A group of men, allegedly members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, disrupted an event celebrating Christmas in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh town on Tuesday. Adivasis in the Housing Board area had organised the event.

The incident comes close on the heels of Hindutva groups threatening schools in Uttar Pradesh, warning them against celebrating Christmas.

Tuesday’s incident took place around 8 pm. Karu Lal, a human rights activist who was one of the organisers of the programme, said the perpetrators snatched their microphones, threw away their Christmas calendars and books on Gospels and also accused them of carrying out religious conversions on the pretext of Christmas celebrations.

Lal said the men were known to most of the organisers and had claimed to be members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad. However, in their complaint to the police, the organisers referred to the perpetrators as “anti-social elements”. They also identified three of them, but did not name any group.

Senior police officers could not be reached for comments.