Hindu Nationalists Disrupt Christmas Services Throughout India

12/28/2024 India (International Christian Concern) — A spate of violent attacks marred the 2024 Christmas celebrations across India despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolling the virtues of love and harmony taught by Jesus Christ in his Christmas speech.

Attacks on Christians have been reported in several states, including Manipur, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and even Kerala. The violence was allegedly carried out by the Sangh Parivar organizations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently ruling the country. Still, he attended the Christmas celebrations hosted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) in New Delhi.

During the function, Modi gave a speech stressing the importance of strengthening the spirit of love, harmony, and brotherhood in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

He also greeted the people during Christmas on X, posting photos and videos of himself attending the CBCI event.

However, this did not deter many pro-Hindu right-wing organizations from disrupting the Christmas celebrations in churches, schools, public places, and even homes. In many cases, Hindu nationalists acted brazenly despite the presence of police.

The face of the Sangh Parivar is the pro-Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) or National Volunteers Corps which advocates the rebuilding of India as a Hindu State by redoing the constitution.

The RSS promotes this right-wing ideology through its political outfit, the BJP, which is currently ruling India for the third time in a row. The RSS mentored Modi and every member of his party.

The RSS also gave birth to various right-wing organizations like the VHP or World Hindu Council and the Bajrang Dal — a militant wing of the RSS. And there are numerous other fringe organizations known collectively as the Sangh Parivar. It recruits volunteers and vigorously indoctrinates them into its ideology and has created a strong network of vigilantes whose sole aim is to target minority communities.

During this Christmas, the most shocking attacks of all were noted in Kerala state, located at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula and known for its communal harmony. This reputation was shattered as two VHP members and one Bajrang Dal member attacked Christmas celebrations at a government school in Palakkad, leading to widespread protests.

Meanwhile, a manger or crib from a nativity scene was also destroyed by unknown miscreants in another part of Kerala.
Following the spate of attacks, several bishops have criticized the Sangh Parivar’s strategy of appeasement and violence, calling it “useless.”

Bishop Yuhanon Meletius of Metropolitan of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church took a swipe on social media, saying, “There (in New Delhi), they honor the bishops and revere the crib. Here (in Kerala), they destroy the cribs.”

In Punjab, a Pentecostal pastor was attacked on accusations of trying to convert Hindus.

In Rajasthan, activists attacked teachers and students from schools that were celebrating Christmas in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

On Christmas day, in Madhya Pradesh, a Zomato (food delivery agency) employee dressed as Santa Claus was questioned by Hindu Jagran Manch activists. Bizarrely, the activists also released a video threatening Zomato workers.

A statue of Mary was broken at Usri of Jabalpur region, also in Madhya Pradesh, on Dec. 23. Two unknown people took the statue of Mary from the grotto at Usri Village. Later, the smashed statue was found half a mile away from the church.

In Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, the Sangh Parivar members barged into a house and stopped a worship service.

Violent incidents were also reported in the northeastern Manipur state, where clashes have been ongoing for 19 months. Widespread violence was reported in various parts of the state on Christmas day, with firing breaking out in Sinam Kom village in eastern Imphal.

Far away in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, a social media influencer violated the religious sanctity of Epiphany Church by recording a video in which he is chanting the name of a Hindu god using the pulpit as a background and posting it online.
With more than 1.5 million followers, the influencer drew widespread condemnation for the video. A social activist from Shillong, Angela Rangad, has filed a complaint against the influencer.

In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, the VHP members reached South International School and forced the school staff to remove all the Christmas decorations.

Hindu nationalists attacked another four schools in Ahmedabad on Dec. 24 for having Christmas celebrations.
In Uttar Pradesh’s capital city of Lucknow, a group of men and women gathered near Hazrat Ganj Cathedral and disturbed the Christmas festivities with loud chants.

While posting a video of this incident, an X user said, “This insecure display of faith is fraught with inferiority complex. This is too cheap and uncivil to even watch.”

Odisha, meanwhile, has seen a sharp spurt in the persecution of Christians. On Christmas day, two women and a man were beaten up severely for alleged conversion activities in Balasore district. Then, the women were tied to a tree and were forced to chant the names of Hindu gods and goddesses.

In another incident that took place last week before Christmas, a pastor and his pregnant wife were attacked in their church about 19 miles from the capital, Bhubaneswar, and were forced to trample on Bibles and chant the names of Hindu gods.
The video went viral and sparked outrage and disgust, respectively, against the perpetrators of this violence and the pastor for not being able to defend his faith.

In Haryana, yet another Northern state, Christians had rented a hall for Christmas celebrations. The hall known as a dharmshala has been used for Christmas celebrations for the past 5 years.

However, this time around Hindu nationalists barged into the meeting and chanted Hindu devotional hymns and stopped the gathering despite a police presence.

In Uttarakhand state, nestled in the northern Himalayas and known as the land of the gods, Christians celebrated Christmas inside a house church, but Bajrang Dal members came and stopped them.

Meanwhile, Indian social media was also flooded with messages of Good Governance Day and Tulsi Pujan Day on Dec. 25 to divert from Christmas greetings.

The BJP launched Good Governance Day after it came to power in 2014 to commemorate the birthday of former BJP Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose birthday is Dec. 25.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email [email protected].