Guwahati:
Hindus who visit churches to participate in Christmas celebrations will be “beaten,” declared a leader of the right-wing group Bajrang Dal, amid strident shouts of “Jai Shri Ram“- at an event in Silchar in Assam’s Cachar district earlier this week.
In a video that has circulated widely online, Mithu Nath, the secretary general of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad district unit (the parent body of Bajrang Dal), declared himself “outraged” by the alleged closure of the Vivekananda Center (part of the Ramakrishna Mission) in Shillong, capital of the Christian-majority Meghalaya state, and said Hindus “could not” attend Christmas Day programs and festivities.
“Hindus (who visit churches) will be beaten because I insult the Hindus who would go and party at a Christian function after our places of worship closed. No Hindus will go to church this Christmas. We will make sure of it,” Mithu Nath was quoted in the video.
“If we do (we raid Hindus), I know the headlines in the newspapers the next day:” Gunda Dal “has destroyed the oriental school … but that is not our priority. We will not allow Hindus to participate in programs during the Christmas when temple doors close in Shillong, “he said.
Addressing a crowd of about 70 people dressed in saffron and yelling “Jai Shri RamNath also repeatedly said, “We accept this,” referring to claims by the media that twist the name of the right-wing group.
Nath’s claim – that the Khasi Student Union had closed a “temple” – has been denied by a senior Meghalaya government official, who said it was the Cultural Center (where students take advanced computer courses) whose doors they had been closed. not blocked – due to a district holiday. No temple in the Ramakrishna Mission had been closed, the official added.
Although the Christian population in the Cachar district of the northeastern state is relatively small, the holiday is also traditionally celebrated (with much grandeur and reverence) by the Oriental School at Ambikapatty near Silchar. People of various faiths meet here every year.
The Bajrang Dal, the aggressive youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, consider themselves “protectors of the Hindu way of life” and enjoyed considerable influence in the Barak Valley region of Cachar district for several years.
In his inflammatory speech, Mithu Nath also criticized “love jihad”, the right-wing conspiracy theory that Muslim men enter into relationships with Hindu women to convert them by force, and stated that Bajrang Dal would accept any criticism to “protect our mothers”. and daughters. “
“People call us ‘Gunda Dal’ but if these criticisms are the price to pay for protecting our mothers and daughters from being dragged down the wrong path, we are happy to pay,” he said.
Although “love jihad” is a term not recognized by the center, several BJP-ruled states have stoked fear on this issue in recent weeks, with Assam’s Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma among those who will speak on the subject before of the elections to the Assembly of the next year.
At the end of his speech, to cover his bases in case of violence, Nath also advised attendees to stay “within the scope of the law.”
“Do what you need to protect our religion but within the scope of the law. Do not take law and order in your hands (but) do what you need to protect our religion. We are the last hope,” he said.
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