As published by the Observer Post on 9 January 2024, the BJP-ruled central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh witnessed a series of attacks against Christians in the very first days of 2024. One of these incidents involved a mob-attack on a Christian school on 7 January 2024, in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. According to the report, members of the RSS-affiliated organization, Bajrang Dal, barged into the school creating chaos and accusing the management of the school of engaging in the illegal conversion of Hindus to Christians under the guise of education. There were similar incidents reported in other parts of Madhya Pradesh, namely in Khargone, Morena and Alirajpur districts (CJP, 11 January 2024).
World Watch Research analyst Ryan Benjamin comments: “The state of Madhya Pradesh has been ruled by the BJP continuously since it won the 2003 Assembly elections. The Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh first in the period 2005-2018 and then in 2020-2023. The new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh is Mohan Yadav, also from the BJP, and is said to have close links with the RSS (The Hindu, 11 December 2023). As a result, it is likely that similar attacks targeting religious minorities will continue with impunity in Madhya Pradesh throughout the coming months of 2024.”
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