The coverage of Christmas being celebrated by Christians living in Pakistan and India this year could not be more stark. Dozens of incidents of men from Hindu nationalist groups like the RSS and VHP harassing fellow Indian Christians celebrating Christmas were posted on Twitter/X, and these were from all over India, mostly from states ruled by the BJP.

Christian communities in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (several cities and towns), Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Odisha reported assaults on carollers, harassment of vendors selling Christmas items, and disruption of church events. In Assam, police arrested four people connected to an attack on Christmas celebrations at a Catholic school.

In India’s capital, New Delhi, Christian women wearing Santa Claus caps and distributing pamphlets were intimidated by Hindu men who accused them of proselytisation and aggressively asked them to leave. In Chhattisgarh, a Hindu nationalist group ransacked Christmas-related displays and props at a mall in the city of Raipur. Videos of all these attacks and disruptions have been widely shared on social media, especially Twitter/X. Only in a few cases have police made any arrests, and in several instances, police stood by as virtual onlookers.

Many such cases also involved groups of Hindu men singing bhajans and dancing outside churches in an attempt to harass and intimidate those celebrating their own festival inside. This prompted even some sensible Indians to comment that such actions only serve to expose the ignorance of Hindu nationalist groups,........

© The Friday Times