Hindus will be beaten up if they visit church: VHP
In what is said to be in retaliation of alleged closure of a Hindu temple in Meghalaya, the right wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad has warned Hindus against visiting churches during Christmas in Assam’s Barrak Valley.
In a viral video Mithu Nath, the general secretary of Cachar district unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, declared himself “outraged” by the alleged shut down of the Vivekananda Centre (part of the Ramakrishna Mission) in Christianmajority Meghalaya state capital Shillong, and said that Hindus would “not be allowed” to attend Christmas Day programmes and festivities.
“If Hindus go and visit Churches on Christmas Day, they will get brutally beaten,” warned Mr Nath in his speech amidst the slogan of “Jai Shri Ram” by his supporters. He added, “They are locking temples in Shillong and we are going and celebrating Christmas with them. This cannot happen, we will not allow this to happen.”
“If we do so (assault by Hindus) I know the headlines in newspapers the next day - ‘Gunda Dal’ has vandalised Oriental school.. but that is not our priority. We will not allow Hindus in programmes during Christmas when they are locking gates of temples in Shillong,” he said.
Addressing a crowd of around 70 people dressed in saffron and shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ repeatedly Mr Nath also said, “We accept this”, referring to claims the media twists the right-wing outfit’s name.
However, Mr Nath’s claim - that the Khasi Student Union had shut down a temple - has been denied by authorities of the Meghalaya government, who said it was the Cultural Centre (where students are taught advanced computer courses) whose gates had been closed - not locked - because of a district holiday. No temple of the Ramakrishna Mission has been shut, the official added.
Although the Christian population in the northeastern state’s Cachar district is relatively small, the Christmas is traditionally celebrated by the Oriental School at Ambikapatty near Silchar. People from various religions gather every year.