In Nawada city of Bihar, a mob of far-right Hindu groups assaulted Christian community members and disrupted their prayer meeting on Sunday, September 1, accusing attendees of engaging in religious conversions.
The incident occurred when a group of Christians had gathered for a Sunday prayer at a residence. The agitated mob, wearing saffron scarves and shirts, barged into the house and interrupted the prayer. They confronted the Christian members, accusing them of attempting to manipulate Hindus and convert them.
A video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, captures the mob chanting, “Dharm Parivartan karna band karo (stop religious conversion).”
This incident is part of a series of allegations of religious conversion in the state, with Hindu right-wing organizations claiming that thousands of Hindus have been lured and converted to Christianity through allurements and false promises. Such accusations have often been wielded to justify violence against minorities in India.
Hindu groups argue that the conversions are part of a larger conspiracy involving foreign funding and organizations.
According to Delhi-based groups, the United Christian Forum reported at the end of 2023 that on average, two Christians face attacks daily in India. In a previous incident on July 5, a mob of Hindutva outfits, led by a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, attacked Christians in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur during a prayer meeting over allegations of forced religious conversion. The mob left the attendees, including women, with serious injuries, but the Mathura Gate police team arrived and arrested 20 people.
Radical Hindu nationalists, according to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), have intensified their anti-Christian activities across India, resulting in a greater number of attacks on Christians and their places of worship.
Another incident occurred on August 4, in UP’s Bareilly district, where members of the Bajrang Dal disrupted another prayer service, alleging a conversion was taking place.
According to a report released by the United Christian Forum, over 300 incidents of Christian persecution have been documented in India in just the first nine months of 2021.
While the media has incessantly focused on the repeated disruption of Muslims’ Friday prayers, Christians are also facing similar challenges with their Sunday mass gathering.
Incidents of disruption of Sunday services and even violence have been reported from Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi in the last few years.
