Sangh Parivar fishes in troubled college waters

But the students and staff are apprehensive and the attendance was thin. “This is the first time that such a thing has happened in our college,” says a teacher, on condition of anonymity. “The way the administration dragged its feet had us worried,” he adds.

The idol was installed last Friday (September 1) after forcing the gateman Khan to open the gates. The Principal, Dr Jones, who was away attending a meeting, later persuaded some Hindu students to shift it to a nearby temple.

On Saturday about 200 Bajrang Dal activists stormed the college. The police called in by the college authorities not only allowed them to bring the idol back and reinstall it but also watched quietly as Dr Jones was forced to perform the arati. When contacted by The Indian Express, he refused to comment on the controversy.

“It was a nightmare and I hope it won’t happen again,” says a student who witnessed it. Others are not so sure. “We celebrated Hindu festivals in the college canteen in the past. Installing the idol in the college lobby was meant to provoke trouble,” feels Ramakant, who has studied at the BSSS.

The controversy comes amidst a systematic campaign by angry young men of the Sangh Parivar against the Christians. The VHP had tried to generate anti-Church sentiments in Bhopal two months back by meddling in a property dispute in the BHEL area.

Its foot soldiers attacked a church and ransacked a Christian library in Indore during Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the city. They also raised a hue and cry over alleged forced conversions of tribal children in a mission-run hostel in Chief Minister Digvijay Singh’s backyard of Rajgarh.

In none of these cases could they either support their charges or get much response from the people. But this has not deterred them.

In the BSSS case, they are now claiming to have kept another idol at at a place called Sheetaldas Ki Bagia. Anti-Christian slogans reverberate in the air during the special puja sessions held there.

“The pooja will continue till the idol is immersed on Anant Chaturdashi in accordance with Hindu rituals,” says Vishwas Sarang, who is a relative of senior BJP leader Kailash Sarang.