Agra: Days after threatening schools in Aligarh not to celebrate Christmas, or to do so at their own risk, the district administration has decided to crack down on activists of the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), issuing notices to them and asking them to fill guarantee bonds of Rs 10 lakh declaring that they will not indulge in any disruptive activities targeting schools.
Additional director general (law and order) Anand Kumar told Times of India on Tuesday: “Besides the notices, we have directed all district police chiefs of the state to ensure that the freedom of practising one’s religion, as enshrined in the Constitution, is protected at all costs and appropriate action is taken if any one tries to violate it.”
As reported by Times of India earlier, HJM activists had issued a warning to schools in Aligarh to not celebrate Christmas as they also have Hindu students. They had said “celebrating Christmas is a step towards forced conversions”.
Aligarh senior superintendent of police Rajesh Pandey said that they were issuing notices to the HJM activists under CrPC’s preventive sections 107/116 (apprehension of breach of peace and tranquility of an area) and asking them to fill bonds undertaking that they would not indulge in any activity that disrupts peace.
HJM city president Sonu Savita had said that Hindu students studying in Christian schools are “being asked to bring toys, gifts and celebrate Christmas”. He claimed that this was an easy way to “lure them to Christianity”.
Osmond Charles, former secretary of Church of Ascension in Aligarh, said that such threats show that right-wing organisations are just spreading hatred in society. He added that he has full faith in the UP police and that cops will maintain peace and not allow fringe groups to disrupt the celebrations.
Reverend Harris Yusuf, pastor of Central Methodist Church, Aligarh, said that such groups should be banned. “Being Indian citizens, we have equal rights to celebrate our festivals and we should not be targeted for being a minority,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aligarh’s newly elected BSP mayor Mohd Furkan criticized attempts of the Hindu Jagran Manch to browbeat Christian schools by issuing such threats. “They have a problem with everything, including what others eat and celebrate,” the mayor said, adding that such “elements” survive by means of their “dirty communal politics”.
Former Aligarh MP and Congress leader, Bijendra Singh, also slammed the group and demanded a ban on them. “Strict action should be taken against them as they have tried to vitiate the celebratory mood,” he said.