Catholic youth convention disrupted in central India

By Matters India Reporter

Khandwa, Oct 5, 2022: Khandwa diocese in central India has called off its three-day annual youth convention after right wing Hindu activists waylaid vehicles carrying the participants alleging that the program was for religious conversion.

The diocese in Madhya Pradesh state has been holding the convention for past several years. This year program was scheduled for October 3-5 at St Pious School in Khandwa town, the district headquarters.

“The event was cancelled after the allegation of religious conversion,” Father Jayan Alex, the public relation officer of the diocese, told Matters India October 5.

The priest also said the rightwing Hindu activists also stopped the vehicles in carrying the participants near the school and summoned police alleging the young people were brought there for religious conversion.

“The diocese organizes similar programs every year to improve the personality of our youths and teach them other career skills and patriotism among other things,” Father Alex explained.

“This year we made arrangements for 450 young people as we could not organize it in the past two years on account of the pandemic,” he added.

Some 200 participants had already reached the town and the rest were on their way when the Hindu activists created the ruckus, the priest said.

They were later taken to the office of the district education officer where their statements were recorded and allowed to go home after finding no fault in them.

The students in their statements said that they were children of Catholic parents and did not come there for any religious conversion activity as was alleged. “Finally they were let off,” Father Alex said.

The priest demanded exemplary punishment to those who hindered the convention without any credible proof, so that there should be no repetition of such incidents.

“The diocese will organize the convention at a convenient time in future,” he added.

Father Maria Stephan, the public relation officer of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, deplored what he termed as a targeted attack on the Christians in the state and spreading false narratives against Christians.

“This is not the first such incident happening in the state. On several occasions right wing Hindu activists targeted Christians and their institutions on the plea of religious conversion taking advantage of the state’s stringent anti-conversion law,” Father Stephan told Matters India on October 5.

Father Stephan appealed the state government to punish those involved in creating trouble for Christians in Khandwa and other such incidents in the past.

The priest also questioned the logic behind attacking miniscule Christians on the allegation of religious conversion saying, “Christians are just 0.29 percent of the more than 71 million people in the state.”

He urged those opposed to Christians to “check their facts before attacking us.”