Minorities in Gujarat continue to be intimidated, harassed and attacked. The latest incident took place on July 6 in St. Stephen’s High School in Dahod, Eastern Gujarat. According to Sr. Archana, (one of the teachers of the school), some girls had requested that they be permitted to come to school with henna (mehndi) on their arms. The school authorities agreed to it. However, last morning some of the girls who were leading the school assembly prayers had plenty of henna all over their arms. They were requested to wash it off as the school rules do not permit this kind of make-up. In a matter of moments, in an apparently pre-planned move, a group of outsiders broke into the school accompanied by the media. These miscreants wanted to know why the school authorities had asked the girls to wash off their henna. They were not ready to listen to any kind of reason, and in their fury they also beat up the Principal of the school, Fr. C. Rayappan svd who received head and abdomen injuries. On the way out, the mob also threw stones at the Grotto of Our Lady breaking the glass and desecrating the statue.
Later on Fr. Rayappan filed an FIR with the DSP of Dahod who promised immediate action. No arrests have been made so far; however, according to sources, the attack was carried out by a right-wing Hindu outfit of the town. As a mark of protest, the management and staff of St. Stephen’s School wore black bands today (July 7th) to school and did not hold any classes for the students, says Fr. Cedric Prakash sj, Director of an NGO, Prashant.