New Delhi (India), December 24 (HBTV): The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has expressed deep anguish and condemned ‘in the strongest possible terms’ the reported rise in attacks on Christians across several states during the Christmas season, citing recent incidents including two consecutive disruptions of prayer meetings in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur.
‘These targeted incidents, especially against peaceful carol singers and congregations gathered in churches to pray, gravely undermine India’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and the right to live and worship without fear,’ the CBCI said in a press statement.
On Monday, December 22, a Catholic prayer meeting in Jabalpur’s Shakti Nagar area was disrupted by a group of people who alleged religious conversion, a charge the organisers denied.
The incident followed a similar disruption on Saturday, December 20, in the Gorakhpur area of the city. A video circulating on social media showed a visually impaired member of a church prayer meeting being verbally abused in the presence of children. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s city vice president, Anju Bhargava, was seen assaulting the woman, triggering a communal controversy in the state.
In the video, Bhargava is seen twisting the woman’s arm and grabbing her face. As the woman asks Bhargava to speak to her instead of assaulting her, the BJP leader is heard saying that the woman ‘will be blind in her next birth too’. A police officer is also visible in the footage, standing nearby and asking those present to be quiet.
Condemning the incident, the CBCI said it was ‘shocked’ by the video and by reports of ‘anti-national groups disrupting Christmas gatherings’.
A police officer was quoted by The Indian Express as saying there was ‘no evidence of forced conversion’. Despite this, Hindutva organisations reportedly lodged a complaint with the police, questioning how students from a government hostel were taken to a religious site.
‘In light of such egregious and dehumanising conduct, the CBCI demands the immediate dismissal of Anju Bhargava from the Bharatiya Janata Party,’ the organisation said.
The CBCI also condemned another incident in Chhattisgarh, where ‘hate-filled’ digital posters allegedly calling for a bandh against Christians on December 24 were circulated. Describing this as ‘disturbing’, the body said such actions could ‘inflame tensions and incite further violence’.
The conference urged state governments and the Union government to take urgent and visible action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred and violence. It also appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ‘ensure strict enforcement of law and proactive protection for Christian communities so that the joyful festival of Christmas may be celebrated peacefully, in an atmosphere of security and harmony, across our beloved nation’.
The United Christian Forum (UCF) has also written to the home minister seeking immediate intervention, including the cancellation of the proposed bandh in Chhattisgarh.
Similar incidents have been reported from other states as well. In Kerala’s Palakkad district, police on Sunday, December 21, reportedly arrested a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker in connection with an attack on a Christmas carol group. The group included children aged between 10 and 15 years who were conducting a house-to-house carol performance.
The reported incidents have raised concerns over communal intolerance during the festive season.
According to the UCF, 834 incidents of violence against Christians were recorded in 2024, averaging 69.5 incidents per month. As of November 2025, the organisation said it had documented 706 incidents during the year targeting Christians or people with faith in Jesus Christ.
Allegations of fraudulent religious conversion were cited as the most common trigger for these attacks, with Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest number of incidents, according to the UCF.
(The Wire)