Bajrang Dal's Cachar district in-charge Mithun Nath reportedly made an inflammatory speech on December 3. While addressing a gathering of the outfit's members, he threatened to 'beat up' Hindus in the state if they visit churches on Christmas.
"If Hindus go and visit churches on Christmas day, they will get brutally beaten up," Nath said. "They are locking temples in Shillong and we are going and celebrating with them. This cannot happen, we will not allow this to happen," he added.
Nath was referring to the alleged closure of the Vivekananda Centre, a part of Ramakrishna Mission, in Christian-majority Meghalaya's capital Shillong.
Meanwhile, the Cachar district administration has asked the police to investigate the speech. Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli on Sunday said she has instructed the superintendent of police to probe the matter and "take necessary steps".
Police, however, said no case has been registered as of now and the incident is being investigated. "We have not received any complaint from anyone. However, we are looking into the incident after seeing the video," a senior police officer said.
Twitter was furious after a video clip of Nath's explosive speech went viral. "Forget about falling in love. Forget about inter-religious marriages. You can't even visit a church on Christmas. The Sangh's beautiful culture of tolerance," a Twitter user said. "Hindus will get brutally beaten if they go to church, says Bajrang Dal. So Bajrang Dal will monitor if Hindus are going to Church by going to Church themselves?" said another Twitter user.
Here are a few Twitter reactions:
(With PTI inputs)
