India Catholic school threatened by Hindu nationalist group

Police in Madhya Pradesh – a central state in India –registered a complaint against a religious principal of Vandana Convent School in Guna on July 22.

MUMBAI, India – Police in Madhya Pradesh – a central state in India –registered a complaint against a religious principal of Vandana Convent School in Guna on July 22.

It was made after a mob of around 50 right-wing Hindu activists protested and barged into the school premises, forcing its principal to “apologize” for “hurting religious sentiments” for her usual directive to “speak in English.”

The mob was formed by members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a Hindu-nationalist student organization.

Two days after the protest local daily Patrika claimed that its principal Sister Catherine Vatolly “got angry and snatched the mic from a student for reciting a Sanskrit shloka or verse from Gita.”

The ABVP demanded that the school be shut down, or the students raise the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan in the school assembly every day. The slogan is a religious ritual in Hinduism, and the Guna District Education Officer, CS Sisodia, issued a notice against the Catholic educational institute threatening “action.”.

The school, however, has alleged that the local daily published “fake news” without looking into the matter, and that it “promotes students to develop linguistic skills in all the other languages despite being an English medium school.”

The school says it was a “normal directive from the school principal” in an attempt to improve their English language skills.

The principal had asked two students, newly elected as house captains, to give a “proper speech” in English during the school assembly on July 15. The religious sister gave the students four more days to “prepare” after one of them began his speech with a Sanskrit verse.

The ABVP is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the same Hindu nationalist group which is associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling party.

Since the BJP took power in 2014, incidents of harassment against Christians and other minorities have increased across the country.

The BJP also runs the state government in Madhya Pradesh. There are few Christians in the state: Less than 0.3 percent, as opposed to the national average of 2.3 percent.

According to online news agency Newslaundry, Vatolly said that she had asked four newly-elected house captains to prepare a motivational speech in English, two of whom were set to recite it on July 15.

“One of them began his speech with a Sanskrit shloka. I thought he was giving his speech in Hindi, so I asked them to speak only in English,” the religious sister said.

“I asked twice, but I believe they couldn’t hear me and continued reciting the shloka. Then I approached one student, took the mic, and announced to the assembly that a speech should have an introduction, content, and conclusion. I gave them time until Saturday to prepare their speeches properly. After that, school activities continued as usual until Patrika published the misleading news,” she explained.

The news daily reportedly reached out to the religious sister on Friday night about the incident, and despite taking her quote, “published the misleading news.”

“My only intention was to ask students to give speeches in English. I want them to develop their English-speaking skills, learn English and get rid of stage fright. I have never hurt anyone’s religious sentiment, nor will I do so because I respect all religions,” Vatolly said.

She said that the ABVP activists protested for over two hours and wanted her to apologize “despite my explanation that my intention was to improve students’ language skills, not to offend anyone’s religious sentiments. But if anyone was hurt, I am sorry. When I said this, they were asking to say ‘maaf kardo’ instead of sorry.”

The phrase “maaf kardo” means “please forgive me.”

The principal claimed that ABVP leader Saksham Dubey said he forced many schools to shut down and that the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan should be recited by the students at the assembly every day, “and he would come to monitor the school’s activities.”

The school also said it has designated days for Hindi and English public speaking at its assembly, during which students recite different religious texts such as the Gita, Quran, Guru Granth Sahib, and Bible but in the designated language.

“If a student speaks in a language not designated for that day, they are reminded to switch to the language designated for that day. It was pre-decided that students would give their speech in English on July 15,” Vatolly said.

Dubey claimed that one of the students was punished by the principal to “write the entire speech again in English and give it again in assembly the next day.”

“When we came to know about this issue we protested and demanded an apology. The principal has been involved in anti-national activities for the last many years. They have been humiliating the Hindu religion,” the ABVP leader claimed.

A school staff member told the local newspaper the school has alternate designated days for public speaking in English and Hindi during the assembly.

The staff member added that the principal “neither scolded the students, nor did she say anything in anger. She only asked them to give the speech in English and I don’t think it’s a crime to ask students to speak in English in an English medium school.”

Another staff member claimed that subsequently, two police officials came to the school and informed them that “some groups were planning to protest and file a complaint against the school authority.”

The school staff then took the matter to the police, who told them the ABVP was planning to protest against the school on July 22.

The staff member told Newslaundry that the police “assured us of protection.”

However, the staff member said the ABVP “forced sister Catherine to apologize before leaving. If the police had not been there, things could have escalated further.”

Bishop James Athikalam of Sagar said the violence at the Catholic school “is shameful, and our impressionable minds are being harmed by scenes against values.”

“Additionally, how are our women respected? It was against the dignity of an Indian woman. It is against our Indian ethos. It is in the larger scheme of targeting Christian schools,” he told Crux.

“For the past 50 years, Vandana Convent School has been serving the community, state and working towards nation building,” the bishop said.

“The majority of our students are from the majority community. And today, students if this school have made a name for themselves in every field of life. The Sisters of the St. Elizabeth have dedicated their lives for the integral development of children through holistic education. This is very unfortunate,” Athikalam said.