Opposition leaders, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, on Thursday (April 3, 2025) slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over an alleged attack on Christian priests in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
Opposition members from the Congress and other parties also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and raised slogans. They staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha after their demand for a discussion was turned down by Speaker Om Birla. Later, Congress MPs led by Mr. Venugopal also staged a protest inside Parliament.
According to the Jabalpur Police, the incident took place on March 31 inside the Ranjhi Police Station premises when the officers were inquiring about allegations by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) about “forced religious conversion” of tribal people from neighbouring Mandla district.
Jabalpur Superintendent of Police Sampat Upadhyay told The Hindu that an FIR against three unknown persons has been filed, and the police are recording statements of witnesses at the moment.
Viral video
He said that on March 31, a bus carrying a group of locals from Mandla’s Maharajpur as well as a priest and a nun was visiting churches in the city. Members of some local outfits reported it to the police on suspicion of religious conversion.
“The bus was traced and brought to the police station. During the verification, the people in the bus claimed that they were Christians but had Hindu identities in their documents,” he said, adding that the bus and its passengers were allowed to go after the verification.
The alleged incident involved two Christian priests from Jabalpur who had come to the police station and members of Hindu outfits, with purported videos going viral on internet.
In one of the videos, a woman is seen slapping a priest as he is being escorted to safety by police personnel.
Police deny assault
However, Mr. Upadhyay denied that the priests were assaulted. “There were some arguments between the two sides, which led to pushing,” he said, claiming that it was difficult to ascertain that they were priests as they “donned regular clothes.”
Slamming the incident in a statement, Mr. Vijayan said that the priests hailed from Kerala and that they had gone to the station to help the tribals but were “beaten up as police watched.”
Terming the act as “extremely heinous,” he said, “The increasing communal attacks in India are a threat to peaceful life and the general progress of the country. They should refrain from actions that spread hatred and create unrest in society. Those responsible are still not ready to find a permanent solution to the conflicts that have occurred, including in Manipur. This, in turn, is leading to an increase in attacks on religious minorities. The state government and the Union government should be ready to provide all possible assistance to the victims of the attack in Jabalpur and take appropriate legal action against the attackers.”
Mr. Venugopal claimed that the incident was “another example” of how the “BJP government and Sangh Parivar are attacking the minorities.
“In the last year, 753 churches have been attacked by the RSS and Sangh Parivar. The government is not taking any action,” he told reporters in the Parliament premises.
“MPs from Kerala and other places protested inside the Parliament. We moved an adjournment motion to discuss all these things, but the Speaker did not allow it. We walked out of the Parliament and are demonstrating on this issue,” Mr. Venugopal said.
Aarti Shukla, VHP district coordinator, had alleged on March 31 that the tribal men and women had been “forcibly” brought from Mandla for religious conversion.
“You can see their dressing and lifestyle; it’s all Hindu style. I can claim that they are Hindus and have been lured here with force and threats to convert them,” she had said.
Meanwhile, later (on Thursday) in an X post, Mr. Vijayan said, “The growing communal violence is a dangerous assault on India’s secular fabric, threatening the nation’s core values. The Union Government’s inaction and complicity embolden the attackers and tarnish the country’s image globally. Immediate action must be taken against those responsible. Kerala stands firmly with the victims.”
Published – April 04, 2025 06:19 am IST
