• On Easter Sunday, Hindutva thugs disrupted a Christian prayer gathering in Ahmedabad, chanting Hindu slogans & brandishing sticks at attendees.
• The incident highlights how Hindutva groups use the “conversion” narrative to fuel religious intolerance and intimidate minority communities across India.
On Sunday, members of the far‑right extremist Hindu fractions Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) stormed a private Easter prayer gathering in Ahmedabad’s Odhav district, wielding sticks and accusing worshippers of orchestrating ‘religious conversions’.
Eyewitness videos circulating online capture the thugs chanting “Jai Shree Ram” and “Har Har Mahadev” as they forced their way into the Vimal Park Society hall, where around 100 people had assembled for the service.
Both groups are closely tied to the fascistic and radical Hindutva movement and are loosely affiliated with the RSS, the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP. They have long targeted Christian and Muslim minorities over alleged conversions. The incident has further heightened fears regarding the rising tide of Hindu Supremacy and intimidation tactics occurring across India.
Inspector Pratik Zinzuvadia confirmed that the intruding thugs confronted attendees—many of them women—demanding to know their religion and accusing the organisers of conducting “illegal conversions”. Police swiftly restored order and escorted both sides to the local station, where written complaints were filed. Bajrang Dal’s local representative, Darshan Joshi, lodged a statement seeking an inquiry into “religious conversion,” but officers later reported finding no evidence to substantiate those claims. The narrative of ‘religious conversions’ is frequently employed by Hindutva extremists to mask a broader supremacist agenda—one that
fuels religious intolerance and falsely accuses minority communities of coercing others into converting. In reality, as evidenced in numerous incidents, this rhetoric serves as a pretext to intimidate, marginalise, and incite violence against religious minorities.
