A Christmas lunch for visually impaired children in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur turned into a scene of violence and communal tension when Anju Bhargav, the district vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, led a mob that stormed a church compound, physically assaulted a visually impaired woman, and hurled abuses at blind children, alleging religious conversion.
The incident occurred on December 20 in the Johnson School compound in Jabalpur’s Katanga area, where Pastor Dharmendra Jena had organised his annual Christmas lunch for around 200 visually impaired students from the government-run Andhmukh School. What began as a simple celebration ended with accusations of prostitution, physical assault, and curses directed at disabled children.
Pastor Jena, who has been organising the event for eight years, explained to Christian Today that while the lunch is normally held at the Hawabagh Methodist Church compound, this year it was moved to a building in the Johnson School compound used by the Prince of Peace Church because the Methodist Church had its own programme scheduled.
Safalta Kartik, a visually impaired woman who has attended the event for six years, was sitting peacefully with her eight-year-old niece when the trouble began. “We went there, listened to some songs and were sitting peacefully when suddenly I started hearing loud noises. My niece was sitting next to me when a woman approached her, held her hand and asked why she had come there,” Safalta told Newslaundry, a media outlet.
When Safalta intervened to protect the child, the woman launched into a tirade of abuse. Safalta recollected that the woman accused her of coming to church to convert despite wearing sindoor, the vermillion mark traditionally worn by married Hindu women. The woman alleged Safalta was involved in prostitution and had brought the child for that purpose. She then told Safalta that she was blind in this birth because of her past deeds and would be born blind again in her next life for coming to a church.
The verbal abuse turned physical. “She tried to grab my hand. I held hers to stop her, but she kept abusing me. Then she grabbed my mouth while shouting. I tried to push her hand away. Only then did someone intervene and stop it,” Safalta said. A video of the incident, which went viral on social media, shows Bhargav standing over the seated woman, clutching her jaw while a police officer stands behind.
Safalta later learnt that her attacker was Anju Bhargav, who had been appointed BJP city vice president just days earlier on December 16.
What particularly distressed Safalta was the targeting of all the blind children present. “What hurt me the most was that she mocked our blindness. She didn’t just target me; she shouted that all of us would be born blind again for attending a Christmas lunch,” she alleged.
Speaking to Christian Today, Pastor Jena recounted how the disruption unfolded. He said the trouble started around 1 pm when a few people came along with police personnel and demanded to know why the children were present at the Church. When he had given them an explanation they left but after some time a much larger group of people who were around 25 in numbers barged in and disrupted the program alleging that the Christians were involved in conversions.
The mob questioned the children directly. Even when the children tried to explain they had come only to celebrate Christmas and have lunch, the mob refused to listen, Jena recalled.
When the station house officer of Gorakhpur police station arrived, the mob identified Jena as the organiser. “Some people came at me aggressively and hit me on my face,” he said. Police took him to the station where he was held for several hours before being released in the evening.
Pastor Jena expressed his sadness at how the event unfolded. “The children look forward to this event all year and eagerly wait for Christmas,” he told Christian Today. The event typically distributes small gifts such as walking sticks and Braille learning devices to help blind children feel included, but this year it was completely disrupted and the attackers did not even allow the children to have their lunch.
When contacted by Newslaundry, Bhargav defended her actions, claiming that Safalta had brought the little girl there forcefully and that she herself was the one hurling abuses. When asked about the video showing her holding Safalta’s mouth, she alleged the video was incomplete.
Second Attack at Prarthna Bhavan Church, Shakti Nagar
A second, equally violent attack occurred two days later on December 22 at the Prathna Bhavan church in Shakti Nagar locality under Madhotal police station limits. Pastor Rajesh Chaudhary, who has been leading the church for 23 years, told Christian Today that the attack was completely unprovoked.
“A mob of around 50 to 60 people from Hindutva groups came suddenly and started vandalising the premises and beating people,” Pastor Chaudhary said. “They misbehaved with women and children as well. Seeing this, the congregation protested and attempted to retaliate, and that is when the mob left.”
In a written complaint to the Police Superintendent dated December 23, Pastor Chaudhary detailed how the attack occurred during regular Sunday worship. According to the complaint, the mob arrived around 1:45 pm on December 22 and began creating a disturbance, alleging religious conversion. The complaint states that approximately 50 to 60 people stormed the church premises, vandalised property, and physically assaulted worshippers.
The Pastor Fellowship of Jabalpur also submitted a letter to the police on December 23, calling the incident a serious matter related to the sacred festival of the Christian community. The letter, signed by multiple pastors, requested enhanced police security for various church programmes scheduled between December 24, 2025, and January 1, 2026, to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Pastor Chaudhary told Christian Today that despite submitting two written complaints to the police, no FIR has been filed. “We have asked for police protection,” he said. Circle SP (Madhotal) BS Gathoria confirmed to the media that both sides had submitted complaints and that action would be taken after verification of facts and available evidence.
Political and Religious Backlash
The viral video from the first incident triggered widespread outrage on social media and drew sharp criticism from the opposition Congress party. Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar shared the video on social media platform X, describing the behaviour as inhumane and demanding action.
Congress city president Saurabh Sharma called it a serious matter related to the dignity of differently-abled and visually impaired women. He said the party would take the matter to court if necessary.
On December 24, facing mounting pressure, the BJP issued a show-cause notice to Bhargav seeking a written explanation within seven days. District BJP president Ratnesh Sonkar stated in the notice that based on the viral videos, Bhargav had used undignified language during an argument with a visually impaired woman. “You are a responsible office-bearer of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Such behaviour cannot be expected from you,” the notice read.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India condemned the attacks “in the strongest possible terms” and demanded Bhargav’s immediate dismissal from the BJP. “In light of such egregious and dehumanising conduct, the CBCI demands the immediate dismissal of Anju Bhargav from the Bharatiya Janata Party,” the statement read.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared the viral video nationally, stating that “cruelty is the easiest way to advance in the BJP. These people are stains on society.”
Despite the show-cause notice, no FIR has been registered against Bhargav. Safalta, who is on the verge of becoming a teacher after completing her B.Ed exams, told Newslaundry she is in the process of filing an FIR. “I want action to be taken against her, not just because she abused or manhandled me, but because she cursed and made deeply humiliating remarks against all the blind children who were present there,” she said.
Police officials stated there were no attempts of forced conversion at either event. The visually impaired students themselves refuted all conversion allegations, explaining they attend the Christmas lunch every year voluntarily.
These incidents are part of a wider pattern of violence against Christians during the Christmas season which occurred even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended Christmas celebrations in New Delhi, where he stressed the importance of love, harmony and brotherhood in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
