Gurugram: Members of Hindutva outfits disrupted a Christmas celebration event in Rohtak’s Shiv Punjabi Dharamshala, where retired professional wrestler Khali had been invited as the chief guest.
Even before the event began, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal created a ruckus at the venue, alleging that the hidden agenda behind the event was to “lure” people towards Christianity.
The protesters began reciting the Hanuman Chalisa on the stage and forced the attendees to leave. Eventually, the police were called. But the organisers had to leave the venue leaving their arrangements of decorations and food behind.
Sunny Hindu, who claimed to be a member of the VHP, said that the event at Shiv Dharamshala was not about celebrating Christmas, but about luring people on the pretext of healing and financial benefits to convince them to convert. He said, “Everyone has the right to celebrate the festivals linked to their faith, but public spaces should not be used for it. If they want to hold such events, they should do so in their churches, not in a Shiv Dharamshala.”
Sushma Sanatani, another Hindutva activist, accused the organisers of misleading people, particularly women, by claiming that they would be healed of their illnesses after attending the event. She alleged that the motive was to increase the size of their community by converting gullible individuals with promises of monetary incentives.
Manmohan Azad, president of the Shiv Punjabi Dharamshala, told ThePrint over the phone that the organiser of the event, Apostle Parveen Singh, had booked the venue well in advance by making the necessary payment.
“Several participants had arrived from Rohtak and far-off places to celebrate Christmas. However, suddenly a number of men and women claiming to be members of VHP and Bajrang Dal arrived and started causing a ruckus. The police also arrived later, but they seemed hand in glove with the miscreants. The members of the Hindutva outfits started arguing with me, asking why I rented out the dharamshala, which has the name of Lord Shiva, to members of another religion,” he said.
Azad further alleged that they would have attacked him had the workers at the dharamshala not intervened. He also accused the police of remaining a mute spectator, when he was being attacked.
He said that he was shocked at how celebrating one’s festivals has become difficult over the past decade.
“The government declares a holiday on Christmas day. It is celebrated with such fanfare in hotels, and even in schools, but here we have people, often seen with politicians from the ruling party in the town, who are not allowing a celebratory function to be held,” he added.
Apostle Parveen Singh, the organiser, told ThePrint that the event was planned well in advance, with posters and hoardings installed at all prominent places in Rohtak.
“Our people had travelled a long way for the event and preparations were underway. We had made arrangements for dinner and for snacks to be served throughout the day. But they warned our people—many of whom were women—of dire consequences if they stayed there, and forced them to leave,” Singh alleged.
He said that Khali had already arrived in Rohtak, and he was then taken to the church, where the event was eventually held, but the people of the Hindutva groups arrived there, too, threatening them to conclude the event soon.
Over Rs 8.5 lakh had been spent on the event, but the people were not even allowed to eat food or snacks at the dharamshala, he said. “I asked the cops—don’t we live in a free country, where everyone has the right to profess their religion? But they didn’t offer any response.”
The area housing the venue falls under the jurisdiction of Rohtak’s Old Sabji Mandi Police Station. Speaking to ThePrint, Ravinder Singh, the station house officer, denied Singh’s allegations, and said that the police had stopped the event after a protest by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists.
“I went to the dharamshala after the ruckus started. I asked the organiser about the permission for the event, but they didn’t have it. The permission that they had mentioned the venue of the event as Mela Ground. Therefore, I told them that the police would not allow the event, as people were protesting against it,” the SHO said.
The usual hypocrisy. Beg for christian votes in Kerala and north east , bash christians everywhere else. Modi will hug the pope while whipping the same christians here. Beware of such cunning snakes.
The Indian government must realise the threat to national security posed by such widespread Christian conversions in a sensitive border state like Punjab. Even Haryana is a matter of concern.
The Sikh religious authorities like the Pach Pyare, the SGPC and the political parties espousing the cause of Sikhs like the Akali Dal must wake up before it’s too late. The various Deras active in Punjab with their babas too must close ranks to ensure that Punjab does not end up with a sizeable Christian minority.
In a sensitive border state like Punjab with a very painful history, this might light a fire impossible to extinguish.
Good news indeed. Finally, Hindu organisations are waking up to the grave danger posed by Christian missionary activity in Punjab and Haryana.
Of late, Christian missionaries have become highly active in these two states and have successfully converted thousands of Sikhs and Hindus. It’s time Sikh institutions such as the SGPC and Akalis join hands with Hindu organisations like the Bajrang Dal and VHP and counter Christian missionary activity.
Otherwise, Punjab and Haryana will end up being Christian majority states.
One only has to look at the north-eastern states to understand what happens when a state becomes Christian majority.
For example, in Nagaland, the state govt never tables bills/laws in the legislature without the prior consent and approval from the various Naga churches. The same applies to Meghalaya and Mizoram as well.
Yes.. Shekar Gupta @the Print and there writers – First don’t forget you are a running news in India and don’t try to infuse narrative’s which you get from the American and UK agents who are sitting outside – Via Rand Organisation, Ford Foundation, OCCRP, NYT, Wall street Journal, BBC News, (his full name) and how we can forget Open Society foundation and others.
One day your left ecosystem (which is outside) and the echo chambers (who are within India from media, newspapers, YouTube channels and others) – will become irrelevant like Pakistan has become –