NEW DELHI — Ever since the BJP has formed government in Odisha, the state’s tribals, Muslims and Christians have been targeted continuously, said All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP, a day after the Odisha pastor attack drew widespread attention.
In a post on X, Owaisi said, “In short ‘jungle raj’ has arrived. If you want to know what happens next, look at the news from BJP-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh: a Hindu-Muslim couple was murdered in Moradabad, the govt wanted to withdraw the case against Akhlaq’s murderers & a judge who ordered an FIR against police officers connected to the Sambal violence was transferred.”
A Christian pastor in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district was brutally assaulted, publicly humiliated and allegedly forced to consume cow dung by a Hindu mob after a prayer meeting, on suspicion of religious conversion on January 4, 2026 in Parjang village — a predominantly Hindu community where only a handful of Christian families reside.
The attackers allegedly garlanded him with slippers, applied vermilion on his forehead and paraded him through the village. The family also claimed that the mob forced the pastor to bow in front of a temple before handing him over to the police.
Although the incident took place on July 4 under the Parjang police station limits, it came to light recently after police registered a case after repeated appeals by tthe pastor’s wife.
Reacting to the incident, Owaisi said, “The mob attack on the pastor in Odisha is only one of several incidents. Ever since the BJP has formed government in Odisha, the state’s tribals, Muslims and Christians have been targeted continuously. Multiple Bengali Muslim street vendors have been beaten up & threatened.”
