Vandalism and attacks on pastors and devotees during church inauguration in Bengal

According to a Hindustan Times report, a group allegedly carried out vandalism and attacked pastors and devotees, injuring them during a church inauguration ceremony in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. According to police, the incident took place on Saturday at Narayanitala in the Basanti police station area, where Bishop Subrata Chakraborty and several pastors and devotees had gathered for the inauguration ceremony.

A police official stated on Sunday that they received a complaint that 30 to 35 people barged into the church premises and attacked the people present there. Women were also allegedly attacked and told to remove their traditional 'shakha' (white bangles) before being driven out of the premises. The attackers vandalized the church cross, beat up the pastors and devotees, and smashed the mobile phones of those trying to record the incident.

According to congregation members, the attackers also threatened to stop religious activities on the premises. Police have initiated an investigation into the incident. The incident has been condemned by the Bangiya Christiya Parishad (BCP), which termed the attack an attempt to intimidate the minority community.

Harold Malik, the founding state secretary and working president of the organization, stated that this is an unprecedented incident where miscreants beat up several pastors during the inauguration ceremony in the presence of the bishop. Malik said that organized groups are taking the law into their own hands to target peaceful minorities. Due to a lack of any meaningful deterrence from the administration or the government, these attackers have become so brazen that they are torturing the clergy of established churches without any hesitation.

Weeks prior to this incident, three Christian families in the West Medinipur district had filed a police complaint stating that they were threatened and attacked by a group to force them to renounce their religion. These victim families, who had converted to Christianity about 18 months ago, also complained to the police that they were forced to participate in certain religious rituals against their will.