Violent mob forces Christian families to flee village in northern India

A hard-line Hindu mob hit and ridiculed Vikas Gupta, a 21-year-old Christian youth, as he was paraded through a village market in a remote part of India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on July 2.

Gupta told LiCAS.news that before the mob allowed him to go home, he was dragged inside a Hindu temple where he was forced to bow in front of an idol. The mob also damaged his motorbike.

The next day another mob barged into his home situated in a remote village in Azamgarh district. The mob ransacked his house; threatened his family and two other Christian families that if they did not leave the village the women would be raped, the men murdered, and their houses set on fire.

After the mob left, the families sought the police for help.

“The police were initially reluctant to act against the attackers,” said Gupta. “When we insisted, they took into custody two men from the mob and they started investigating the case,” he said.

But in response another mob — this time led by a village head — gathered outside the local police station and demanded the release of the two arrested men. The village head warned police of consequences if the men weren’t released.

“The police buckled under pressure and released those it had arrested earlier,” Gupta said.

“People’s wrath against us only grew after they saw their men getting freed. They targeted us again and this time with greater severity,” he said.

“When we saw no other option, we fled from the village, leaving behind our houses, household and livestock. We have now become like refugees,” he said.

The district where this occurred Azamgarg has a population of 4 million plus people of whom 84 percent are Hindus and 15 percent Muslims while Christians comprise .08 percent.

Patsy David, from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit organization working for the Christian rights, told LiCAS.news that the targeted families — 15 people in total — had recently moved to the area and began holding prayer services in their houses which attracted the attention of a few locals.

“There is a community called Raj Bhars living in the village and a few people from this community got inspired from the message of Christ and began attending the prayer services out of curiosity,” David said. “This angered the village locals who accused the Christian families of forcefully converting people there,” David said.

Sneta Moria, one of the Christian women threatened by the mob, said that the village head, along with other local Hindus, didn’t want the Christian families settling in the village and wanted the local administration to force them out.

“The people here do not want us to live here peacefully. The local government officials seem too helpless before such a large crowd,” Moria said.

Minakshi Singh, general secretary of Unity in Christ, told LiCAS.news that she has taken up the issue with the local police. “We have been assured police action against the culprits. We hope justice will be done for the families who have been attacked and their homes destroyed,” she said.

Mobs of hard-line Hindu mobs — mostly in remote villages — often target Christians, accusing them of forcefully converting local Hindus to Christianity, allegations which Christian groups reject.

Open Doors, a non-profit organization supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said in its most recent report that India as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians who make up 2.5 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

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Pastor threatened in Greater Noida

On June 11 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a businessman who has affiliations with RSS and BJP is threatening and harassing a pastor by falsely alleging that the pastor has converted his employee forcibly as well as through allurement. Pastor’s name is Vijay Pratap Singh and along with his senior pastor Madan Pal Singh, does ministry in Greater Noida. Pastor has amicably explained to businessman that as the citizens of the country they profess, practice, and propagate their faith and as a result of that, if any individual, out their own free will, would like to choose to follow their faith then it is his/her fundamental right. Pastor Vijay told him that they do not force or allure people to convert anybody.

Religious Liberty Commission of EFI

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Christians Injured in Attack on Prayer Meeting in India

Six Christians were severely injured in a recent attack by Hindu radicals on a small prayer gathering in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. The assault took place as about 40 Christians gathered at a pastor’s home in Chapar village, located in the Sultanpur District, last Thursday, February 7.

According to a report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), 25 Hindu radicals attacked the prayer meeting and subjected the Christians gathered to verbal abuse and physical assault. As a result, Bibles and other church properties were damaged and six Christians needed to seek medical attention. The radicals went on to threaten to kill the Christians if they continued to gather for worship.

Local Christians are attempting to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the radicals, but so far local police have been reluctant to open an investigation.

Attacks on Christians and their places of worship have come under increasing attack in recent years. Hindu radicals often use false reports of forced conversions to Christianity or blasphemy to justify their attacks on Christians. In recent years, local authorities have been more willing to accept these often false narratives.

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Hindu Extremists Pressure Convert to File False Charge against Pastor in India, Sources Say

A pastor is facing criminal charges in northern India even though the complainant later denied allegations against the church leader of luring him to convert, sources said.

Police in Rupaidiha village, Uttar Pradesh state on Jan. 28 arrested 40-year-old pastor Dharmendra Singh on a charge of “alluring to convert” and two related charges – outraging religious feelings and promoting enmity. He was released on bail on Jan. 31.

Pastor Singh denied all charges against him, saying members of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal fabricated a story and pressured a new Christian, Ramesh Gautam, to file a false complaint against him.

Gautam said in court on Jan. 30 that the allegations were false, the pastor said.

“He witnessed that his faith is his own choice and nobody has forced him or his family to believe in Jesus,” Pastor Singh told Morning Star News. “‘We have not converted by allurement but have become worshippers of Jesus,’ said Ramesh in the courtroom.”

Pastor Singh leads a church in Nepalganj, Nepal, where he resides just across the India-Nepal border, but he regularly visits the Indian village of Rupaidiha, Bahraich District, to lead the new fellowship there where Gautam worships.

Gautam and other members of his family put their faith in Christ about six months ago after the pastor had prayed for his wife, who is from Nepal, and she was healed, he said.

“Ramesh, his wife and other members of his family believed and started to attend church regularly,” Pastor Singh said. “The entire village began to trouble the Gautam family and made things difficult for them.”

In spite of pressures, Gautam’s wife stood firm before villagers and defended their new-found faith, he said.

The pastor said he was grateful to God for the hardships he and his family have endured from his arrest.

“It is my privilege to suffer for Christ,” he said, adding that he was able to share the message of the saving grace of Christ with a group of 150 prisoners his first day of incarceration.

Later he shared the gospel with smaller groups of prisoners, as he did each day until his release, he said.

