By Express News Service
CHANDIGARH/GUWAHATI: A torn down Jesus Christ statue at a church in Ambala Cantonment in Haryana on Saturday night was part of the spate of hate crimes targeting Christmas festivities across the country since Friday.
Around 1:30 am on Sunday, a statue of Jesus Christ at the entrance gate of the British-Era Holy Redeemer Church in Ambala Cantonment was torn down by two unidentified miscreants, sources said, adding the police have CCTV footage.
“A case for hurting religious sentiments and house trespass has been registered,” said Anil Kumar Station House Officer of Ambala Cantonment Police Station.
The Additional Superintendent of Police of Ambala, Pooja Dabla, said that a team is probing the act of vandalism.
At a church in Pataudi, Gurugram, Christmas Eve prayers and carols on Friday evening were disrupted by a group of right-wing activists shouting “Jai Shree Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
The activists pushed the choir off the stage, took hold of the mic and made people chant “Jai Shree Ram”.
A local pastor on condition of anonymity said: “This is an infringement of our right to pray and religion and day by day this kind of nuisance is increasing.”
The police, however, said they didn’t get any complaint.
In Assam, a gang of youth caused a ruckus during festivities on Saturday night at a Presbyterian church in Silchar in Cachar.
Local media said the youth, who had worn saffron scarfs, manhandled the crowd and beat up one person.
The gang told churchgoers that they had no issue with Christmas celebrations, only with Hindus being present.
Cachar Superintendent of Police Ramandeep Kaur called it a “small” incident.
“We have not received any complaint so far. However, legal procedures against the people involved are being undertaken,” she said.
Seven people allegedly involved in the incident have been detained so far, a senior police official said.
Cachar Superintendent of Police Ramandeep Kaur told PTI that the incident occurred during the celebration of Christmas in a field in the town on Saturday.
Some boys went to the venue and asked the Hindus present there to not participate in the celebration.
“They did not object to the Christians celebrating the occasion,’ she said.
Kaur further said police have not received a complaint against the incident, though seven youngsters have been detained in this connection.
“We are looking into the incident. We don’t have any inputs on the involvement of any group so far,” the SP added.
Locals, however, claimed that the miscreants were associated with the Bajrang Dal.
According to eyewitness reports, the boys chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and allegedly started manhandling people present at the venue.
The incident happened at around 9 pm when the venue was crowded with people.
Many people were busy taking selfies and photographs when the trouble started.
When the revellers questioned the youngsters on why they were objecting to the celebration, the boys reportedly told them that as Hindus they should be celebrating ‘Tulsi Diwas’ that coincided with Christmas.
A video uploaded on social media sites showed five to seven youth wearing saffron scarves and claiming to be from the Bajrang Dal asking the Hindus to stay away from the celebration.
The boys further said that they were not imposing any restriction on the Christians to celebrate the day, but wanted the Hindus to refrain from it.
Meanwhile, condemning the incident, Congress Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque said it was a “failure” on the part of the state government.
Khaleque said, “The chief minister is encouraging hatred campaign through his speeches at times.”
The Congress leader, however, did not elaborate on his allegation against the chief minister.
AIUDF legislator Ashraful Hussain said people should have the freedom to celebrate without any fear.
“We have seen that minority communities are often targeted during their celebrations. I think the police should remain alert to thwart such incidents,” he said.
Hussain also urged the police authorities to expedite investigations and book the culprits.
(With PTI Inputs)
