A teacher working in a village government school in India’s southern state of Telangana was suspended for allegedly packing Bibles in Christmas gift boxes and distributing them in the school.

The teacher, Gali Pullaiah, had distributed about 100 Christmas gift boxes containing assorted items, including stationery, water bottles, a small copy of the New Testament, and a card containing printed Christmas and New Year greetings.

Pullaiah had received these gift boxes from a Christian organization for distribution in the school. Pullaiah claimed he had taken due permission from the school head before the distribution.

When children took the gift boxes to their homes, their parents discovered the Bibles. Parents then complained to members of the Hindu nationalist political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who quickly complained to the district educational authorities and the police.

The BJP workers then stormed into the school, detained the teacher, and filed a police complaint against him. They also pressured school authorities to press false charges against Pullaiah, stating he distributed the boxes without authorization. Students were also forced to return the gift boxes.

The moderate-leaning Indian National Congress party currently rules the state of Telangana. The Telangana government has also officially granted permission to Christians in many regions of the state to publicly celebrate Christmas.

Despite this, Hindu nationalists in many places are violently opposing Christians who are exercising their constitutional rights under Article 25 to practice, propagate, and practice a religion of their choice without causing public and moral nuisance.

Most government schools celebrate all local religious festivals and follow numerous traditions related to Hinduism, but Hindutva ideologues take prompt umbrage to any signs of propagation of religions like Christianity and Islam in both public and private educational institutions.

Pastor Nagireddy, who hails from the same village as Pullaiah, told an International Christian staffer that the teacher’s relatives were monitoring him to get him in trouble for his Christian faith. This incident moved Pullaiah’s relatives to get revenge on him.

The district education officer, meanwhile, conducted an inquiry and placed Pullaiah on suspension.