“The message of Christ was proclaimed with power amongst the prisoners, and I am delighted that the name of Christ was heard by all 1,300 prisoners,” Pastor Singh said. “I saw that their spirits were crushed, and they had deep loneliness in them.”

Some of the prisoners were convicted murderers and had killed as many as 22 people, and he prayed with and embraced many of them, feeling an anointing and the power of God, he said.

“I am delighted to have gone to the prison and been used by God,” he said. “Now that I have seen them and have been there, I can pray for them with much conviction and burden.”

A native of Delhi who converted to Christianity from Hinduism, the pastor moved to Nepal five years ago and lives there with this wife and three children. He runs a tailoring training center in Nepalganj with his wife and also has been ministering at the Prem Sewa Clinic, a hospital in Rupaidiha, for nearly two years.

Indian and Nepalese nationals may cross the border without restrictions, though there is a customs checkpoint for goods and for those from other countries.

India this year cracked the top 10 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience the most persecution, ranking 10th, up from 11th the previous year.

Nepal: ‘No Conversion Zone’

In Nepal, the increase in persecution of Christians that began after a new criminal code was passed in October 2017 (taking effect in August 2018) continues, with a mob stopping construction of a church building in Kathmandu, the capital, on Jan. 20, another pastor said.

Nearly all districts in Nepal now have roadside signs reading, “No Conversion Zone,” Pastor Sagar Baiju told Morning Star News.

“Local people got together and objected to the construction of a church building – they said that Christians cannot come into their cities and reside here,” Pastor Baiju said.

A local resident of Kathmandu told Morning Star News that Christians commonly face harassment when renting or leasing apartments in the city. When they inquire about availability, they are asked to state their religion, and generally landlords are not willing to rent homes to Christians, the source said.

On Christmas Day, the President of the Hindu Revival Campaign Nepal (Hindu Jagran Abhiyan Nepal), Ram Prasad Upadhyay, led a huge anti-Christian procession and burned Bibles at a highway intersection.

A crowd estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 people shouted slogans such as, “Beat the Christians,” “Throw out Christians” and “Down with Christians” in Bharatpur, Chitwan District. Bharatpur, the fourth largest city in Nepal, is 160 kilometers (almost 100 miles) from Kathmandu.

The procession featured saffron flags and banners with threats printed on them.

“Bharatpur is a prominent city, and we can see a wave moving against Christians,” B.P. Khanal, pastor of The Lord’s Assembly and a social activist, told Morning Star News. “The burning of the Bibles was a symbolic representation of their victory over conversion and Christianity in the country.”

Police did nothing to stop the anti-Christian threats and hate speech, illegal under Nepalese religion laws.

“Leave aside the police taking action against the mob, they were actually there to give protection to the whole procession, safeguarding against any kind of communal tension that could arise,” Pastor Baiju told Morning Star News.

He added that he was shocked to see that no media covered the procession.

Christian leaders filed a request with police to take action against such processions on grounds of hate speech and disrupting the peace in the society, but officials took no action, sources said.

The general secretary of the Nepal Christian Society, along with its president and leaders of the National Churches Fellowship of Nepal (NCFN), went to see the home minister on Dec. 31 and appealed for him to look into the procession and take appropriate action against organizers.

“Though the home minister said good words and assured the delegation of action, no action was taken,” Pastor Khanal said.

The meeting, however, led the home minister to send a proposal to declare Dec. 25, 2019 as a holiday, he said.

“People are traumatized in Chitwan and across the nation,” Pastor Khanal said. “Most of the Christians are afraid to go out and evangelize. Some of the churches are threatened and are afraid to conduct regular worship services.”

Unlike Christmas in 2017, Christmas carols were sung behind closed doors last year, sources said.

“This past Christmas, the majority of carol singing has taken place inside our respective churches,” said one source. “Out of fear, very few have gone door-to-door carolling, and the government is mum; the police are mute spectators.”

Pastor Baiju said he feels that the government is not doing enough to protect the rights of the Christian community, and that radical groups are taking undue advantage of this laxness.

Nepal was ranked 32nd on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

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20 Indian Christians hurt in attack on prayer meeting in Uttar Pradesh

Twenty Christians have been injured in an assault on a prayer meeting in India's Uttar Pradesh state, according to International Christian Concern.

Local reports say 35 Hindu radicals stormed a prayer meeting in Raikashipur village as more than 150 Christians met for prayer.

The attack took place on July 2, according to ICC, when the mob arrived at the prayer meeting in several vehicles and beat the participants with sticks. They also fired a gun into the air.

As well as injuring people they destroyed furniture and musical instruments.

Ram Kumar Gautam (42) has led the village prayer meetings in a makeshift shed for the last five years and told ICC that on average around 300 people participate.

'I didn't sleep or eat properly for nearly a week now,' he said. 'The attack on our prayer meeting last Monday has had devastating consequences. Many have serious injuries with their limbs being broken. Also, a false case was booked against six of us under stringent IPC [Indian Penal Code] sections.'

The charges relate to riot and assault, and to 'Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.'

Gautam said: 'We peacefully conduct prayers every Monday and people voluntarily attend these prayers. We don't even talk about conversions, but I am accused of converting people. People come to our prayer and get healing. That's why people choose to regularly attend the prayers.'

William Stark, ICC's regional manager, said: 'Article 25 of India's constitution says that every individual has the right to freely profess, practise and propagate the religion of their choice. For more than 150 Christians, this right was violated last Monday when Hindu radicals assaulted them for merely practising their faith.

'India's authorities must bring these 35 Hindu radicals in Raikashipur to justice. Until then, India's religious freedom rights will remain only words on paper and attacks on Christians and other religious minorities will continue to rise in both number and severity.'

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Pastor in India Arrested while Securing Affidavits on Converts’ Faith

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – A pastor in Uttar Pradesh state, India was filing affidavits stating that 16 people had become Christians of their own will this week when Hindu extremists came and accused him of forcible conversion – resulting in his incarceration.

