A Catholic school in Guna, Madhya Pradesh state, India, has been stormed by Hindu nationalists. The extremists raided the school and harassed the nuns working there. The incident happened after a local newspaper called Patrika published an article about an incident at the Vandana Convent School, which the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth runs. According to Patrika, the principal was angered by a student reciting a Hindu verse and stopped her by grabbing the microphone from the student’s hand.

However, the school principal, Sr. Catherine Vatolly, shed light on the incident that led to the attack against the school. She says that it happened during an event planned to improve the students’ English. She asked two students to give their speech in English, and she interrupted the activity because one of them started to talk in Sanskrit.

“One of them began his speech with a Sanskrit shloka. I thought he was giving his speech in Hindi, so I asked them to speak only in English. I asked twice, but I believe they couldn’t hear me and continued reciting the shloka. Then I approached one student, took the mic, and announced to the assembly that a speech should have an introduction, content, and conclusion. I gave them time until Saturday to prepare their speeches properly. After that, school activities continued as usual until Patrika published the misleading news.”

Sr. Catherine added that,

“My only intention was to ask students to give speeches in English. I want them to develop their English-speaking skills, learn English, and get rid of stage fright. I have never hurt anyone’s religious sentiment nor will I do so because I respect all religions.”

The version of the events that was published in Patrika angered many local Hindu extremists. About a dozen Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad: All India Students’ Council members stormed the school and made Sr Catherine apologize by force because of hurting religious feelings. Even the education officer of Guna district filed a warning against the school, threatening to take action. Bishop James Athikalam of Sagar called the attack against the school shameful, voiced his worry about these kinds of incidents, and praised the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth for their long and tireless work in education.

Source: Asia News