Disrupted Christmas Services in India

A spate of violent attacks marred the 2024 Christmas celebrations across India despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolling the virtues of love and harmony taught by Jesus Christ in his Christmas speech.

Attacks on Christians have been reported in several states, including Manipur, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Kerala.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Christmas celebrations hosted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) in New Delhi.

During the function, Modi gave a speech stressing the importance of strengthening the spirit of love, harmony, and brotherhood in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ. He also greeted the people during Christmas on X, posting photos and videos of himself attending the CBCI event.

However, this did not deter many organizations from disrupting the Christmas celebrations in churches, schools, public places, and even homes.

During this Christmas,  a manger or crib from a nativity scene was also destroyed by unknown miscreants in Kerala.
Following the spate of attacks, several bishops have criticized the strategy of appeasement and violence, calling it “useless.”

Bishop Yuhanon Meletius of Metropolitan of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church took a swipe on social media, saying, “There (in New Delhi), they honor the bishops and revere the crib. Here (in Kerala), they destroy the cribs.”

In Punjab, a Pentecostal pastor was attacked on accusations of trying to convert Hindus.

In Rajasthan, activists attacked teachers and students from schools that were celebrating Christmas in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

On Christmas day, in Madhya Pradesh, a Zomato (food delivery agency) employee dressed as Santa Claus was questioned by some activists. Bizarrely, the activists also released a video threatening Zomato workers.

In Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, the Sangh Parivar members barged into a house and stopped a worship service.

Violent incidents were also reported in the northeastern Manipur state, where clashes have been ongoing for 19 months. Widespread violence was reported in various parts of the state on Christmas day, with firing breaking out in Sinam Kom village in eastern Imphal.

Far away in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, a social media influencer violated the religious sanctity of Epiphany Church by recording a video in which he is chanting the name of a Hindu god using the pulpit as a background and posting it online.
With more than 1.5 million followers, the influencer drew widespread condemnation for the video. A social activist from Shillong, Angela Rangad, has filed a complaint against the influencer.

In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, in South International School, the fanatics forced school staffs to remove all the Christmas decorations.

Attacked another four schools in Ahmedabad on Dec. 24 for having Christmas celebrations.

Odisha, meanwhile, has seen a sharp spurt in the persecution of Christians. On Christmas day, two women and a man were beaten up severely for alleged conversion activities in Balasore district. Then, the women were tied to a tree and were forced to chant the names of Hindu gods and goddesses.

In another incident that took place last week before Christmas, a pastor and his pregnant wife were attacked in their church about 19 miles from the capital, Bhubaneswar, and were forced to trample on Bibles and chant the names of Hindu gods.
The video went viral and sparked outrage and disgust, respectively, against the perpetrators of this violence and the pastor for not being able to defend his faith.

In Haryana,  Christians had rented a hall for Christmas celebrations. The hall known as a dharmshala has been used for Christmas celebrations for the past 5 years. However, this time fanatics barged into the meeting and chanted thier devotional hymns and stopped the gathering despite a police presence.

In Uttarakhand state, Christians celebrated Christmas inside a house church, but fanatics came and stopped them.