With Christmas around the corner, festivities for Christians in India have been overshadowed by reports of targeted attacks on the community by Hindutva right-wing groups. Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and other states saw mobs harassing or assaulting Christian groups during prayer meetings and carol processions. In Kerala, a group of carolling children were attacked, and some schools cancelled Christmas celebrations following Sangh Parivar instructions.
The attacks are sowing fear even as top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi are putting on a display of camaraderie. Modi is expected to take part in the Christmas service at a cathedral in the national capital.
Aside from instances of physical violence, certain states also witnessed other expressions of hatred. In Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar area, members of the Bajrang Dal, a group affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) allegedly accused a group of Christian women carollers of religious proselytisation. A video garnering attention on social media shows a kurta clad man in Odisha yelling at street vendors selling Santa Claus hats. “This is a Hindu Rashtra. We won’t tolerate Christians here,” he can be heard saying.
In yet another instance, a man who goes by the name Sri Satyanisth Arya could be seen yelling at a public event, “No Christians shall follow the Bible. Am I clear?” followed by calls of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jesus Christ is not ours, ours is Ram Bhagwan.”
In Chhattisgarh, meanwhile, a state-wide bandh was called on December 24 by the right-wing group Sarva Samaj, alleging that the state is witnessing ‘forced conversions’.
The state has seen many instances of violence against Christians this year. On December 15, a mob in Chhattisgarh allegedly created a ruckus over a tribal Christian man’s body being buried in his family’s farmland, claiming that the land belonged to a local deity. In July 2025, two Malayali nuns were arrested in the state on charges of trafficking and forced conversion. A video that surfaced at the time showed Bajrang Dal member Jyoti Sharma threatening them inside a police station.
Further south in Kerala, a group of carollers comprising children aged 15 and below were attacked by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker Ashwin Raj on December 21. Allegedly intoxicated, Ashwin destroyed the band instruments the children were playing. He was later arrested.
BJP state leader C Krishnakumar came forward justifying the incident and saying the children were a drunk “criminal gang”. Shone George, BJP state vice president, also parrotted a similar line, saying, “If the carollers are indecent, they will definitely get beaten up.”
Families of the children who were part of the carol group expressed distress over the comments. Speaking to the media, a child’s father said, “To say that students of classes 5 to 9 were drunk, how bad is that … this is Kerala, not Uttar Pradesh. It was a group of children only, there were no adults. This makes us sad.”
Protesting the attack, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is organising carols across 2,500 units in the district on December 24.
DYFI state secretary VK Sanoj said, “This is the RSS’ devious move, repeated incidents of harming the country’s secular spirit are being reported. This will not be allowed in Kerala under any circumstances, and will be met with strong opposition. It is as part of this opposition that the DYFI is organising carols across the state on Christmas eve.”
Kerala also saw reports of schools cancelling Christmas celebrations at the last minute, citing religious reasons. A school in Thiruvananthapuram allegedly cancelled celebrations and returned the Rs 60 that was collected in this regard from each child. Parents alleged that this was after the Sangh Parivar called for a boycott on Christmas celebrations, and said that no boards, streamers, or decorations should be displayed in schools for Christmas.
Following this, state Education Minister V Sivankutty issued a statement saying, “We will not allow schools to be turned into communal laboratories; strict action will follow.”
It is common practice among schools across the state run by various managements to hold Christmas celebrations before the one week’s vacation at the end of December. Sivankutty said, “Onam, Christmas, and Eid are all celebrated alike in Kerala’s schools. It is through such shared occasions that children learn to love and respect one another.”
Notably, the attacks against the carollers and the boycott of Christmas celebrations are happening even as the BJP is trying to make inroads into minority votes and cosying up to the church leadership. According to DYFI leader Sanoj, “The RSS leadership is approaching Christians with a Christmas cake in one hand and a sword in the other. But the church leadership is failing to see the sword.”
Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur alone witnessed two attacks against Christian prayer meetings, on December 20 and 22. In the first instance, which took place in the Gorakhpur region, Bharatiya Janata Party’s district vice president Anju Bhargawa assaulted Safalta Kartik, a visually impaired woman, in the presence of onlookers including children.
Safalta had earlier told Newslaundry, “[Anju Bhargawa] told me I was blind in this birth because of my past deeds and that I would be born blind again in my next life for coming to a church.”
Videos of the incident have since been circulated widely. Hindutva organisations have raised allegations of illegal conversions in the aftermath, even though police officials reportedly stated that there were no attempts of “forced conversion”.
Between January 1, 2020, and July 15, 2025, a total of 283 cases were registered across the state under its ‘anti-conversion’ law named The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. Of these 197 cases, nearly 70% are still pending in various courts. In the remaining 86 cases where trials have concluded or settlements have been reached, the numbers tell a story of collapsing prosecutions: 50 acquittals, just 7 convictions, and one case that ended in a mutual compromise.
Senior advocate and Human Rights Law Network founder Colin Gonsalves said, “The anti-conversion laws give the police and right-wing groups like the Bajrang Dal a cover for attacking Christians.”
Colin also referenced a petition filed in the Supreme Court against attack on pastors in 2022. “The FIRs on forced conversion are invariably filed by right wing groups who later go into the church and beat up the pastor. To avoid arrest or violence, the pastor then has no option but to agree to not proceed with the Sunday prayer meetings. These groups use the cover of the law, support of the police and the trial never begins. There is never an order convicting any pastor but the case stops at the threat,” he said.
“Though not all, many judges are on the side of the BJP. That is why our case of 600 Christians being attacked in prayer meetings has been lying in the cold storage for four years. If these attackers feel that the court is not going to interfere, communalism will spread like wild fire,” he concluded.
CBCI expresses concern
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) expressed anguish at “the alarming rise in attacks on Christians in various states of our country during the Christmas season.” In a statement released on December 23, they said, “These targeted incidents, especially against peaceful carol singers and congregations gathered in churches to pray, gravely undermine India’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and the right to live and worship without fear.”
Addressing the violence in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the CBCI said, “In light of such egregious and dehumanizing conduct, the CBCI demands the immediate dismissal of Anju Bhargava from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Equally disturbing is the circulation of hate-filled digital posters in Chhattisgarh, reportedly calling for a bandh on December 24 against Christians, which can inflame tensions and incite further violence.”
It urged both state governments and the Union government to “take urgent, visible action against all individuals and organisations spreading hatred and violence.” Notably, the CBCI had earlier hosted Vice President CP Radhakrishnan at their annual Christmas dinner.