Indian Politician Has Offered Bounty for Attacking Priests and Nuns
Padalkar called Christian missionaries “pythons” and said bulldozers should be used to crush them. ChristianToday.com reported that he has made the inflammatory comments during a torch march in Sangli’s Kupwad area on 17 June.
He allegedly told supporters, “We should keep prizes for those who bash up missionaries coming to convert people.”
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India denounced the remarks as a clear incitement to religiously motivated violence and emphasized that they violate India’s penal code.
The National Commission for Minorities has sought an investigation, which the Maharashtra government is required to submit by August 17.
The comments come against a backdrop of rising Hindu violence against India’s Christian minority.
From 2014 to 2025, violence attacks against Christians and Christian churches in India have risen 555%, according to the United Christian Forum.
834 violent attacks were recorded in 2024 and 378 for the first half of 2025.
In March 2025, 20 tribal Christians from Sukma District in Chhattisgarh filed a petition detailing systematic violence and intimidation, but the High Court ultimately dismissed their case.
On Wednesday evening, a mob of 70 Hindus brutally attacked a priest and nuns in Jaleswar. He was celebrating an anniversary Eucharist for a deceased Catholic. The priest and nuns were arrested despite being the victims.
Conversion laws are used to punish Christians for evangelism or publicly professing their faith.
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