AHMEDABAD: Ahead of the New Year celebrations, people dressed as Santa Claus was allegedly beaten up by a Hindu organisation in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Friday. Videos of the attack went viral on social media.
On Friday night, Bajrang Dal activists reached the Kankaria zoo entry gate where Kankaria Carnival 2022 was organised by the government. They alleged that the people dressed up as Santa Claus were into conversion activity by giving chocolates and religious books to the visitors. They also claimed that they received complaints about the same.
Speaking to media persons, North Gujarat Bajrang Dal president Javalit Mehta said, "When we went there to protest against the people who were doing religious conversion activity, there was a clash with some of them."
The video of members of the Hindu supremacist organisation attacking and beating the individuals dress up as Santa Claus went viral on social media. The members were seen threatening the Santa Clauses to "go back" to their churches to spread the word about their religion.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Hitendrasinh Rajput said, "for the past four days of the Kankaria Carnival, missionaries have been promoting Christianity by selling books dressed as Santa Claus near the entry of the zoo and promoting conversion activities by explaining about Jesus and Christianity. On being informed about the matter, 20 activists led by North Gujarat president of Bajrang Dal Javalit Mehta stopped the conversion activity in the government program at around 9 pm on Friday."
No police complaint has been registered about the incident so far.
The Kankaria Carnival 2022 was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on 25th December, observed as Good Governance Day, on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The seven-day event is being organised after a gap of two years. The CM also virtually inaugurated Panch Mahotsav at Pavagadh in Panchmahals district.