Right-wing organisation members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal barged into a school and disrupted Christmas celebrations in Kerala’s Palakkad district.
The extremist group members reportedly confronted the school administration aggressively and alleged neglecting Hindu festivals like Krishna Janmashtami, a celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth.
Their protest escalated when the group members expressed strong objections to the teachers wearing Santa Claus costumes accusing them of promoting “another religious culture on Hindu students.”
Subsequently, the school authorities filed an FIR in which they accused the group of disrupting school activities, intimidating students and obstructing teachers from performing their duties.
“The accused tried to terrorize the students and school staff members. They also stopped the teachers from performing their duties and heckled the school administration for prioritizing the celebration of Christmas over Hindu religious events, labelling it as cultural insensitivity”, the FIR stated.
The Palakkad district police arrested three group members identified as K Anilkumar, V Susasanan, and K Velayudhan and booked them under several charges including spreading religious hatred.
Several Hindtuva members and their supporters often show their concerns in defence of Hindu festivals and culture. They argue the Indian “Sanaskriti” (tradition) is being sidelined in favour of Western influences. These organisations have a long history of harassing minority groups at their festivals and justify it as preserving native cultures.
According to reports of UCF, a civil society organisation based in Delhi, violence and discrimination against Christians are on the rise in 23 out of the 28 states in India.
The largest number of hate crimes have been recorded in Uttar Pradesh with 182 incidents, followed closely by Chhattisgarh with 139 cases reported. Some of the other states that have reported an increasing number of hate crimes include Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi and Haryana.
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