Pastor Maleywar

After manhandling and jailing 58-year-old Dependra Prakash Maleywar on Monday (June 18) at the Sardhana lower court premises near Meerut, the Hindu extremists have since gone to the 16 new Christians’ homes and threatened to expel them if they do not recant their faith, sources said.

Members of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal surrounded Maleywar while the Church of North India (CNI) pastor and a lawyer were securing notarizations of affidavits for baptisms signifying the faith in Christ of 16 people, sources said.

Someone on the court premises had informed the extremists about the affidavits, sources said, and at about 1 p.m. a few members of the Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad, approached and questioned Pastor Maleywar about the affidavits as they man-handled him.

Checking the pastor’s bag and grabbing the affidavits, they accused him of forcible and fraudulent conversion, the sources said.

Officers at the adjacent Sardana police station noticed the commotion, took Pastor Maleywar into custody and transferred him to the Abdullapur jail near Meerut, 14 miles away, the sources said.

“They confiscated my father’s cell phone and all the affidavits – he could not even contact us,” the  pastor’s 30-year-old son, Rohin Maleywar, told Morning Star News.

The affidavits are not legally required in Uttar Pradesh, but church leaders request them to avoid controversies and the very kind of accusations that occurred, said the Rev. Prem Prakash Habil, CNI bishop of the Diocese of Agra that encompasses the two churches the 16 people belong to. Two of the Christians belong to the church Pastor Maleywar leads, St. Thomas Church in Mulhera, and 14 belonging to Epiphany Church in Khatauli.

The affidavits are self-declarations that the signees willingly choose to follow Christ, want to get baptized and are not coerced or offered inducements.

“We always follow this procedure; they have to submit a hand-written application in their own writing, verification papers and an affidavit if they want to become a member of the church and receive baptism,” Habil told Morning Star News.

Usually, however, the candidates for baptism file the affidavits themselves, he said.

“The way my evangelist was working was not the right way – it was [supposed to be] the work of the individuals who believed to get their own paperwork done and then submit it to their respective churches,” he said.

Pastor Maleywar had gone to get the affidavits notarized in Mulhera, where his church is located, but he was unable and so went to the lower court Sardhana, fewer than seven miles away, sources said.

All 16 baptisms were still set to take place, sources said.

Pastor Maleywar has been leading the CNI’s St. Thomas Church for five years and working as an evangelist with CNI for 17 years.

Intimidation

The families of the 16 Christians have become the targets of both the Hindu extremists and local media.

“The members of the Bajarang Dal went door-to-door and met all the 16 families and spoke to them,” said Pastor Maleywar’s daughter, Ritika Maleywar.

Pastor Nirmal Jacob of the Ephiphany Church said that Bajarang Dal members are exerting severe pressure on all the families.

“The head of the village, along with Bajarang Dal members, went to the homes of these believers and threatened them with dire consequences,” Pastor Jacob said. “They said that they would be boycotted from the village, asked to leave, their educational certificates would be confiscated and their entitlement to government benefits would be withdrawn if they profess their faith in Jesus Christ.”

He said local and national television media visited him in Khatauli on Wednesday (June 20), along with local police, and interviewed him and many families from his church.

“People testified to the media how prayer and attending church has healed them from fatal diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis,” Pastor Jacob said. ‘One family boldly shared how they did not have a child after 12 years of their marriage, and after they got themselves prayed for and started to regularly attend church, they have two children now.”

The pastor was deeply troubled, however, when none of their testimonies were broadcast, and editing changed the meaning of the interviews entirely as they were shown saying only that they were once Hindus, he said.

He is receiving threatening calls, and friends have been warning him that he could be attacked at any time.

“I do not know where to find help in a situation like this,” Pastor Jacob said. “The police, media and judiciary are biased; I do not feel safe any longer.”

The pastor, 39, has been ministering with the CNI synod for 14 years.

Alwan Masih, general secretary of the CNI synod, said the churches will go forward.

“As citizens of our country, we have rights and we will execute our rights, but at places people have suffered for their faith,” he told Morning Star News.

Bail Rejected

At this writing Pastor Maleywar remained in the Abdullapur jail under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, “Arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offense,” after the Sub-Divisional Magistrate rejected his bail petition on Wednesday (June 20), sources said.

He has also been charged with causing voluntary hurt under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 504 of the IPC, “Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace.”

“Local politicians created a ruckus in the courtroom,” his attorney, Reena Luka, told Morning Star News. “The judge said if he granted Maleywar bail, the peace of the area would be compromised.”

Luka said that the judge told them to wait a few days until tensions cooled.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to procure the bail on Monday (June 25),” she added.

The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.

India ranked 11th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience the most persecution.

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Christmas violence and arrests shake Indian Christians

There has been a surge in anti-Christian attacks following the election of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government

Story by Guardian. Click on the link to go to original post. 

The strains of Hindi carols have rung out in the Aligarh Church of Ascension every Christmas since 1858. Armed police on the grounds is a more recent tradition.

This year the officers will be out in force. On Thursday night in the north Indian city, Rahul Chauhan was playing tabla drums while the rest of his Seventh–Day Adventist choir sang Christmas songs in the home of a follower.

Outside, a small group of men had gathered. One forced his way into the room. “He kicked the musical instruments before trying to attack my brother with a knife,” said Jitesh Chauhan, a singer in the group.

He claims the men cast anti-Christian slurs and damaged the instruments. Rahul and the 30 carollers were unharmed but shaken.

A group of carol singers perform in a Christian locality in Aligarh the day after a carol group was attacked with knife by a suspected Hindu activist in Aligarh.

Days earlier in Aligarh, hardline Hindu activists distributed letters warning Christian schools in the city against involving Hindu students in Christmas activities. In nearby Mathura, seven Christians were arrested by police while praying inside a home. In Satna, Madhya Pradesh state, an entire choir was detained while going door to door.

