An irate mob set fire to a newly-opened Catholic school in the northeast state of Assam, India, on January 19. The mob accused school staff of attempting to convert Hindus.
Local newspaper reports claimed villagers opposed the establishment of the school in Nalbari district, 70 kilometers from the state capital of Guwahati.
However, most parents welcomed the school. Some had even helped with the construction of the building, now destroyed by arsonists, which would have served as a classroom for their children.
Assam is one of the “seven sisters” or seven states of northeast India. This little-known territory is a hotbed of unrest for separatists who want independence from India’s federal government.
The state has a total population of 1.1 million, of which 68 percent is Hindu. Christians comprise just over three percent of the inhabitants.
St. Jude’s school was attacked on the day classes were to begin. However, the attack occurred at 8:30 a.m., before students arrived at the school.
A local newspaper then exaggerated reports of the attack to stir up public opinion against the school.
“About 10,000 people demonstrated before the ... school and set the school building and a church situated in the school campus afire in protest against the alleged conversion of Hindu (students) to Christianity by missionaries of this school,” the Assam Tribune claimed.
The newspaper also quoted police sources who said the mob shouted slogans against the missionaries and pelted stones at the school. Some members of the crowd then set the school afire.
“A police team immediately rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control,” the newspaper reported.
However, Vinay Masih of the Evangelical Fellowship of India in New Delhi, who visited the school immediately after the attack, said some aspects of the newspaper report were false.
“The newspaper exaggerated the incident by alleging that a mob of about 10,000 people attacked the school, whereas the mob was only 70 people strong,” he told Compass.
The claim of a church being set ablaze was also false, since there was no church in the school compound. The school consisted only of the simple shelter that was to serve as a classroom.
“The report in the Assam Tribune gave the impression that the local people were against the opening of the school, which is not true,” Masih added. “Until now there have been no tensions of any sort between different communities living in the area.”
Local Christians see the attack as a serious offense and have registered a case at the local police station.
The Archdiocese of Assam issued a press statement condemning the attack on the school. The statement also denied conversion of Hindu students. “Certain vested interest groups have been trying to intimidate the school authorities, including Father Acharya Nazarene, the principal of the school, and the local Catholic community since the establishment of the school, asking them to vacate the land,” the statement said.
The statement also asserted that local people were in favor of the school.
Masih explained that many parents in the area preferred to send their children to Christian schools because of their reputation for high academic standards. This may have provoked suspicion in some quarters.
“It is extremely sad that by exaggerating and falsely reporting on the incident, the newspaper helped the cause of the vested interests,” said Masih.
The Vicar General of the Catholic Church, Father Varghese Kizhakevely, told reporters from the Assam Tribune that the allegations of conversion were baseless. He has also called for action against the arsonists and others involved in the attack.
Meanwhile, the children of Nagrizuli village will have to wait a little longer for the opportunity to go to school.