas. The Bajrang Dal also protested outside the church and demanded that police register a complaint against the church.

In another incident in Ghaziabad on December 25, while people were praying in front of a church, another group chanted Jai Sri Ram and sang religious hymns next to them. The video was shared on social media claiming it was from Delhi. However, upon investigation, Alt News found that the video was from St. Thomas Orthodox Maha Idavaka Church located in Ghaziabad. The pictures of the church available on Google Maps and the church shown in the video are the same.

Assam: Christmas Decorations Vandalized in School with Chants of Jai Sri Ram 

Christmas decorations at St. Mary’s School in Panigaon, Assam, were allegedly vandalized on December 24 by members of Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad. They destroyed installations and set them on fire while raising slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Sri Ram’.

In another incident in Nalbari, a video of which went viral on the internet, people were seen taking out Christmas decoration articles from shops and setting them on fire. At one point in the clip, they chant ‘Jai Bajrang Dal, Jai Sri Ram’. They also throw away goods being sold by street vendors.

In a video, one of the disruptors can be heard saying, “We are from Bajrang Dal, and these items will not be sold; only things related to Indian culture will be sold.”

Taking note of these incidents of vandalism in Nalbari, police registered a case. Nalbari SSP Bibekananda Das told the media that the four people were arrested for the incidents of vandalism on December 24. Police confirmed that they were from the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad.

Kerala: Attack on Carolers 

In Kerala’s Palakkad, a group of Christmas carolers was allegedly attacked by RSS workers on December 21. The group also heckled children who were part of the carol team and destroyed their musical instruments. A case was registered later, and the police arrested an individual identified as Ashwin Raj.

Indore: Christmas Decorations Vandalized with Jai Sri Ram chants 

A video showing people allegedly from Hindutva outfits tearing down Christmas trees and decorations at a Christmas event in Indore on December 25 went viral on social media. The visuals clearly showed a group of people destroying the decorations while a woman on the stage tried to stop them. The vandals chanted ‘Jai Sri Ram’. 

Indore Police Additional DCP Rajesh Dandotiya stated that they had not received any written complaint in this matter, but they would investigate the case based on the viral video.

Ahmedabad: Christmas Installation Dismantled 

On December 27, alleged Hindutva outfit members entered the Palladium Mall and pulled down Christmas trees. They also allegedly tried to physically assault a mall employee.

Meanwhile, in the Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan, an order was issued by the additional district education officer’s office to all private schools directing them not to ask students to wear Santa Claus costumes on the occasion of Christmas. This direction came after a letter was sent to the district education office by an organization named Bharat-Tibet Sahyog Manch. According to a news report, an official from education minister Madan Dilawar’s office said, “No instructions were issued by the minister or the state education directorate. This decision was taken at the local level.”

In Haridwar, Uttarakhand, a Christmas programme being held at a hotel run by the Uttar Pradesh tourism department was canceled after Hindutva outfits had objected to it.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.

Donate Now

About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.