Worries about religious persecution in India usually centre on the country’s 180 million Muslims. Lynchings of Muslim dairy and cattle traders by “cow protection” vigilantes have become increasingly frequent. Hindu groups including members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) openly lobby to stop Muslims buying property in Hindu neighbourhoods.

The series of Christmas incidents has turned the spotlight on another minority. More quietly, Indian Christians are also feeling the walls close in, says John Dayal, the secretary general of the All-India Christian Council, following a surge in attacks last year. “Anything that impacts the Muslims in a different way impacts the Christians,” he says.

In 2014, Indians elected a Hindu nationalist government in a landslide. Its leader, Narendra Modi, is a lifelong adherent of “Hindutva”, the conviction that India’s culture and institutions ought to reflect an inherent Hindu nature. Religious minorities – regarded as Hindus led astray by foreign influence – are tolerated, provided they acknowledge Hindu hegemony.

Modi has repeatedly emphasised his government will promote “complete freedom of faith”, but his elevation has been a green light for radical Hindutva groups, says Dhirendra K Jha, an author whose latest book studied these “shadow armies”.

“After Modi became prime minister, these groups started thinking they have assumed power, it is their government,” Jha says. “So they have gone amok. They don’t fear law and order or any democratic institution. They are on a rampage.”

A “perfect parallel”, he says, is the growing boldness of white nationalist groups in the US under Donald Trump.

“Modi would never come out and openly help them,” Jha says. “But he rarely criticises them. Because of his silence, the message goes to the state machinery that they don’t have to take action against them.”

One popular calumny is that Muslim men are trying to woo Hindu women as part of a “love jihad”. The fear is regularly fanned by senior BJP leaders. Two weeks ago, a Rajasthan state man, Shambhu Lal Raigar, raved about love jihad as he used a pick-axe to murder Mohammed Afzarul, a migrant labourer, in an attack filmed and posted online.

For Christians the primary charge is of “forced conversions”. “It means putting pressure on people to convert, sometimes physically,” says Dayal. “But according to [Hindutva groups] it could mean anything from praying for Jesus to heal you, to offering to put you in a Christian hospital or school, to paying a person American dollars or British pounds.”

In practice, any kind of public prayer in the presence of Hindus – particularly the downtrodden Dalits, formerly “Untouchables”, whose leaders regularly threaten to abandon Hinduism – can attract police attention.

One morning in October, a group including Hindus and Muslims arrived at the Faith Assemblies of God Church for a workshop on accessing government welfare. The crowd piqued the suspicion of neighbours, who tipped off local hardliners.

“Around 20 or 30 people of this group came into the church and started threatening people,” says Joel R George, who assists his disabled father to run the ministry.

Police arrived in their wake and detained several people including George, releasing them after it was clear no religious ceremony had taken place.

“The men made videos and interrogated people,” George says. “They asked: are they giving money to you? Are they converting you?”

The roots of Christianity on the subcontinent stretch as far back as AD52, writes the historian William Dalrymple. For centuries, western wanderers in south India returned with tales of Christians who traced their origins to the arrival of Saint Thomas in Kerala state nearly two decades after Jesus’ death.

The seeds of the contemporary backlash were sown centuries later, when British preachers fanned out across colonial India to win souls for Christ, prompting several princely states to institute laws limiting conversions.

In recent decades, Hindutva ire has focused on evangelical crusades such as the AD2000 project, which sought to flood north India with American missionaries and money, aimed especially at Dalits trying to shed the burden of their caste.

Critics such as Arun Shourie, a journalist and former BJP politician, say such efforts mostly produced “rice Christians” – shallow converts swayed by offers of food and welfare. “They join out of necessity, and when necessity compels them they will join something else,” Shourie says.

Today, at least eight Indian states prohibit conversion by force, fraud or inducement, with BJP leaders repeatedly pushing to take the bans nationwide.

India’s largest international donor, the Christian charity Compassion International, was forced to cease its Indian operations in March after the government cut off its foreign funding over concerns it was using the money for proselytisation.

In contrast, Hindutva groups freely conduct mass conversions of Muslims and Christians in ceremonies they call ghar wapsi, or “homecoming”.

In this charged atmosphere, pastors and priests in Aligarh assiduously avoid the C-word. “We don’t convert. We make disciples for Jesus,” George says.

“I haven’t converted anyone in five years,” says Rev Jonathan Lal. “People come to us, sometimes they’re non-Christians, and I pray for them.”

“People see the miracles, they see the healing,” says an elder at the Ascension Church, Vincent Joel, his voice rising. “They want to come. What should we do? Chase them away?”

However many new adherents can be persuaded to file past the police for Christmas mass on Monday, Christian numbers in India will remain small.

The faith has relatively few adherents to show for its two millennia on the subcontinent, and the millions of dollars and hours its champions have spent trying to sway Indian hearts.

“Our population in India is only 2.3%,” says Joel, in the church courtyard. “If we did so many conversions we should be increasing. But we are shrinking.”

Not so, says Dayal. Worshipping “sometimes in the dead of night”, rarely registering new converts with the state, flocks in the Indian hinterland are holding steady, he says.

“Christians will survive, even as an underground church,” he adds. “We have survived here for 2,000 years.”

Vandals raid UP church, allege forced conversions

GORAKHPUR: Six people were injured when a group of about 60 alleged Hindu activists attacked a church on Thursday .The activists claimed that the church was forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity.

AB Lal, the pastor of Full Gospel Church at Moti Pokhra area in Gorakhpur, said, "The attackers were waving saffron flags and were armed with sticks. They barged into the church and kept chanting 'Jai Shri Ram'."

"The attackers said they belonged to Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) and other Hindu groups," he said. Lal added the miscreants vandalised the church for almost an hour.

