In the ongoing ‘Kankaria Carnival’ in Ahmedabad city in Gujarat, some people roamed around as Santa Claus and had a brief scuffle with Hindu organizations. People also beat and chase away those who roamed around in the guise of Santa Claus and asked them to stop their activities. However, later the man dressed as Santa Claus also started shouting slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
The incident took place on Friday, December 30, 2022, at the venue of the Kankaria Carnival in Ahmedabad. Hindu organizations have accused these people, who were roaming around as Santa Claus, of carrying out conversion activities. Locals said that for the last few days, these people wearing such clothes were distributing books of missionaries to propagate Christianity. As soon as the organizations came to know about it, they reached the spot and after that, an altercation broke out and resulted in a scuffle. In the meantime, some people also had a scuffle with those who roamed around dressed as Santa Claus.
અમદાવાદના કાંકરિયા કાર્નિવલમાં ખ્રિસ્તી ધર્મનો પ્રચાર કરતા મિશનરીઓને વિશ્વ હિન્દુ પરિષદ અને બજરંગદળના નેતાઓએ ભગાડ્યા#Ahmedabad #KankariyaCarnival pic.twitter.com/OYAURt6pQF
— Gujarat Tak (@GujaratTak) December 31, 2022
Some videos of the incident have gone viral on social media, in which people can be seen posing as Santa Claus and locals chasing them away. In the video, locals are saying that these people are brainwashing people and asking them for going to church and spreading their religion. It is also heard in the video that the missionaries have been coming here and promoting Christianity since the carnival started.
A spokesman for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad told the Divya Bhaskar, about the matter, “For four days, near the gate of the Kankaria Carnival, some people, dressed as Santa Claus, were promoting the activity of conversion by distributing books preaching Christianity and explaining about Christianity. As soon as the matter came to light, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists reached and stopped the religious conversion activities going on during the government program.”
A Santa Clause man started shouting slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ along with others from Hindu organizations after angry people started beating him. In one of the videos, it can be seen how a man posing as Santa along with others is also shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
Kankaria Carnival is held in the last week of December every year at the famous Kankaria Lake in Ahmedabad. It is organized by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. It was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on December 25 this year.
