Hazaribagh: ABVP threatens two Christian schools, forces one to close

'Hazaribagh police on Tuesday detained 16 activists of the RSS-affiliated ABVP for minor vandalism outside two town-based Christian schools, forcing one of them to be closed for the day. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was unhappy that Holy Cross and St. Xavier’s, CBSE-affiliated, were open despite an education bandh call by the organisation. The ABVP has been protesting the high fees at educational institutions across the state, something the BJP-led government of Raghubar Das has been trying to regulate. However, only two of the 18 private educational institutions were attacked on Tuesday despite all the schools in the town being open on the day. There are a total of three Catholic-run educational institutions in the town; both schools attacked are co-ed while Mount Carmel is a girls’ school. Hazaribagh is the constituency of Union Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha. The Principal of Holy Cross said that once inside the campus, the ABVP’s demands changed. “They wanted to know why we did not have a photo of Prime Minister Modi in the school, why we had a photo of St. Francis by no statues of Saraswati. They accused us of receiving money from London,” said Sr. Clerita D’Mello...'