Police are yet to file a case against the culprits
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Members of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindutva outfit affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), thrashed three Christians over suspicion of religious conversions.
The incident occurred in Chikhali village of Pune district in Maharashtra on Thursday, media reports reaching here on Friday said.
A video of the incident has gone viral. It shows members of Bajrang Dal beating the three men black and blue.
Police are yet to file a case against the culprits, media reports said.
Thursday’s incident is not a one-off aberration. Bajrang Dal members, fuelled by their extremist ideology, have been involved in several instances of religious vigilantism and hate crimes across the country.
A report by an advocacy group, the United Christian Forum (UCF), said recently that Christians in India faced at least two attacks daily.
It said it has received reports of over 800 incidents of violence against Christians in 23 states of India.
“(This) is little over two incidents a day in a secular and democratic country,” the advocacy group said.
Out of the total incidents, 580 incidents took place in four north Indian states: Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand.
At least 147 incidents of violence against Christians occurred in 2014, the advocacy group said. It recorded 177 incidents in 2015, 208 in 2016, 240 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020, 505 in 2021, 599 in 2022, and 687 in 2023.
“In almost all incidents reported across India, vigilante mobs comprising religious extremists have been seen to either barge into a prayer gathering or round up individuals that they believe are involved in forcible religious conversions,” the group said.
