Hindu group threatens Kerala school over Xmas celebrations

Palakkad/Kerala: Three workers of the Hindu right-wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have been arrested for threatening teachers of a government school in Kerala's Palakkad over Christmas celebrations, police officers said on Sunday.

K Anilkumar, V Susasanan, and K Velayudhan- all three are main office bearers of the Sangh Parivar affiliated organisation in Palakkad district- were arrested under non-bailable charges by the Chittoor Police in connection with the incident that occurred on Friday at Palakkad's Nallepilly Government Upper Primary School.

According to the complaint filed by school authorities, the trio allegedly disrupted the school's Christmas celebrations, questioning teachers and students about their attire for the Christmas carol and verbally abusing the teachers in front of the students. They told the school authorities that it is the "Sri Krishna Jayanthi" that should be celebrated instead of Christmas.

"The three persons were arrested on Saturday after booking them under charges of disrupting the duty of public servants and threatening," a top police officer said.

The accused were later produced before a court and have been remanded to judicial custody, the officer added.

VHP, a controversial right-wing extremist organisation, had interfered in similar celebrations in the past, too. Such interferences are mostly noted in the Hindi heartland of north India. In 2022, VHP wrote Madhya Pradesh schools, demanding them not to make Hindu children Santa Claus during Christmas celebrations.

This was after the group learned that students were being made Santas, and they were asked to bring Christmas trees as part of the celebrations.

The VHP letter to schools read, "This is an attack on our Hindu culture, it is a conspiracy to inspire Hindu children to Christianity."