Christian stall at Delhi Book Fair vandalised by men shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: A group of men allegedly vandalised a book stall at Delhi’s World Book Fair on Wednesday after objecting to the distribution of copies of the Bible Videos on social media showed the Hindutva group shouting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram”, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Free Bible band karo [stop free Bibles]”.

The stall was being run by a Christian non-profit organisation named Gideon International. According to a media report, an unidentified volunteer at the book fair said there were other stalls where free texts from other religions were also being distributed.

“The men accused us of converting people by forcing them to take the books,” the volunteer said. “We told them that we were only distributing free books to passersby. There are others giving away free texts from other religions. But they didn’t listen."

Mahindri Panchandham, a self-proclaimed member of Unite Hindu, led the vandalism. In the video, when some people from the crowd try to remind him that the Indian Constitution describes the country as a democratic nation where one is free to follow as per their free will, Panchandham shot back saying, “Democracy gives the right to preach religion but not to lure poor Hindus and convert them.”

Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Vinod Bansal reportedly said that Christian groups and missionaries are infamous for targeting poor Hindu families and tricking them into converting to Christianity. “These groups and missionaries convert people by forcing them to take books. We don’t support this and asked them not to do the same. There was no violence or anything,” he asserted.