Hindu radicals attack Catholic school in Madhya Pradesh

A mob of Hindu radicals stormed into the premises of a Catholic school in Madhya Pradesh, destroying the boundary wall and desecrating a Marian statue, Christian Today has confirmed.

On February 8, an irate mob attacked St. Thomas Higher Secondary School which operates under the Ujjain diocese, assaulting its principal, Father George Thoppil, after news spread that one of its students had died in a road accident.

Besides pulling down the school's boundary wall and smashing a Marian statue, the mob also vandalized the school office, destroying windowpanes and breaking school computers.

"The mob shouting slogans forced its way into my office and assaulted me," Fr. Thoppil recalled. "The beatings were so powerful that my glasses flew off my face and broke into several pieces."

The mob used abusive words and shouted anti–Christian slogans, he said.

Some of them also questioned why the school had Christian statues, a grotto and a chapel in its compound, he added.

According to sources close to the development, the mob vented their fury on the school when news of the death of a kindergarten student who studied in the school spread.

The tragic accident took place when the student's uncle who was taking the student and his 6–year old brother to their schools by motorcycle, suddenly applied the brake, forcing the motorcycle to skid and throw the children under the wheels of a speeding truck.

Though the incident took place some 500 meters away from the school premises, the mob blamed the school management for the death of the student.

However, the mob did not attack the other school where the elder brother studied, noted Shakir Qureshi, a teacher at St. Thomas school. "It indicated that everything was pre–planned," he said.

Some 500 onlookers joined the mob in the attack which was led by the son of the owner of a nearby school, he added.

According to Father Anand Muttungal, Catholic Church spokesperson in the state, the Hindu extremists were trying to disrupt communal harmony in the state by attacking the school. "They were taking advantage of an accident to attack Christians. Had that not been the case, they could have held the other school also responsible for the (other) student's death," he explained.

Diocesan Father Hans has condemned the incident, saying that the miscreants had destroyed a grotto, pulling out the statue of the Blessed Mother and smashing it into pieces.

The mob also pulled down its 15–year–old cement–and–brick boundary wall, he noted.

According to Superintendent of Police for Ujjain, Jaideep Prasad, nine people, including the one who led the mob, have been arrested in connection with the incident. The administration has also posted police in the school premises to guard it, he added.

Prasad denied the incident has any sectarian motives. He said a demand to remove the boundary wall had existed for some time, and the people took advantage of the incident to raze it.

However, Fr. Thoppil said the boundary wall was within the church property and "there was nothing illegal about it."