Catholic school targeted by Hindu nationalists after staging fireworks safety play before Diwali ( Crux )

MUMBAI, India – Hindu activists targeted a Catholic school in India after it staged a street play on celebrating Diwali safely.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, and is also celebrated by Sikhs and Jains. Culturally, the holiday is observed by most Indians, including Muslims and Christians.

St. Joseph’s Convent School is located in the Khandwa Diocese in the state of Madhya Pradesh. It staged its play on Oct. 21, the day before the five-day festival began.

Khandwa is a city of about 200,000 people.

The play was about environmental protection and celebrating Diwali safely. The holiday is known for its use of fireworks and experts have said their heavy use leads to extra pollutants in the air; in addition, hospitals see a marked increase of burn injuries during the days of the festival.

Hindu nationalists said the play was attacking the holiday, and on Oct. 25, protesters set off firecrackers in front of the school and threatened violent consequences if the school tried to “denigrate” another Hindu holiday.

Father Augustine Madathikunnel, the administrator of the Diocese of Khandwa, said the Hindu protesters had the “intention of provoking religious tension.”

“They gathered together bring along fire crackers and blasting it in front of the school, using slogans of abusive nature because the school children had plan to present a [street play] on bad effect of use of crackers,” he told Crux.

The school authorities denied the allegations that their children targeted the Hindu festival.

“We never intended to target anybody or any religion or its festival,” Sister Neha Mathew, the principal, told Matters India.

This story was originally published in cruxnow.com. Read the full story here