Hindutva activists allegedly barged into a school in Pataudi town of Haryana’s Gurugram district on Friday and disrupted prayers on Christmas eve.
In one of the videos, a man is seen telling a group of children: “We do not disrespect Jesus…But I want to tell these children, the next generation, that do not get lured by any religion, or else India’s culture will get destroyed. You need to take resolution to protect it…Take that resolution and chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
In another video, a group of men is seen chanting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans.
The man who was seen on stage was identified as Ram Pradeep Pandey, a resident of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Pandey told Scroll.in that he along with 15 to 20 others reached the school after someone called him alleging that religious conversions were happening there.
Pandey claimed that he saw “problematic signs…a poster about Christmas” at the event in the school. He said that the group initially observed the event for the next half-an-hour, during which a play and a dance celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ were held.
“They [kids] have a delicate mind,” Pandey told Scroll.in. “When this happens their allegiance towards Bhagavad Gita, Ram and Ramayan ends. After which we thought they were doing religious conversion. We asked them to stop. When they didn’t listen we took to the stage and shouted slogans of Jai Shri Ram.”
After his speech, Pandey claimed that the school authorities ended the programme.
Station House Officer, Pataudi Police Station told Scroll.in that the incident happened at a local school and not a church as reported earlier. “Someone was running a school and their neighbour asked them for a space for a Christmas celebration,” the officer said. “He rented it out.”
The police verified the authenticity of one of the videos of the incident after it went viral. “It seems the group was told this was only a Christmas celebration and they returned thereafter,” the police officer added. “No complaint has been filed. Everything is peaceful.”
A local pastor told PTI that the incident was scary as women and children were present.
“The nuisance is increasing with each passing day…It is an infringement of our right to pray and religion,” the pastor said.
The incident came amid an ongoing row about Hindutva groups disrupting offering of namaz in public places in Gurugram. They have repeatedly blocked Muslims from gathering for Friday prayers in Gurugram for over three months now.
Giving in to demands of the Hindutva groups, the Gurugram district administration, in the last three months, has withdrawn permission for offering namaz at eight out of 37 public spaces that were designated for prayers.
This story first appeared on scroll.in