Back-to-back raids carried out by right-wing outfits inside churches in Madhya Pradesh, resulting in violence, have surfaced this week ahead of Christmas.
On Monday, a controversy over alleged religious conversion of visually impaired students escalated into a political flashpoint in Jabalpur after a video surfaced showing a local BJP functionary in a physical altercation with a visually impaired woman inside church premises.
The incident occurred at a church located behind Hawabagh Women’s College, where members of several right-wing organisations, accompanied by BJP district vice-president Anju Bhargava, entered the premises alleging that visually impaired children were being coerced into religious conversion. The allegations triggered a confrontation inside the church, culminating in scenes later captured on mobile phones and widely circulated on social media.
The viral footage shows Bhargava confronting a visually impaired woman seated inside the church. At one point, Bhargava is seen holding the woman’s face and engaging in a heated exchange. The woman responds by grabbing and twisting Bhargava’s arm, repeatedly asking her not to touch her and to speak without physical contact. Other people present intervene as tempers flare, following which police arrive at the spot and defuse the situation.
According to police officials, the gathering involved visually impaired students who had been invited for a meal as part of Christmas-related charitable outreach by members of the Christian community. The students told officials that they had been brought from a government-run hostel for lunch and prayers, and denied any attempt at religious conversion. “At this stage, there is no evidence of forced conversion. Statements of the students are being recorded,” a senior police officer said, adding that the children were safely sent back after the commotion.
Right-wing organisations have however lodged a complaint, questioning how students from a government hostel were taken to a religious site without prior intimation to authorities. They have also alleged that prayers conducted at the venue were exclusively Christian in nature and claimed that non-vegetarian food was served.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.