Catholic Youth harassed in central India during youth convention

Hindu fundamentalist groups in India harassed a group of youth as they were on their way to attend a Diocesan Catholic Youth Convention event on October 3. 

The incident occurred in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, which has seen a spate of anti-Christian activity over the past few years.

A vehicle ferrying a group of tribal Catholic Youth was harassed as they were going to the convention organized at Saint Pius School in Khandwa, a city of around 20,000 people.

According to the eyewitnesses, the anti-religious group stopped the vehicle, alleging they were being taken to school to force religious conversion. However, this was a baseless and false accusation.

The Diocese of Khandwa was organizing a youth convention from October 2 to 5. Young people from different parishes were arriving at the venue. Two buses were stopped by Hindu nationalist or right-wing groups such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Bajrang Dal activists. They also raised false allegations about conversion.

The young people were taken to the convention with proper consent from their parents and parish priest. 

The police took the bus and the youth to the police station without any information. The police forced the diocese to cancel all the programs of the convention.

The Hindu right-wing groups said the program at the school was being organized without permission and called the police to the venue.

The priest in charge of the program said only Catholic children had been invited and efforts to seek permission from the authorities were unnecessary.

The police said they are investigating the incident.

Madya Pradesh is over 90 percent Hindu and Christian, with just 0.3 percent of the population. Christians form 2.3 percent of India’s total population.

The Madhya Pradesh State is ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is why the state passed a Religious Freedom Bill last year. 

The Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) on the very next day condemned the attack on children during the proposed youth convention in Khandwa, Madya Pradesh. 

They will observe Black Day on October 7 as a protest against the incident that happened to the youth in the Khandwa diocese.

ICYM requested all the regional and diocesan teams to observe Black Day too in their respective dioceses by wearing black dresses on that day or a black ribbon to fight this step-brotherly treatment from some anti-religious groups. - Tungthang Zou