A Hindu nationalist group attacked a convent of Salesian nuns.
By Catholics for Catholics
In an effort to defend itself, the Christian community in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal is scheduling rallies and conventions, after a series of attacks following the recent formation of a new Hindu nationalist government.
According to a story by the Christian Post, the Bangiya Christiya Pariseva, or Bengal Christian Council, has said the get-togethers being planned would push for communal coherence, protection of constitutional rights and a sterner response to hostility toward Christians, according to UCA News.
A BCP delegation is allegedly working with Kolkata’s Archbishop, Elias Frank, on measures to construct Christian unity in the state.
On a hostile incident, on July 12, about 60 people connected to the Hindu Jagaran Manch, a Hindu nationalist group, charged into a convent run by the Salesian Sisters and threatened to tear down a chapel and cemetery under construction there, The Tablet reported.
The deputy secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, Fr. Stephen Alathara, said that such quarrels belong in courts and democratic institutions. He called for the nuns’ safety and minority communities’ constitutional standing to be upheld.
The All India Catholic Union, a lay Catholic organization, condemned the intimidation of the sisters, who had secured the necessary permits before building.
In a statement, AICU spokesman John Dayal said that worship rights are guaranteed under India’s Constitution and that nobody has authority to threaten nuns or demolish lawfully built structures.
The incident was one instance in a wider pattern of harassment against Christian institutions in several districts, Dayal said, and cited a mob member’s declaration that “your government is no more, now it is our government” as evidence of the intimidation. He linked the rise in such incidents to the BJP taking power in the state.
India: Christians were intimidated at their church service in Odhay, Ahmedabad on Easter Sunday.
— Christian Emergency Alliance (@ChristianEmerg1) April 21, 2025
Hindu nationalists entered the church, supposedly looking for anyone being forcibly converted to Christianity.
It does not appear that anyone was hurt – for that we are grateful.… pic.twitter.com/T0mg6BAKIz
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