---

Around 80 to 90 people forced their way inside the premises, intimidating staff as they “threatened us…shouted at us” and “indulged in violence,” an employee said.

---

A group of Hindutva activists vandalised Christmas decorations at a shopping mall in the city of Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, according to media reports, amid heightened tensions ahead of the Christian festival, reported The Indian Express.

Videos shared on social media showed a crowd carrying sticks entering the mall and smashing Christmas displays a day before Christmas. The incident took place on the same day a Hindutva organisation had called for a statewide shutdown in Chhattisgarh to protest what it described as illegal religious conversions.

An employee at the mall told The Indian Express that around 80 to 90 people forced their way inside and intimidated staff. “Threatened us…shouted at us” and “indulged in violence,” the employee said.

“For the last 16 years, since we began operations here, we have always supported bandh calls,” the employee added. “But I have never seen such behaviour.”

The shutdown call followed communal clashes earlier this month in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district over the burial of a Christian man. Tensions began on December 16 in Bade Teoda village after sarpanch Rajman Salam buried his 70-year-old father, a day after his death.

In a video released that day, Salam said he had converted to Christianity, though his father had not. Salam said he sought permission from village elders to carry out the burial according to tribal customs but was told it could not take place in his presence because he was Christian.

He then conducted a Christian burial on his private land, after which clashes broke out, local media reported. Violence continued over two days, prompting police to cordon off the village. On December 18, a group armed with sticks breached police barricades and entered the area, leading to further unrest.

Similar incidents have been reported in several states in recent days.

In Uttar Pradesh, members of Hindutva groups gathered outside a church in Bareilly’s Cantonment area on Wednesday, reciting the Hanuman Chalisa and raising slogans of “Jai Shri Ram,” The Hindu reported.

In Assam, police said members of the Bajrang Dal entered St Mary’s School in Nalbari district on Wednesday, damaging Christmas decorations and tearing down posters. Video footage broadcast by local media showed the group setting fire to decorations while chanting “Jai Shri Ram”.

In southern Kerala, police arrested a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after a group of children singing Christmas carols was attacked in Palakkad district earlier this week. The RSS is the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

In Uttarakhand, a state-run hotel cancelled a Christmas celebration along the river Ganga in Haridwar following protests by the Ganga Sabha, which manages the Har-ki-Pauri riverfront.

On Monday, Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj shared a video he said was recorded in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, showing men allegedly threatening women and children wearing Santa Claus caps.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India said on Tuesday it was concerned about the “alarming rise in attacks” on Christians in several states ahead of Christmas, adding that such incidents undermine constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and the right to worship without fear.

Separately, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh announced that schools would remain open on Christmas Day to mark the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. An order from the state’s Basic Education Department said student attendance would be mandatory and directed schools to organise commemorative events.

The directive applies to government-run primary and upper primary schools and coincides with the conclusion of official centenary celebrations for the former BJP leader.

---