Police said a case against unknown persons had been registered on the complaint made by church authorities.

HYV, however, denied the allegations. "I don't know anything about it. We were not a part of the attack," said Vinay Paswan, media in-charge of the outfit. 

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More attacks on Indian Christians at Sunday worship

Christian worship services and prayer meetings across India are often targeted by Hindu radicals. Last Sunday in Bihar and the Sunday before in Uttar Pradesh, worship services were disrupted by armed men who assaulted the pastors and, in Bihar, the entire congregation including women and children.

Uttar Pradesh: Pastor and wife severely assaulted during Sunday worship but warned not to get medical attention or complain to police

Pastor Lalta Prasad, 58, and his wife were assaulted by four masked men with wooden sticks during their church’s worship service on Sunday 29 May. The church is located in the village of Naupur, Jaunpur district, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Pastor Prasad (left) with his wife and a member of his church who was also injured in the attack

Around 50-55 Christians were present at the church when the attack took place. Amongst those present were women, children and the elderly, all of whom escaped. The men in the church remained and attempted to rescue Pastor Lalta Prasad and his wife, but they too were attacked.

The attack lasted for 15-20 minutes, before the assailants fled on their motor bikes.

Both Prasad and his wife were taken to the police station and then to the district hospital for treatment.

Dinanath Jaiswar, a church leader from the city of Varanasi who visited the couple on Tuesday (7 June), said to Barnabas Fund, “The doctor on duty warned the couple of the consequences of getting a medical examination done and on filing a case against the assaulters on the basis of the medical test. The couple got extremely frightened and agreed not to get into further trouble and decided not to proceed with the medical examination and thus the police complaint was not filed”.

Jaiswar added, “The political pressure on the police and the medical staff is evident in this case”.

Prasad sustained internal injuries to his head, back, face, legs and muscle tissues, while his wife is unable to stand due to the many blows she received to her back. “They have been very tactfully attacked with no blood and no fractures, so that their injuries would not seem severe to the police”, said Jaiswar.

Prasad, his family and members of the church remain in shock after the attack. According to Jaiswar, “there has been no church service [since the attack] and it seems that the assaulters have been successful in their motives”.

In March this year, Prasad received threats from a group of Hindu extremists and a complaint against him was lodged with the District Magistrate (DM), falsely alleging that he was enticing Hindus into Christianity with the promise of money or employment. The DM ordered an enquiry and instructed the police to look into the matter.

The police investigated Prasad and other Christians, and submitted their report to the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) stating that, “These Christians only pray and worship; they pray in the name of Jesus and healings take place; they do not do any conversion activity.”

Jaiswar comments that “the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [a Hindu nationalist organisation] were shocked that the police were supportive of the Christians and thus they explored other means to stop Pastor Prasad from ministering to the people”. 

Bihar: Pastor and church members brutally attacked by mob of Hindu extremists; further attacks feared in revenge for arrest of one person

On Sunday 5 June, a mob of 25 Hindu extremists belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) stormed into a church in the city of Patna, in the Indian state of Bihar, brutally assaulting its pastor and all those attendence, including women and children, with bamboo sticks, belts and stones. Many sustained severe injuries and were admitted to hospital. One arrest has so far been made in connection with the attack.

Meeting together in India as Christians can carry great risk.jpg

Meeting together in India as Christians can carry great risk

The incident began at around 1:30pm at the India Mission Centre at Kas Mahal, Patna, when two young men, disguised as students and living in the neighbourhood of the church, disrupted the worship service. The men argued with church members, accusing them of conversion activity. Stones and verbal abuse were thrown by the two men, who have since been identified as Vishnu Kumar and Rahul Kumar.

“The church service was disrupted by members of the ABVP disguised as students. They stormed the venue, created a disturbance and proceeded to beat the Christians present using their belts. They also pelted stones at the women and children present,” said Arun Kumar, a local church leader, speaking to Barnabas Fund.

“When Pastor Meera Rani attempted to intervene in the situation, she too was beaten up by the attackers,” Kumar added.

The attackers were soon joined by Golu Kumar and a mob of around 25 people, all from the ABVP. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is the student wing of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the main political power in the Indian government. ABVP is known to be violently opposed to minority groups.

“Soon a mob also came and joined the attackers. They beat the Christians present with bamboo sticks, used their belts on women and children, and pelted stones. The pastor was beaten up again,” Kumar said to Barnabas Fund. “Many of the Christians were seriously injured and had to be admitted to the local hospital for treatment and first aid”.

Kumar added, “Pastor Meera Rani suffered a fracture in one of her fingers, her back is blue with the beating and she also received a cut under her ear”.

The police are investigating the case and so far one person has been arrested, but this in itself may lead to further attacks on the church.

“The attackers have threatened the church members and the pastor that they will take revenge as one of them is under arrest,” said Arun Kumar. “The ABVP people have warned the Christians not to conduct any more worship services in the church or else next Sunday they will come with guns and swords and will kill the Christians and cut them to pieces.”

The church has approached the police for protection and they have assured them of this. However, the landlord in whose property the church has been meeting is now under pressure and has asked the church to vacate the property by Sunday (12 June). The church has been meeting together in the area for the last six years but has only been meeting at their current location for the last six months.

“Tension and fear prevails. We ask that you pray for our protection, so that we can worship in safety without fear for our lives,” pleaded Kumar.

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Humiliating Attack in India Tests Young Pastor’s Faith

A pastor in northern India who was beaten and paraded through streets with his head half-shaved as crowds called for him to be cut to pieces said he is thankful that he was counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.

On Friday (Jan. 29) Hindu extremists posing as policemen picked up Avdhesh Savita, a 35-year-old father of four, from his home in Rendhar village in Uttar Pradesh state and took him to Orai, Jalaun District. They beat him, shaved half of his head, one eyebrow and one side of his moustache, and put him on a donkey as they led him in a procession through Orai.

