Crux

MUMBAI, India – Two Catholic priests, two nuns and a catechist in the Diocese of Balasore in the Odisha of India, were assaulted by right wing extremists allegedly belonging to the Bajrang dal, a Hindutva militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).

According to Catholic Connect (CC), they were falsely accusing them of “conversion activities.”

Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, has a history of anti-Christian violence, and was the spot of an infamous attack on the impoverished Christian minority in August 2008.

The vast majority of the population of Odisha is Hindu – over 93 percent. The Catholic population is just 2.7 percent.

the Bajrang Dal targeting of Christians appears to have gone up since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power locally.

Since 2014, India has been ruled by the BJP, which has strong links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militant Hindu nationalist organization. Religious minorities have complained of increased harassment since the party took power on a Hindu-first platform.

Incidents of harassment against Christians and other religious minorities have increased across India, with various Christians being detained or arrested for “attempted conversion,” and places of worship being vandalized.

According to CC, at Gangadhar mission station of Jaleswar parish there was a requiem Mass marking the second death anniversary of two local Catholic men was being celebrated by parish priest Father Lijo Nirappel and Father V Jojo of neighboring Joda parish on Aug. 6.

After the Mass and a fellowship meal, the villagers – all farmers – left for their homes late that evening.

Nirappel said some 70 men were laying in wait for the visitors at a narrow-forested stretch of road, close to the mission station.

“They first targeted our catechist who was on a motorcycle. They beat him mercilessly, dismantled his bike, drained the fuel, and threw it aside,” he told CC.

The attackers then stopped the priests’ vehicle.

“They physically attacked us — pushing, pulling, and beating us badly. They punched us, snatched our mobile phones, and kept shouting that we were trying to make them Americans —converting them by force,” Nirappel said. He said the attackers said, “The BJD days are over, now it’s BJP’s rule—you cannot make Christians anymore.”

The BJP took over the state government from 2024. The Biju Janata Dal (Biju People’s Party or BJD) is a regional party that had ruled Odisha for over two decades.

The priests alleged that the group used communal slurs and accused them of conversions in front of the media who had accompanied the Bajrang Dal members.

“It was a planned ambush,” Nirappel told CC. “They brought their own media to fabricate a narrative.”

“The police then told the mob they would take us to the station for inquiry, but in reality, they were just rescuing us from further violence,” he said.

Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore told Crux he was “pained” to hear of the attacks on Christians accused of “illegally” converting people, which he said was false.

“Rather it was a group of Christians who had gathered to pray for the repose of some of the deceased members of their family,” he said.

“What is worrying and hurting is the occurrence of increasing incidents, with indifference or inaction by the police and government authorities,” Machado said.

“Of course, lack of proper directives and even tacit support of the highest state level and national level authorities has complicated the matter, to picture Christians as culprits, wanting to convert people of other religions by all means forcefully or through incentives, contrary to the stipulations of the Freedom of Religion – Anti-Conversion Bills – enacted in many states of our country,” the archbishop told Crux.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday termed as “Hindutva vigilantism” the alleged attack on Catholic priests and nuns in Odisha’s Jaleswar on false charges of religious conversion.

In a post on social media platform X, Vijayan alleged that Sangh Parivar “goons” were behind the alleged attack on the priests and nuns and that it reflected the “ongoing communal witch-hunt” against Christians in the country.

“Reports of an assault on Keralite Catholic priests and nuns by Sangh Parivar goons in Jaleswar, Odisha, on false charges of religious conversion, reflect the ongoing communal witch-hunt against Christians in the country, exemplified by the arrest of nuns in Chhattisgarh weeks ago.

“Such Hindutva vigilantism, enabled by the regime’s impunity, must be unitedly resisted by secular and democratic forces,” he said on X.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) expresses its “deep anguish” and strongly condemned the attacks in Odisha in a statement.

“Such actions are a blatant violation of the constitutional rights and human dignity of minorities. The rising trend of mob violence poses a grave threat to the safety, security, and peaceful coexistence of all communities,” the statement said.

“The CBCI calls upon the Government of Odisha to take swift and decisive action to identify and prosecute the perpetrators, and to ensure the protection of all minority communities. We further urge the authorities to safeguard the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, so that every citizen may live and practice their faith without fear,” the CBCI continued.

“The CBCI will continue to monitor the situation closely and will stand firm in its commitment to defend the rights, dignity, and safety of all citizens, especially the Christian community,” the statement concluded.