Lucknow convent school shut in protest over Jesus Christ row

Lucknow: All convent schools in Lucknow were shut down on Monday after an unusual turn of events set in motion with the so-called “manifestation of Lord Jesus Christ in physical form”.

The occult session was organised at Lucknow’s Loreto Convent, one of the most reputed girls’ schools in north India.

Over a dozen students fainted during the ritual while several others came away psychologically upset and frightened.

The episode created a stir after some parents went to the media over the alleged “forceful indoctrination” of their children.

Late Sunday evening, BJP Yuva Morcha (BJPYM) activists vandalised the college, shouting slogans against the college management. They smashed flower pots and glass panes, besides damaging furniture and other property. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has ordered an inquiry into the entire incident by the Lucknow District Magistrate.

It all started when the college management invited one Father Sebastian, a Catholic priest from Murshidabad (West Bengal), to stage a “transportation of Jesus” at the college before about 250 students of the senior school (class eight to 12) and some teachers last week. 

The Father brought along with him Nobo Kumar Mandal, an Adivasi rickshawpuller also from Murshidabad, to be the “medium” for Christ’s so-called physical manifestation. Both of them belong to the esoteric Chandra cult which stages such acts in institutions across the country.

During the ritual which lasted over two hours, Mandal became “possessed”. A student witness told DNA: “He was writhing in pain… he kept shuddering, making loud and strange noises. At one point of time, he fell to the ground.” Some students were so frightened, they fainted.

Later Mandal claimed that Jesus had entered his body. The students were then lined up to seek his blessings. As he rubbed a cross on their hands, the principal, Sister Monica, and Father Sebastian sprinkled holy water on them.

Asked about the propriety of conducting such a ritual, the college “community leader” Sister Teresa told DNA: “Along with mental development through studies, we also focus on spiritual development of children… this experience was precisely aimed at that.”

To persistent questioning by scribes about parents’ objections, she tersely said: “Ours is a Catholic institution. Parents who have problems with such spiritual acts, are free to take their children to some other school.”

Meanwhile, some students of Loreto Convent gathered in the campus as a mark of moral support to the school authorities.

“The school principal and authorities did nothing against the interests of the students. No one is ever compelled by the school to participate in religious activities. We feel that some vested interests are out to tarnish the image of the school by spreading false stories about the institution,” asserted Varalika Srivastava, a Class 11 student.

School head girl and Class 12 student Anam Zaidi queried, “Why did people not make it an issue when people were being made to believe that Lord Ganesha’s idols were drinking milk or when some people claimed that sea water had turned sweet?” in reference to the controversy over the occult show.

The matter has also taken on a political hue with the BJP defending the violence by its youth wing activists and the Congress demanding a CBI inquiry into the matter.

“If the college had to conduct a religious prayer meeting, it should have been done after school hours… why were all students forced to attend the session?” asks BJP state president Kesri Nath Tripathi, who sees it as a “sinister move for conversion” (to Christianity).

Meanwhile, the Association of Catholic Educational Institutions (UP) would take up the matter at its meeting in Allahabad on September 21, its secretary Father Paul Rodrigues told reporters here.