Attack on children’s Christmas carol draws protests across the State

An attack on a children’s Christmas carol allegedly by a Sangh Parivar activist at Kalandithara, Pudussery, in Palakkad on Sunday night drew widespread protests across the State on Tuesday.

The police arrested Aswin Raj, reportedly a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, for assaulting the children who were part of the carol group and damaging their musical instruments. In protest, activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) organised some 2,500 protest carols across the district.  

The DYFI challenged the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to disrupt the protest carols, warning of a befitting response.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed senior BJP leaders for their disparaging remarks against the carollers and said strict action was taken against the attacker. 

Mr. Vijayan said reports were already available about outfits supporting the RSS forcing some private schools to call off Christmas celebrations, following which some schools returned the money collected from students for the conduct of the celebrations. He said an inquiry was under way into such incidents. “People who prevent celebrations and demonstrate religious discrimination have been warned about consequences,” he added.

The Chief Minister said the fact that such forces were rearing their head in Kerala was being viewed seriously.

Earlier, BJP State vice-presidents C. Krishnakumar and Shone George justified the attack, with Mr. Krishnakumar blaming the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for organising the carol. They alleged that the carollers were all inebriated and were attempting to foment trouble. Mr. George said it was an ‘indecent’ carol and it was only natural that the participants got beaten up. 

Palakkad Bishop Mar Peter Kochupurackal condemned the attack and hoped that those responsible would handle the matter legally.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the attack on a Christmas carol group consisting of schoolchildren was “the backwash of a wave of attacks on Christians in BJP-ruled north Indian States” during the festival season. 

He joined a chorus of Left Democratic Front (LDF) leaders, including General Education Minister V. Sivankutty and Local Self-Government Minister M.B. Rajesh, who condemned the Sangh Parivar for “othering” Christians in the State, including threatening school managements to call off Christmas celebrations. 

He underscored the “dichotomy” in the BJP’s outreach towards the Church in Kerala while Sangh Parivar workers stormed Christian religious groupings and vandalised Christmas merchandise and decorations in States like Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Odisha. 

He said the BJP’s overtures to the Church in the State were like that of “a wolf in a sheep’s skin, if the persecution of Christians in RSS-controlled States were anything to go by.”