An Indian prelate says his diocese has foiled an attempt by the student wing of the country’s ruling party to install a Hindu deity’s statue in a church-run college with police help. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (All India Students’ Council), affiliated to the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisted on installing Lord Ganesh’s statue at St. Mary’s P.G. College in Sagar diocese, in Madhya Pradesh state, on Sept. 7 the birthday of the elephant-headed deity. “It is true right-wing activists wanted to install the statue of Lord Ganesh, but we did not permit it because it is not our practice,” Bishop James Athikalam of Sagar told UCA News on Sept. 9. It is wrong on the part of right-wing Hindu groups and students “to force their religious practices on minority education institutions,” said Bishop Athikalam, citing India’s constitution. “We function as per the provisions of the law,” Athikalam added. Along with Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, and Parsees, Christians are grouped as a minority, and the constitution gives them freedom to practice and propagate their religion in their educational institutions. “We are not bound to follow religious practices of other religions on our campus,” Athikalam said. “It does not mean that we are against other religions.” We summoned the police against “a totally illegal act on our campus,” and they discouraged the students, the prelate said. As a compromise, the students were allowed to install the statue outside the campus. Hindus believe worshipping Lord Ganesh will help them overcome obstacles. The student wing of the BJP insisted on installing the statue in the more than two-decade-old Catholic college as the majority of students are Hindus. Its leader, Shalini Verma, told the media that “close to 90 percent of the students in the college are Hindus, and it is wrong to hurt their religious sentiments by denying permission to install the idol of Lord Ganesh.” We are grateful to the police for their support, the prelate said, adding we don’t “disrespect any religion.” Church-run educational institutions have been facing harassment from the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh, which has enacted a sweeping anti-conversion law, according to church leaders. On July 27, members of the All India Students’ Council forced their way into St. Peter Higher Secondary School in Jhabua diocese and demanded the removal of statues of St. Peter and Mother Mary and wanted portraits of Goddess Saraswati in their places. The ruling party’s student wing also created problems at St. Thomas Higher Secondary School in Mansuar district in the same diocese on June 27. A few days before, they entered the premises of Vandana Convent School under the Sagar diocese and sought action against the nun principal for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Christians make up a mere 0.27 percent of 72 million people in Madhya Pradesh, most of them Hindus. Most Christians are from indigenous and lower-caste communities, which make up about 30 percent of the population of Madhya Pradesh.