In Brief
Right-wing Hindu students clashed with police in central India after they tried to storm a Catholic-run college to conduct a Hindu religious rite, according to Church sources.
About 800 students from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) group were charged by police after trying to gain access to St Mary’s College in Vidisha, in Madhya Pradesh state. They wanted to conduct the Aarati, a Hindu ritual.
Student leader Ankit Garg said that all they wanted to do was to promote patriotism among students.
College director Fr Shaju Devassy said the attempt to storm the college was not about prayer or patriotism, but was a symbolic attempt to impose Hindu dominance over minorities.
