Hundreds of Hindu nationalists protest Christian school in India’s capital

Hundreds of Hindu nationalist activists reportedly gathered outside a Christian school in India’s capital city in mid-January, accusing the institution of forced conversions and calling for the school to close. Christian leaders say the activists’ allegations reflect a broader pattern of harassment against the country’s Christian minority. 

According to a Feb. 13 report from the Vulnerable People Project, a U.S.-based Catholic apostolate, the protesters chanted slogans outside Mount Olivet Senior Secondary School in Delhi’s Burari neighborhood for several days. Videos circulating on social media showed large crowds assembled outside the entrance and demonstrators holding signs reading, “Stop forced conversion at school.”

The controversy comes amid a wave of anti-Christian violence in the country and a related debate over anti-conversion laws in several Indian states. While Delhi has no anti-conversion laws, 12 of India’s 28 states enforce laws intended to prevent “forced conversion,” which often carry criminal penalties, including jail time. Religious freedom advocates argue that authorities have weaponized the laws against Christians and used them to unjustly arrest religious leaders across the country. 

Hindu activist Sarthak Bhagat, who frequently posts criticism of Islam and Christianity on social media, alleged that the school “has been spreading a Christian missionary agenda and harassing Hindu students by forcing them to hail Jesus and read the Bible.” 

“Such soft influencing aimed at converting students to Christianity will not be tolerated,” he added in the Jan. 19 X post. 

He said he and other Hindu activists had met with school administrators and representatives of the Delhi Education Board and warned officials that they would push for the school’s suspension if the alleged practices continued. 

Protesters also accused the school of offering incentives such as scholarships or reduced tuition to encourage religious conversion and of prohibiting children from wearing Hindu religious symbols, according to VPP. 

Christian clergy in Delhi, speaking to VPP on the condition of anonymity, disputed the protesters’ allegations and said the protests have focused in part on the school’s principal, Birendra Yadav, a former Hindu who converted to Christianity and has led the school since its founding. 

“Yadav’s presence is a massive threat to Hindu activists since he is a living testimony to the power of Jesus Christ,” one priest told VPP. “His very conversion from Hinduism is a slap in the faces of Hindu supremacists and poses an alternative to students, teachers, and parents. When they see him, they are forced to ask themselves: ‘Why did this man choose to reject Hinduism and follow Jesus?’”

The Olivet Educational Society, a registered religious minority entity, runs the school, which serves approximately 3,000 students. According to VPP, Yadav leads Christian prayers during school assemblies, and, in a statement posted on the school’s website, Yadav emphasized the importance of “faith in God” as an integral part of the education students receive there. 

While the protesters claim those Christian practices violate the rights of Hindu students, clergy noted that India’s constitution grants religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions. 

“Religious minority schools in India are protected by their constitutional rights and are legally permitted to have explicitly Christian prayers in their assemblies and even instruct students in the Christian faith through Bible studies or catechism classes,” a priest told VPP. He added that non-Christian parents who want their children to attend the school sign agreements “stating that they have no objection to their children being taught the Christian faith.”

“If you go to a Hindu school, they will expect your children to participate in Hindu poojas. Even Christian teachers are forced to participate in Hindu religious rituals in Hindu schools,” he said. “The ‘forced conversion’ bogey is just a load of nonsense. Why are Hindu parents so desperate to send their children to ‘convent schools’? They should just send them to Hindu schools!”

Christians make up about 2.3% of India’s population, according to a December 2025 statement from the North East Catholic Research Forum.

Clergy also noted that many schools in India, including Christian institutions, maintain uniform policies that restrict overt religious symbols for all students.

“Many Catholic schools even ban Catholic pupils from wearing a cross or crucifix or scapular on top of their school uniform blouse or shirt,” one priest told VPP. “It is the Hindu activists who have poisoned the minds of the parents to whip up anti-Christian sentiments.”

>> How India’s anti-conversion laws enable persecution of Christian minority <<

During a Feb. 4-9 meeting in Bengaluru, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India called for the repeal of such laws. They argued that the laws violate constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and have led to arrests based on allegations that often do not result in convictions. 

“As many innocent individuals are incarcerated based on unfounded allegations of forceful religious conversions, we strongly demand the repealing of legislations which are inconsistent with religious freedom and [the] right to privacy,” the bishops wrote in a statement released Feb. 9 and published by Asia News. 

“We take upon sustained inter-religious dialogue and civil-society engagement, standing in solidarity with all those who face injustice or exclusion,” they concluded, “and working together for peace, social harmony, and the protection of human dignity.”

>> Indian Catholics urge government to protect persecuted Christians <<