They and others in the frenzied crowd mocked him, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion.

“The mob that was parading me was shouting, ‘Kill him, cut him in pieces,’ but I kept telling them that faith unites, it does not divide,” Savita told Morning Star News. “I told my tormentors that I believe in Christ out of my own freewill, and that I have never hurt anyone, but they just did not listen to me.”

The assailants were reportedly members of Yuvavahini (Youth Brigade), a Hindu nationalist group, and took him to the head office of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal in Orai, where others joined in the abuse.

“I kept praying throughout the ordeal, I am not afraid of dying,” Savita said. “I thought, ‘This is the day when I will stand before my Savior.’ But I also thought of my children, they are young, and that was my only concern. In the Lord I am persecuted, I am thankful for this privilege.”

The extremists picked up Savita, who became a Christian four years ago, in Rendhar, about 45 kilometers (27 miles) from Orai, in what appeared to be a police Jeep, and told him to come along for questioning, he said. Like him, his family members believed the men who came were policemen though they were in civilian clothes.

“They started hitting me once I was in the Jeep and continued hitting me on the way,” he told Morning Star News, in anguish. “They took me to the Bajrang Dal head office in Orai, where they hit me with their legs and fists, verbally abused me with the filthiest of language, shaved half my head, removed one eyebrow completely and half shaved my moustache. They then put me on a donkey and paraded me for about a half hour.”

The Hindu extremists took his jacket, which had money in it, and his mobile phone, said Savita, a poor lay pastor from the Dalit “untouchable” class that is lower than any of the Hindu caste levels.

Savita has two daughters, 16 and 14 years old, and two sons, 11 and 8.

Revenge Attack

The attack was rooted in the alleged instigator deciding to take vengeance on Savita because the pastor refused his request to give him money for alcohol and tobacco, a Christian leader said.

When Savita went to a Christian program in Varanasi from Dec. 18 to 23, Sangam Jatav was among three men from his village who had shown an interest in attending and accompanied him, the Rev. Daniel Inbaraj of the Mizpah Ministries told Morning Star News.

“On the fourth day of the program, Sangam Jatav asked Pastor Avdhesh for some money to buy alcohol and tobacco,” Pastor Inbaraj said. “When Avdhesh refused, he got furious. After returning from the program, Sangam Jatav went to Avdhesh’s house, threatened him and demanded money.”

Jatav demanded 20,000 rupees (US$294), saying that if Savita refused he would spread rumors that the pastor had tried to fraudulently convert him, and that he would get Bajrang Dal members to beat him, Savita said. Jatav subsequently called the Bajrang Dal, saying Savita had “converted him without his knowledge” and made him eat beef and desecrate photographs of Hindu gods by walking on them.

Jatav leveled the accusations in interviews with television stations, Pastor Inbaraj said.

“During the interviews, he alleged that the Christians forced him to eat beef, locked him in a room with the other two who had accompanied Avdhesh and him to the program, and forced him to walk on pictures of Hindu gods, Ram and Hanuman,” he said. “He also alleged that he was given 5,000 Indian rupees to become a Christian. But when the other two were quizzed by the police, they denied any such accusation.”

The other two men who attended the Christian program, Sunil Jatav and Ravi Saxena, said that they were never forced to eat beef, and that only vegetarian food was served, Pastor Inbaraj said.

“They did say that they attended religious discourses but denounced the claim of Sangam Jatav that they were forcibly converted,” he said. “‘We went to the program and came back safe,’ they said.”

Jatav was arrested on Sunday (Jan. 31) and remains in jail, police officials told Morning Star News. Three cases are registered against him, including one of attempted murder in connection with the attack on Savita, they said.

Orai Senior Inspector Alok Sinha told Morning Star News that nine Bajrang Dal members have been arrested, but he declined to give any more information, except to say that police were searching for other members.

Pastor Inbaraj said he would raise the issue of Hindu extremists using what appeared to be a police Jeep with the superintendent of police.

The Rev. Savarimuthu Sankar, spokesperson of the Roman Catholic Delhi Archdiocese, called the attack a “glaring example of the impunity” that Hindu extremist groups enjoy under the federal government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“We demand a reply from the RSS [Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh], the parent body and the government,” he said.

John Dayal, spokesman for the United Christian Forum, told Morning Star News that election time in India seems to breed even more Hindu nationalist violence than that which takes place in provinces and towns where elections are not imminent.

“Uttar Pradesh, which is preparing for its legislative assembly elections, has seen considerable Hindutva activity in recent months, with both Christian and Muslims as its victims,” he said. “The state government, which is not controlled by the BJP, seems complicit on this violence.”

At the very least, Dayal said, the state government has failed to act on complaints.

“This blatant attempt to terrorize the community in the guise of protesting conversions is a case in point,” he said. “Uttar Pradesh does not have laws banning [fraudulent or forced] conversion such as exist in the states of Orissa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and three others. And yet both these Hindutva gangs and the police seem to believe that even the profession and propagation of faith is illegal. We condemn this manifestation of religious terrorism and call upon the state and Union governments to take strict action against it. Policemen guilty of complicity or impunity need also to be identified and brought to book.”

Two First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against 150 to 200 unknown people at Orai and Rendhar police stations. The FIRs also name 13 people, including Jatav, who has been charged with attempt to murder (Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code), voluntary causing hurt (323), intentional insult to provoke breach of peace (504) and criminal intimidation (506) at Orai Police Station; and cheating by impersonation (419), cheating and dishonesty (420), punishment for extortion (384), impersonating a public servant (170) and public mischief with intent to incite (505) at Rendhar Police Station.

One FIR also names Akhilesh Dhiya, district convenor of Bajrang Dal at Jalaun. He has been charged with house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint (452), punishment for dacoity (395), kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person (365), promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion (153A), criminal intimidation (506), voluntary causing hurt (323) and punishment for defamation (500). Dhiya is absconding, and the police have yet to find him.

