Bajrang Dal activists vandalise school Christmas preparations in Assam
text_fields
Nalbari: Activists of a fringe outfit vandalised Christmas preparations at a school and damaged festival-related items at shops in Assam’s Nalbari district, police said on Thursday.
According to a police official, members of the group staged a protest against the celebration of Christmas in Nalbari town. The activists entered St Mary’s School in Panigaon village and vandalised preparations for the Christmas Day programme, burning banners and posters put up for the celebration.
The official said activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad Bajrang Dal raised slogans of “Jai Shree Ram” and warned the school authorities against holding Christmas celebrations on the school premises on Thursday.
Afterwards, the group went to various shops selling Christmas-related goods in Nalbari town and set fire to some items in front of shops near the Jain Mandir area, the officer added. They also entered several shopping malls and business establishments selling Christmas items and burned the goods.
Vishva Hindu Parishad Bajrang Dal Nalbari district secretary Bhaskar Deka told reporters that the group opposed Christian festivals in the area. “We do not want Christian festivals here. Trade should be limited to festival-related items of Indian origin. We do not accept doing business linked to festivals of non-Indian origin,” he said.
The police official said no first information report has been registered so far, as no complaint has been filed in connection with the incidents.
With PTI inputs