Condemning the stone pelting at the St George Catholic Church in Navi Mumbai, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Sunday said that such incidents are part of an 'orchestrated campaign' by the 'right wing factions' to terrorise minorities.
"It is a part of an orchestrated campaign. It is a conspiracy by the right wing to terrorise the minorities. They have picked up the smallest minority, the Christians, in order to attack their churches and their places of worship," Tewari told ANI.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majeed Memon termed the incident as 'unfortunate', adding that such 'mischievous activities' divide the society and damage the democratic fabric of the country.
"It is very unfortunate. Christians never indulge in any controversial things but yet they are at the receiving end. We have seen it in Orissa, Assam, Haryana and in many other places," Memon said.
"The government at the Centre and at the state must take a very serious note of this kind of mischievous activities, which not only divides the society but also damages the democratic fabric of this country," he added.
Earlier on Saturday, three unidentified men had hurled stones inside a church compound in New Panvel of Navi Mumbai. The attackers also damaged the glass enclosure of the statue of Saint George.
CCTV footage of the incident showed the attackers speeding away on motorcycles after the incident.
The church authorities reportedly said that the attackers could not be identified as they had hidden their faces.
As per reports, a case has been registered at the Khandeshwar Police Station and investigations are on into the matter. However, no one has been arrested so far.
