Freedom of worship assaulted as mobs mar Christmas festivities across India
World
The videos of the incident have gone viral on social media.
RAIPUR (Web Desk) - Mobs, armed with wooden sticks, vandalised Christmas decorations in several parts of India, with multiple incidents reported on Christmas day.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Hindu extremists went berserk in Raipur, the capital of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, and stormed a Christmas party and a shopping mall besides destroying decorations, including a Christmas tree.
The attack occurred at Magneto Mall. The videos of the incident have gone viral on social media.
In the videos, Hindutva rioters can be seen vandalising Christmas decorations. The incident took place at a time when a strike call was given in Chhattisgarh against alleged illegal religious conversions across the state.
Indian media also reported that members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad Bajrang Dal — which has been classified as a Hindu militant organisation by the US Central Intelligence Agency — vandalised a school, disrupting Christmas preparations, in the Nalbari district of Assam.
Hindutva goons associated with Far-Right organizations vandalized Christmas decorations at Magneto Mall in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. #MerryChristmas2025 #MerryChristmas pic.twitter.com/QsHx1zZ0ZA
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) December 25, 2025
The media, citing police, said Bajrang Dal members also damaged festival items at shops in Assam.
“The activists entered the St Mary’s School of Panigaon village and vandalised the preparation of the Christmas Day programme. They burnt down the banner and posters of the celebration,” an unidentified police official was quoted by The Hindu as having said.
The official further said that Bajrang Dal activists had raised the slogan of “Jai Shree Ram” and warned the administration against celebrating Christmas at the school.
“They then went to various shops selling Christmas goods in Nalbari town and set fire to some items in front of the shops near the Jain Mandir in the town,” he said.
The report also carried a statement by Bajrang Dal Nalbari District Secretary Bhaskar Deka, who said that “we don’t want Christian festivals here. Trade in any festival-related items of Indian origin. But we do not accept doing business with a festival of non-Indian origin.”
Reports indicate that in many other places, the Christian community faced violence and harassment from Hindutva rioters during Christmas celebrations.
