Ahmedabad: Bajrang Dal, VHP Members Storm Easter Event Claiming 'Conversion'
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Members of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) disrupted an Easter congregation at a private hall in Ahmedabad's Odhav locality on the morning of April 21, claiming that religious conversions were taking place there.
Videos circulating on social media later in the day showed several individuals at the event wielding sticks and chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans. Around 100 people had gathered to celebrate the festival.
Several Congress leaders including Shama Mohamed posted the videos, decrying the action.
According to police quoted by Indian Express, the group questioned attendees about their faith and demanded to know how many were Hindus.
After police were called, representatives from both sides were taken to the police station for inquiry, it was reported. A Bajrang Dal representative, Darshan Joshi, and a member of the Christian community have both lodged complaints, police told the paper. Both are being investigated. However, P.N. Zinzuvadia, who is inspector of Odhav police station, told the paper that police have not found any evidence to support Bajrang Dal's "conversion" claim.
Earlier this year, data released by the United Christian Forum (UCF) said that 2024 witnessed 834 incidents where Christians had been attacked, up 100 incidents from 734 in 2023.
As The Wire has previously reported, there has been a sharp increase in the number of such incidents since 2014, when the BJP under Narendra Modi first formed the Union government.
A recent series of reports by Omar Rashid for The Wire has highlighted how Hindutva activists have filed false conversion cases against people from marginalised castes who choose to follow the Christian faith.
In April, a fact-finding team of lawyers and activists allegedly found that a church had been desecrated, that priests and children were assaulted with lathis, and women were molested in and around Juba village of Odisha when police conducted a raid to curb marijuana cultivation.
This article went live on April twenty-first, two thousand twenty five, at fifty-six minutes past nine in the morning.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.