A group of Hindu activists harassed the staff of a Catholic school in Madhya Pradesh State, India. New Catholic Mission School staff had a picnic in a park when a group of men, claiming to be members of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu organization, started to harass and question the Christians. The group of men suspected that the school staff, including a priest and two nuns, was carrying out conversion.

“They stopped us from getting into our bus after leaving the park we were visiting and instead told us to accompany them to the nearest police station.”

Said Father Sonu Vansuniya, principal of the New Catholic Mission School. The Hindu nationalists continued to harass staff members, asking them if they were lured to Christianity. After a while the police also arrived at the scene. Once they arrived, the officers also started questioning the school staff. They inquired about the same topic as the Hindu activists. However, failing to find anything, after two hours of public harassment, the Catholic school staff has been permitted to leave.

Bishop Thomas Mathew Kuttimackal, bishop of the Indore diocese, strongly condemned the harassment of the school staff, calling this behavior “not acceptable in a civilized society.” In Madhya Pradesh and ten other states in India, there is a strict anti-conversion law in power. The incidents against Christian minorities are not a rare occurrence. Hindu nationalists target and accuse Christians of forced conversion, which many times ends in violence.

Source: UCAnews

Photo: Wikimedia