A case of attempted proselytisation has come to light from the Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh. A girl claiming to be a member of an NGO was found distributing books related to Christianity at a government school. The incident took place on Friday (19th July) in the Layara area of Vidisha.
According to reports, the girl, who repeatedly declined to answer queries about her identity, said that she belonged to an NGO and was distributing the books for free to school children. She was distributing books titled, ‘Pavitra Shashtra, Bhajan Sanhita, and Niti Vachan’. While, the title may give an impression that the content of the books could be related to teachings of the Hindu religion, one of the teachers of the school revealed that it glorifies Jesus Christ and promotes Christianity.
When the school teachers opposed and tried to stop her from distributing propaganda material related to Christianity, the girl had an altercation with the teachers and clashed with them. However, when a teacher said that they would call the Police, the girl ran away.
According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, the girl claimed that she arrived in the city from Hyderabad. Even after being asked several times, she did not reveal her name and said that she does this work for free for an NGO.
According to the information reported, the girl was coming from Bina and was accompanied by two other women in an autorickshaw. Following the incident, it is suspected that the other women were also distributing religious propaganda booklets in other villages.
A teacher named Sanjay Lodhi stopped the girl from distributing the religious booklets. According to him, the book is full of miraculous stories about Jesus Christ. Additionally, it condemns Hindu saints while praising Christianity. The teacher also recorded a video of the interaction.
Speaking to local media, Sanjay Lodhi said that the girl was also distributing the book for free in the nearby villages and was trying to deliver the book to more houses that belonged to the poor and Scheduled Caste communities. The girl claimed that she had distributed books in Sagar and Itarsi regions as well.
On Saturday (20th July), Bajrang Dal co-convenor Ravi Lodhi and other officials of the organisation stated that they would lodge a Police complaint in this matter.
