Hindutva mob attacks Christian prayer gathering in eastern India
Bible-wielding worshippers were assaulted and threatened after Hindu extremists accused Christian women of forced conversions
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Members of radical Hindu outfits stormed a Christian prayer gathering in eastern India, assaulting worshippers and disrupting the service over unsubstantiated allegations that Hindu women were being forcibly converted to Christianity.
The attack took place during a Sunday prayer meeting in Raniganj, West Bengal, where attackers affiliated with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a radical Hindu group, entered the gathering, seized Bibles and confronted those in attendance while accusing them of carrying out religious conversions.
Videos circulating on social media show the attackers snatching religious books, physically manhandling participants and shouting Hindu religious slogans.
One assailant can be heard claiming that Christian groups were using the Bible to lure Hindu women into changing their faith and warning that the VHP and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, would prevent such activities.
Christian women present at the gathering reportedly told both the mob and police that they had embraced Christianity voluntarily and were not subjected to force, coercion or financial inducements. Despite their statements, participants said they continued to face intimidation during the confrontation.
Around 25 people involved in the disturbance were later handed over to police, although authorities had not publicly commented on the incident.
The attack comes just weeks after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s Hindu nationalist party, came to power in West Bengal for the first time, ending 15 years of rule by the Trinamool Congress.
Unlike several BJP-governed states, West Bengal does not have an anti-conversion law, legislation that Hindu extremist groups have long advocated and frequently invoke while accusing Christian missionaries and churches of converting Hindus through coercion or inducements.
Civil rights organizations have repeatedly warned that such allegations are often used by extremist groups to justify harassment, intimidation and attacks on Christian worshippers despite a lack of evidence.
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