22 attacks on churches in West Bengal in two months since BJP came to power
Due to the ongoing attacks, many house churches have stopped holding prayer meetings.
After the formation of the BJP government in West Bengal, there has been a systematic persecution of Muslim and Christian communities. Over the past two months, several incidents have come to light, indicating that Hindu nationalist organizations are brazenly harassing members of these communities and vandalizing their places of worship.
According to a report by DB English, on September 13, Sunday, a prayer meeting was being held inside a house in Dantan, West Medinipur. Suddenly, 40 to 45 people arrived and demanded that the meeting be stopped. The group is accused of misbehaving with women and vandalizing the house. Three months earlier, on June 7, a mob had similarly attacked a prayer meeting in Burnpur, Asansol, on a Sunday.
Between June 7 and September 13, there were a total of 15 Sundays. On 11 of these Sundays, mobs attacked prayer meetings or forced them to stop due to protests.
Those protesting allege that conversions are being carried out under the guise of prayer meetings. Due to the ongoing attacks, many 'house churches' have stopped holding prayer meetings.
According to Christian organizations, a total of 22 incidents have been reported in the last two months. FIRs have been filed in nine cases, two of which are against pastors.
To understand the controversy, the incident that occurred on June 7 in Burnpur is significant. On that day, around 60 to 70 people had gathered for Sunday prayer in a hall.
According to Pastor Sen Sengupta,
two young men arrived during the prayer and started recording a video. He asked them to take a seat. The youths said they wanted to ask some questions, to which the pastor assured them he would answer all questions after the prayer. As soon as the prayer ended, some people gathered outside the hall and started protesting. They alleged that people were being converted by offering them money. The police had to be called as the situation escalated.
Pastor Sengupta stated,
I told the police to ask the people present at the meeting if they had been offered any kind of inducement. After that, some people in the crowd started saying in front of the police that they would beat me up. The police calmed them down and took me to the Hirapur police station. I was kept at the station until around 11 PM.
The pastor did not file an FIR against anyone. He said,
After the incident, Sunday prayer meetings in Burnpur have been stopped. Now prayers are conducted online. As a result, not everyone can participate in the prayers. Some people do not have mobile phones, while in some areas, there are network issues.
Christian organizations have advised pastors to conduct 'house church' prayer meetings online. Since then, many pastors have been conducting prayers via mobile phones.
Dr. Dolly Kaur, who was present at the church during the incident, was also spoken to. She is a Sikh and attends the prayer meeting alone. Dolly said, “That day, people were asking me why I, as a Sikh, come to the church. A Sikh youth was continuously shouting. My husband was waiting for me outside the marriage hall. People also asked him why he allowed me to come to the church. They were questioning why we were leaving the Gurudwara to come here.”
Hirapur police station in-charge Akhilesh Singh stated that,
There was a commotion over the allegations of conversion. During the investigation, no case of forced conversion was found. The situation was then brought under control, and people were asked to return home.
Regarding the Dantan incident, station in-charge Subhir Majhi said that,
An FIR has been registered in the case of the attack on the church. The church property was damaged. The investigation is ongoing, and no arrests have been made so far. An FIR has also been registered regarding the vandalism at a church in Subhashgram, Sonarpur.
On July 5, 2026, a church in Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas district, was vandalized. Those involved in the mob also damaged the cross installed in the church.
The name Ujjwal Modak also came up in the Burnpur incident. He is seen in the viral video of the incident. Ujjwal claims to be a social worker and is associated with Hindu nationalist organizations. He alleged that people in the hall were being told that attending the church could cure their illnesses. According to Amia Sarkar, secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Eastern Bengal region,
The VHP is working to raise Hindu awareness by going from village to village. Bajrang Dal workers are keeping an eye on areas where prayer meetings are held.
He said,
Organizations like Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagran Manch, and Durga Vahini are gathering information at the local level about which villages are hosting whom, where prayers are being held, and in which homes religious activities are being conducted.
On June 28, an attack occurred on a church building in Jamuria, West Bardhaman. A person associated with the church stated,
During the prayer, 10 to 15 people entered and started saying that religious conversions were taking place here. After the police arrived, the prayer could resume. We did not file an FIR, but I had left the area for some time.
During the prayer meeting in Jamuria, some people entered the church and started recording videos. They alleged that conversions were taking place there.
According to Harad Mallik, general secretary of the 'Bengali Christian Council', a joint platform of all Christian denominations in West Bengal, a total of 22 incidents have been reported in the last two months. Only nine cases have been registered, two against pastors and seven against activists of Hindu organizations. Cases have been filed against pastors regarding allegations of conversion.
On this issue, Minority Affairs Minister Khudiram Tudu said,
I have not yet received any complaints regarding such incidents, nor has my office received any complaints. If a complaint is received, action will certainly be taken.
Currently, the organization has advised people to conduct Sunday prayer meetings online. Pastors have also been told to inform the police in advance about Sunday meetings. Officials of the organization are trying to meet Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.