After the ordeal, Savita spent a night at the police station for interrogation and was released the next day when local Christian leaders intervened.

Living in Fear

Savita have moved to his parents’ place at a different village out of fear over his family’s safety. Because his wife and family must care for two animals, they cannot leave the village, he said. If the family left the area, they would have to sell their animals.

“My three elder children have stopped going to school, as they are very fearful,” he said. “We fear that they too might be kidnapped or insulted in the same manner.”

His brother, Mukesh Savita, said the attack seemed to be well-planned.

“My brother is in shock, but what can we do?” he said. “We are in a minority, we are Dalits. Even my family is very afraid. These people who did this to my brother are criminals, and till they are all arrested, we will not be able to live in peace.”

Village onlookers also mistook the assailants for policemen, he added.

“It would have been better if they had shot him,” he told Morning Star News. “This humiliation is a lot worse than death.”

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Incidents against the Christian community in October 2015 as reported by Evangelical Fellowship of India

Introductory Note EFI News October 2015

The Evangelical Fellowship of India has recorded at least 23 verified incidents targeting the Christian community in the months of September - October 2015. This includes one person being killed by unidentified people in Jharkhand while other incidents like arrests on cooked up charges and attacks on individual Christians and worship services continued. At least one act of vandalism of a cemetery was reported from Karnataka.

Most of the incidents came from the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh (11 incidents) and Chhattisgarh (5 incidents). Jharkhand reported two incidents, Delhi, one; Uttar Pradesh, one, Punjab, one; Gujarat, one and Karnataka reported one incident.

Majority of the incidents centered on the tribal belts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand with tribal Christians bearing the brunt of most of the violence.

These incidents of hate crime and violence against the Christian minority are at best a partial indicator of the situation of Christians in the country for many incidents are not even reported. The Evangelical Fellowship of India urges the central government and the respective state governments to look into these incidents and take steps to check the hate and ensure justice and protection for the minority community.

Christian Cemetery Vandalised in Belgaum, Karnataka

September 7, 2015: A cemetery in Belgaum of Karnataka was found vandalized on September 7, 2015 when a group of people went to bury their dead. According to reports in the media, the vandals have uprooted more than a dozen crosses, broke up some gravestones and dig up some graves. The incident happened at Bharatnagar of Shahapur area, which is about 2kms from Belgaum city.

Three Christians including two pastors jailed at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh

September 8, 2015: Three Christians including two pastors are in jail in Jagdalpur, Bastar district since September 8, 2015. Pastor Loknath Baghel, Pastor Suddu Baghel, and Tikaram Netam of Barpaguda village of Bastar district were arrested after they opposed the takeover of their village land. The land in question has been used as a graveyard in the past and now has been marked by the government authorities that want to develop a pond there. A FIR was filed against the Pastors when the villagers opposed the takeover of land. The sessions court has rejected the bail application for the Pastors twice.

Church members brutally attacked by Hindu extremists at Bastar, Chhattisgarh

September 8, 2015: Christian villagers in Karmari village, district Bastar, Chhattisgarh were brutally attacked by Hindu extremists following the passing of a resolution in the village banning all non-Hindu religious activities. A mob of over 50 Hindu radicals gathered and surrounded a Church building around 4 pm on September 8, 2015. Before any of the Christians could even ask what was happening, the radicals attacked, assaulting Christians with wooden clubs and sticks. When some women from the Church confronted the radicals, they too were brutally beaten with wooden clubs and fists. Two Christian women, Pulo Bhai and Ludri were seriously injured in the assault and lost consciousness. As Christians in Karmari village face a social boycott, life has become very difficult for them.

House Church Service stopped at Palian Kalan, Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh

September 13, 2015: Pastor Durgesh Yadav of Palian Kalan, Lakhimpur Kheri district, Uttar Pradesh was threatened by a mob of around 200-250 people led by local RSS and BJP leaders during Sunday worship service on 13 September 2015 at 11:00 am. The mob wanted him to stop conducting worship in the area. The house Church of about 100 members has stopped worship as of now because of the threats received. Pastor Yadav has filed a complained to the Palia Kalan police station but the police have not yet lodged the FIR against the local leaders.

Pastor and wife detained and interrogated by Police alleging force conversions at Chandia, Umaria, Madhya Pradesh

September 18, 2015: Pastor Gaya Prasad Dharwiya and his wife, from Shahdol district, Madhya Pradesh were apprehended and threatened by a local RSS leader who was accompanied by the police. The Pastor and his wife were returning from a friend's house at Chandia town of Umria District, Madhya Pradesh. The RSS leader and the policemen forcibly took the couple to the Chandia Police Station without assigning any reason and detained them there for more than eleven hours before letting them go late in the night. The Superintendent of Police, Umria District ordered Pastor Dharviya and his wife to be present at the Chandia Police Station next morning at 10:00AM.

Christians Beaten Up, Chased Out from Home in Chhattisgarh

September 22, 2015: In Kongud, Kondagoan, Chhatisgarh, Hindu extremists beat up two Christian siblings after they refused to renounce Christ. The extremists summoned Mankuram Singh and his brother to a Hindu temple and asked them to renounce Christ However, the Christians refused and the mob thereafter started to beat them up, accused them of being involved in forceful conversions and proceeded to vandalize their home. The attackers later locked up their home and chased them out of the village. The brothers submitted a police complaint with the help of area Christian leaders, but the police did not register a case against the attackers and the extremists are threatening to harm them if they do not withdraw their complaint.

Delhi, Pastor threatened to stop Church service

September 27, 2015: September 27, 2015: Pastor Pradeep Kumar in Matiala, Uttam Nagar, New Delhi was manhandled and threatened by some of his neighbors who were led by local Hindu extremists. The attackers wanted to stop the Sunday Church service that was going on.

