In what comes as the latest instalment to a series of blatantly controversial political statements unfolding in the state of Assam, a prominent member of the Bajrang Dal has now reportedly threatened Hindus with physical violence if they were to visit a church on Christmas.
According to a report by the Barak Bulletin, the one making the "explosive statements" this time is Mithun Nath, the general secretary for the Bajrang Dal unit in Assam's Cachar district.
"If Hindus go and visit Churches on Christmas Day, they will get brutally beaten up," the news portal quoted Nath as saying, "They are locking temples in Shillong and we are going and celebrating with them. This cannot happen, we will not allow this to happen."
The "they" referred to in this context seem to be members of the Khasi Student Union (KSU), and the incident of "locking temples" that Nath referred to reportedly dates back a few days, when the Vivekananda Cultural Centre, at Quinton Road in Meghalaya's Shillong, was locked up.
However, according to Barak Bulletin, the secretary maharaj of the Ramakrishna Mission, which runs the centre, has confirmed that the temple in Shillong was, in fact, not locked up by KSU members.
"The issue was related to the cultural centre an the temples and dispensary is functioning properly," the maharaj was quoted as saying by the portal.
However, Nath seems to have skewed the incident to back his argument for the contention.
The Bajrang Dal general secretary further said that he knows the kind of notoreity the press allots to his organisation and said that he does not care for whatever the headlines will be on December 26.
"Yes, the press calls us Gunda Gang. If our Hindu girls are touched and harassed we will become Gundas and we are proud of it," Nath said.
