Vulnerable People Project Demands the Release of Ten Catholic Worshippers Jailed in Rajasthan After a Hindu Nationalist Mob Disrupted Their Mass, and Calls on Indian Authorities to Act Now
NEWS PROVIDED BY
The Vulnerable People Project (VPP)
Aug. 7, 2026
UDAIPUR, India, Aug. 7, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — Ten Catholic worshippers have been imprisoned for three months in India’s Rajasthan state after a Hindu nationalist mob stormed their Mass — and police arrested the worshippers rather than the attackers, charging them with attempted murder. With a court now again refusing them bail, The Vulnerable People Project (VPP) is calling for their immediate release and for Indian authorities to hold the true aggressors to account.
On May 1, a group of Hindu nationalist activists forced their way into an evening Mass in Kalinjara village, in Banswara district within the Diocese of Udaipur, where roughly seventy Catholics had gathered to pray. The intruders filmed the congregation on their phones and shouted baseless accusations of forced conversion, disrupting the Eucharistic celebration. When the worshippers moved to force the intruders out, the confrontation became the pretext for what followed.
Rather than acting against those who invaded the service, police arrested ten Catholic worshippers and charged them under India’s anti-conversion laws and with attempted murder. When the Catholics sought to file their own complaint against the activists who had disrupted the Mass, according to the parish, police refused to register it. The result is a stark inversion of justice: the victims of the attack are behind bars, while those who carried it out remain free.
After three months in custody, courts have repeatedly rejected the worshippers’ bail petitions. The continued detention leaves the ten men exposed to the well-documented dangers of India’s prison system, while their families face intimidation from Hindu nationalist activists outside — a dual pressure that falls on a community with little recourse.
Bishop Devprasad John Ganawa of Udaipur, a Divine Word missionary who has led the diocese for more than a decade, has spoken out repeatedly on the case, warning of an entrenched culture of intimidation designed to frighten Catholics away from attending Mass and other church services. He and other Indian Church leaders have described the arrests as part of the widespread abuse of anti-conversion laws against Christians, particularly in states where such statutes have become, in the words of Christian advocates, a tool to harass religious minorities. India’s Christians make up roughly 2.3 percent of the population — and just a fraction of a percent in Rajasthan — yet face a steady rise in hostility: the Evangelical Fellowship of India documented 747 verified anti-Christian incidents in 2025, up from 640 the year before.
“Imagine being dragged from your own church, thrown in prison for three months, and charged with attempted murder — for the crime of refusing to let a mob shut down your Mass,” said Jason Jones, founder of the Vulnerable People Project. “The people who broke into that service walk free, and the faithful who stood their ground sit in a cell. This is what religious persecution looks like when it wears the mask of law: the victims are punished and the aggressors are protected. Ten Catholic men are paying with their freedom for the simple act of worship, and every day the world stays silent is another day they are left to the mercy of a system that has already failed them. They must be released now.”
The Vulnerable People Project calls on the authorities of Rajasthan and the Government of India to release the ten imprisoned Catholics without further delay, to register and investigate the complaint against those who disrupted the May 1 Mass, and to uphold the religious freedom guaranteed by India’s own constitution. VPP further urges the international community, diplomatic missions, and Christians around the world to raise their voices for these ten men before three months in prison becomes six.
For more information about the Vulnerable People Project and its mission, please visit SaveWestBankChristians.com.
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ABOUT JASON JONES & THE VULNERABLE PEOPLE PROJECT:
Jason Jones is a film producer, author, activist, and human rights worker. He is president of Movie to Movement, the Human Rights Education Organization (H.E.R.O.) and founder of the Vulnerable People Project. The Vulnerable People Project advocates for persecuted communities around the world, with a focus on exposing human rights abuses and supporting vulnerable individuals regardless of faith or background.
SOURCE The Vulnerable People Project (VPP)