A series of attacks, church vandalisms, and disruptions targeting Christian minorities has escalated in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power following the May 2026 state elections. The surge in local violence stands in stark contrast to the international public relations campaign of the BJP's ideological parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), whose leadership has been touring Western nations to promote messages of peace and global unity.
On August 26, 2026, a house fellowship gathering involving Bible study and prayer took place at the residence of Goutam Bera in Ranichak village, located in the rural area of Sutahata. Approximately 50 people attended, many of whom were Hindu friends and acquaintances of the Bera family. Upon hearing rumors that a Christian priest was converting Hindus, members of Hindu supremacist groups mobilized. One of the individuals broadcasted a live Facebook video while en route to the house, stating, "Let's see what they are up to."
Upon arrival, the intruders barged into Bera's home, verbally abused the attendees, threw several people out, and allegedly manhandled those remaining. In video footage of the incident, intruders holding saffron flags can be heard demanding to know how those present could practice Christianity while having Hindu deities at home, shouting about recovering a Bible and referring to it as the "Jesus business." The attackers loudly ordered the prayer participants to chant "Hare Krishna, Hare Ram" and "Jai Shree Ram," while onlookers in the crowd shouted, "Thrash them, thrash them!"
The pastor leading the prayers, Joy Kumar Ghughu, stated that police transported 17 of the attendees, including himself, to the Sutahata block primary health center for medical check-ups and treatment. They were subsequently taken to the Sutahata police station, where officers interrogated them regarding the purpose of the meeting and inspected their mobile phones. The group was allowed to leave at approximately 8 p.m.
Pastor Ghughu explained that the victims chose not to file a formal police complaint. "We did not lodge any police complaint against the attackers because Jesus teaches forgiveness. We will pray for their well-being," he said. However, Ghughu questioned the opposition to their gathering, pointing to Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion. "We are not paying anyone to become Christians," he added.
Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya downplayed the incident and two others, describing them as "isolated local objections to prayer gatherings… peacefully resolved by the police." However, online videos uploaded by the perpetrators tell a different story. The attackers identified themselves as members of the Shree Ram Janmotsab Samity (Lord Ram birthday celebration committee), a group that openly displays its ties to the RSS and its affiliates, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), on social media. In one video, an individual identifying as a VHP member urged viewers to "Beat them up with brooms whenever and wherever you see them. They are worse than terrorists."
Another video uploaded by the Chaitanyapur unit of the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the VHP, featured members declaring "Sanatan Dharma is the world’s greatest religion" and asking people to report any identified prayer organizers to them. Hours later, the Samity posted a warning on Facebook: "Let this serve as a warning to those who spread religious propaganda under the guise of ‘God the Father’: if we catch you, you will face severe consequences." Observers note that such actions align with a recent database that classified the RSS family of organizations, known as the Sangh Parivar, as the largest far-right network in history, despite Prime Minister Modi previously calling the RSS the world's largest non-governmental organization.
This aggressive domestic posturing directly contradicts the rhetoric of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who embarked on a centenary tour across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Speaking in London in early September, Bhagwat claimed that "Shuddha Satvik Prem" (pure and divine love) is the foundation of the RSS's work, rejecting accusations that the group is fueled by intense hatred. Previously, on August 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Bhagwat told an audience at a "Universal Oneness Celebration" that being Hindu requires believing "that all paths lead to the same destination and that every human has dignity, with no difference between human beings."
Yet, while Bhagwat traveled abroad, RSS-linked groups in West Bengal carried out a series of attacks on Christian gatherings. On August 23, a mob vandalized a church prayer room in Uluberia, Howrah district, and attacked attendees, while Bajrang Dal activists shut down a house prayer ceremony in Baniberia, South 24 Parganas. On August 30, the day after Bhagwat's New York speech, Bajrang Dal members assaulted a lawyer for hosting Christian prayers at his home in Baripur, South 24-Parganas. That same day, prayer gatherings were disrupted in Jagatballabhpur and vandalized in Hingalganj.
The pattern continued into September. On September 1, the Hindu Jagran Manch, another RSS affiliate, locked up a Christian-run school in Hasnabad Rupomari bazar, demanding to know why there were photos of Jesus on the walls instead of Hindu deities. On September 7, activists claiming to be from the VHP and Bajrang Dal halted a prayer gathering at a makeshift church in Bally, warning that preaching Christianity would not be allowed. On September 9, organizers from the same groups aggressively questioned residents in Mograhat about their worship practices. On September 11, Bajrang Dal members threatened prayer organizers in Mamudpur.
On September 12, VHP activists confronted a house prayer group in Taldi, Canning, demanding they stop their gatherings permanently and order them to tear up photos of Jesus. "Why Jesus? Why Jesus? Why Jesus?" the activists shouted, adding, "Whoever you may be going to complain to, tell them that we are from VHP and Bajrang Dal. We’ll see who holds how much power." The following day, a viral video showed a mob violently abusing prayer participants and tearing apart books on the Christian faith, demanding to know why they were not reading the Gita or chanting Hare Krishna.
Samirul Islam, a member of parliament from the Trinamool Congress—the party that lost power to the BJP in the May 2026 election after a 15-year rule—condemned the escalating hostility. He stated that the constitutional rights of Christians to practice and propagate their faith are being actively violated, calling the targeted harassment "an affront to India’s constitutional spirit of unity in diversity."
