In lord's name, bullying BD men swoop on Christian school

In lord's name, bullying BD men swoop on Christian school
BASHIR PATHAN

GANDHINAGAR, JULY 4: Barely 24 hours after the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh national executive adopted a resolution disowning the attacks on Christians by the Sangh Parivar, a group of Bajrang Dal activists barged into the St Xavier's School here on Monday and attempted to drive students out of the school to participate in the Rathyatra in Gujarat's Capital.

While the Rathyatra organised by local Hindu organisations was winding its way through Sector 8 where the school is located, as many as six Bajrang Dal activists with `kirpans' with saffron straps came to the school on motorbikes.

They ordered the school supervisor R Parmar `set free students so that they will have a darshan of Lord Jagannath and participate in the rath yatra'. However, Parmar informed the Parivar activists that since the school authorities had already decided to curtail two periods for the higher classes for the day, they should not insist for the closure of the school.

As the Bajrang Dal volunteers were having heated arguments with the school supervisor, the school bell rang as scheduled earlier by the school authorities, allowing the students of secondary and higher secondary sections to go home. However, the BD activists stay put in the school building and insisted that the students of primary section should also be set free for the rath yatra, he said.

But, Parmar did not concede their demand and told them that "the school authorities cannot run a risk of releasing the primary students before the school hours, as the parents themselves come to the school everyday to fetch them". This appeared to convince the Sangh Parivar workers. But before leaving they issued a stern warning to the supervisor - "we want this school to be closed down on the rath yatra day next year".

Principal Father Hector Pinto was not present in the school when the incident took place. He had gone to a private clinic for his eye check-up. When he returned to the school minutes after the BD activists fled on their motorbikes, Parmar narrated the whole episode to him. Apprehending the trouble, the principal rang up his counterpart of the Mount Carmel School Sister Prescilla, forewarning her about Bajrang Dal episode. Acting swiftly, the Sister contacted District Collector S J Haider and DSP E Radhakrishna and requested them to provide adequate police bandobust at her school located in Sector 21, the next route of the religious procession. The DSP responded to her plea immediately and rushed a posse of cops to stand guard at the main gate of the missionary school. Besides, the DSP instructed the police escorting the rath yatra to be on strict vigil.

The Sister said, "though the troublemakers did not visit our school, we had to lock the main gates of the institute to avoid any trouble. Moreover, we cancelled the regular PT (physical training) period on the school grounds as a precautionary measure".

Father Hector Pinto recalled that his school had become a target of Sangh Parivar activists last year, too, when the school was closed on the protest day in response to the nationwide call given by the various Christian organisations against the attacks on the community members and their institutions. The school authorities had to seek the police protection, when Parivar volunteers had made a vain bid to get the school opened.