AMBALA/SILCHAR: Two intruders in Haryana vandalised Ambala’s heritage Holy Redeemer Church early on Sunday and allegedly desecrated Jesus Christ’s statue, according to a CCTV footage that shows the unidentified duo loitering inside the British-built shrine for more than an hour past midnight.
In Assam’s Barak Valley district of Cachar, a group of young men claiming to be Bajrang Dal activists, barged into a Silchar church during Yuletide prayers on Saturday night and demanded that the Hindus present there leave immediately. The youths, wearing saffron scarves, allegedly said the Hindus inside the church should instead have been celebrating “Tulsi Diwas” that coincides with Christmas. Once the Presbyterian Church was cleared of Hindus attending the evening prayer, the group shut the gate and allegedly manhandled those who objected to it, sources said. A local Bajrang Dal functionary later said the youths were merely trying to prevent crowding inside the church because of the risk of Covid. Cachar SP Ramandeep Kaur said seven suspects had been detained.
The Ambala intrusion was Haryana’s third such incident in the span of a day after suspected right-wing activists disrupted Christmas-related events at a school in Gurgaon’s Pataudi and inside a public hall in Kurukshetra. Punjab police registered a case against the duo based on a complaint by Father Patras Mundu of Holy Redeemer Church. “Around 12.30am, two suspects entered the church by jumping over the gate. They roamed around, vandalised electric lighting and around 1.40am, desecrated the statue of Christ…our religious sentiments are hurt. In the CCTV footage, it is very obvious that this has been done intentionally,” the complaint states. Haryana home minister Anil Vij said the police would soon arrest the culprits.
In Assam’s Barak Valley district of Cachar, a group of young men claiming to be Bajrang Dal activists, barged into a Silchar church during Yuletide prayers on Saturday night and demanded that the Hindus present there leave immediately. The youths, wearing saffron scarves, allegedly said the Hindus inside the church should instead have been celebrating “Tulsi Diwas” that coincides with Christmas. Once the Presbyterian Church was cleared of Hindus attending the evening prayer, the group shut the gate and allegedly manhandled those who objected to it, sources said. A local Bajrang Dal functionary later said the youths were merely trying to prevent crowding inside the church because of the risk of Covid. Cachar SP Ramandeep Kaur said seven suspects had been detained.
The Ambala intrusion was Haryana’s third such incident in the span of a day after suspected right-wing activists disrupted Christmas-related events at a school in Gurgaon’s Pataudi and inside a public hall in Kurukshetra. Punjab police registered a case against the duo based on a complaint by Father Patras Mundu of Holy Redeemer Church. “Around 12.30am, two suspects entered the church by jumping over the gate. They roamed around, vandalised electric lighting and around 1.40am, desecrated the statue of Christ…our religious sentiments are hurt. In the CCTV footage, it is very obvious that this has been done intentionally,” the complaint states. Haryana home minister Anil Vij said the police would soon arrest the culprits.
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