Three Christians arrested for alleged forced conversions in Satna, Madhya Pradesh 

October 3, 2015: Madhya Pradesh police arrested three evangelists accusing them of proselytizing and forced conversions. The arrest took place at a school located at Majhgawan, a small town in Satna district. The three Stephen Rajkumar, 40; Harilal 20; and Anil Kumar have been charged under the Madhya Pradesh freedom of religion act. The police also confiscated Bibles, books, CDs and projectors that were with them. 

26 Christian Families threatened with boycott and ouster from the village at Betul, Madhya Pradesh 

October 3, 2015: Suraj Sariyam, a Christian from Chattarpur, Ghoda Dongri, Betul district was threatened and harassed by local Hindu leader Kailash Sariyam alias Gabba on October 3, 2015. Gabba not only stopped Suraj from enter his own paddy field but also did not allow him to take water for next two days from the village river. The village has 26 Christian families. On October 5, 2015 the village council summoned all the Christian families for a hearing. Orders were also issued to the villagers to boycott all the Christian families. Villagers were told not to provide basic facilities like water etc. to the Christians. But due to police intervention the hearing could not take place. The Christians in the village are still getting threats from Hindu extremists and are living in danger.

Christian family pressured and threatened for Ghar Wapsi (re-conversion) at Satna, MP

October 5, 2015: A group of 15 Hindu extremists trespassed into the home of a Christian family at Motwa village in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh and threatened them. The extremists were pressurizing the family to do a 'Ghar Wapsi' (homecoming). This family had accepted Christianity 5 years ago. The extremists threatened the family and warned them not to partake in Christian worship service.

Pastor, his pregnant wife, and their 11-month-old baby beaten at Kapurthala, Punjab 

October 8, 2015: Pastor Arvinder Singh and his family were brutally beaten up to the point of  death by a mob that included his neighbours in Phagwara city of Kapurthala district, Punjab. Pastor Arvinder was hit with an iron object on his head, which made him unconscious for a couple of hours. His wife, who was seven months pregnant, was manhandled and struck many times over on her stomach by the mob. The couple's 11-month baby boy was also thrown at pile of bricks, which caused him serious internal injuries. No FIR has been registered till date.

Pastor's mother pelted with stones in Dahod, Gujarat

October 12, 2015: Dasudi Ben Bhuriya (58), mother of Pastor Rajesh Bhuriya was at tacked and pelted with stones by 6-7 Hindu extremists, on October 12, at Bilwani village of Dahod district. She was admitted at the Bilwani hospital as a result of the attack for treatment of her injuries.

Pastor Shot Dead in Jharkhand  

October 13, 2015: Pastor Chamu Hasda Purty of the Pentecostal Church at Sandih, Khunti district was killed as unidentified people opened gunfire at him after entering his house. The murder took place in the late evening of October 13. Pastor Chamu Hasda Purty was well respected and valued by the local community.

Christians summoned at Police station for questioning on false charges of Conversion at Betul, MP 

October 17, 2015: Two Christians, Yuvraj and Kumar Singh were taken to the Bhimpur Police station in Betul district for questioning after local Hindu extremists complained against them alleging religious conversions. Christians have been gathering as a Church conducting regular Sunday worship at Bhimpur village for more than a year now but they are getting regular threats from local Hindu groups to close down the Church and move out of the village.

Christians detained at police station on the complaint of Bajrang Dal and VHP members in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh

October 17, 2015: Members of Bajrang Dal attacked a prayer meeting near Rajnandgaon and beat up the preacher Dev Kumar Sahu on October 17, 2015. The meeting was held at the house of Mr. Lalit Sahu and about 50 Christians were in attendance when more than 20 armed members of the Bajrang Dal trespassed into the private property of Mr. Lalit Sahu and started pushing people and beat up the preacher. The police carried the Christians to the police station for questioning and they were let off later after EFI and other local Christian leaders intervened.

Christian meeting disrupted in Dalli Rajhara, Chhattisgarh

October 21, 2015: A prayer meeting organized at the home of Mrs. Dhaneswari Sahu was disrupted by member of the Dharm Jagran Samiti along with some representatives of the Sahu community who were angry that the family had started organizing Christian prayer meetings at their home since last many months. According to reports when the prayer meeting was going on, members of the Dharm Jagran Samiti and representatives of the Sahu community arrived at the house of Mrs. Dhaneswari Sahu in an inebriated state. They created a ruckus and stopped the prayer meeting. They accused the Christians of conversions and also charged them with scheming alleging that the Christians wanted to demolish the nearby temple. The Christians have not reported the matter to the police.

Christians arrested in Kanhiwada, Madhya Pradesh 

October 25, 2015: A Christian woman and a man were arrested by the police from a private prayer meeting at Bhatekhari village after a local Hindu leader complained against them alleging conversions through allurement. Mrs. Anjana Jharia and Mr. Manish Yadav were speaking at a private prayer meeting organized at the house of a Christian, when the police arrested them on the complaint of one Ashok Baghel. There is no evidence of Mr. Ashok Baghel even being present in the meeting according to local Christians. They were charged with sections 3 and 4 of the MP Freedom of Religion Act and under sections 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. They were later bailed out.

Christians including children arrested in Junardeo, Madhya Pradesh

October 25, 2015: At least 8 Christians plus two children were arrested from Silvada, Junnardeo on cooked up charges of forced conversion and of hurting religious sentiments this included a family from Bhopal who had come down to Junnardeo for their vacations. Pastor A J Thomas, his wife, and two children, John (14) and Kezia (12) were among the people arrested. Pastor Thomas and his wife were later put in a jail in Junnardeo while their children were taken to Chhindwara which is 50 kilometres away. Later the children were separated and while Kezia was sent to Shahdol (421 Kilometres away), John was sent to Narsinghpur (125 Kilometres away), where they await their bail till the writing of this story. Their parents have been bailed out. 

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