Eight Christians Brutally Assaulted In Odisha

A group of Christians were brutally attacked by a gang of raging religious goons at midnight on the 21st of July 2020. This attack took place in the Indian state of Odisha in a village named Badaguda which features in the district of Koraput.

Speaking to Persecution Relief, Pr. Ayuba Khora, the local Pastor said, “The goons broke into the home of 75-year-old Chachiri Muduli, who was housing around 7 odd Christians after their homes had been broken down earlier this year by the same fanatics. The goons not only mercilessly beat the Christians up but also destroyed the house.”

He further added, “8 Christians in all were admitted to the local government hospital with severe injuries, of which the elderly Chachiri had the worst wounds.”

Pr. Ayuba told Persecution Relief that he had been running a house church at the Badaguda village for the past 2 years. Around 40 Christians used to gather to pray every Friday. Since then, the villagers have been harassing and beating up the believers saying, “When you pray, our gods leave us, so you have to stop praying here or you must leave this village.”

Pr. Sudhakar Khosla, one of the Odisha state coordinators for Persecution Relief soon got in touch with Pr. Ayuba regarding the attack. “On the 26th of March 2020, the fanatics burnt down and destroyed a small cottage that we had built for the Church to meet in.”

Pr. Ayuba further told us that the fanatics had vandalized and broken down the homes of other believers in the village too, which is why the believers had taken shelter at ChachiriMuduli’s home. “Around 8 families in all are being persecuted for their faith in this village” he said.

Pr. Sudhakar also got an opportunity to speak with the persecuted Christians regarding their ordeal. “The villagers told us that our Christian faith has disturbed the village” said Sumitra, a young Christian girl who was also beaten up along with her father, Shiba Muduli, two other sisters, Sabi and Radhika and her brother-Sunam.

“Some of these villagers are very angry with us because we worship Jesus Christ and are trying to make us forsake Christianity” said Sunam Muduli, who is currently recuperating from his injuries.

Pr. Ayuba explained to Persecution Relief that in the past two years, the fanatics have quarreled with, beaten up and broken-down homes of believers many times. The homes of Christian brothers, Patulu naik and Purshan Naik were completely destroyed a few weeks ago. The believers approached the village headman for help numerous times but nothing was done about it.

“We then approached the Tehsildar and requested him to intervene on our behalf. Sadly, we were turned away with comforting words and no help” narrated Pr. Ayuba. He further stated that the attacks against the believers intensified to such an extent that all of them began living together as their homes and possessions were taken over by the goons.

“3 times Pr. Ayuba and the believers lodged a FIR at the local police station against the accused, but the police did nothing and did not arrest them” said Pr. Sudhakar. He added that the fourth FIR was filed on the 22nd of July 2020.

Pr. Sudhakar Khosla told Persecution Relief that after much pressure from The Koraput Pastor’s Association and the local Christians, the Police arrested a few of the accused on the 23rd of July 2020. “But there is a big possibility of the accused being released without bail” he exclaimed.

Speaking to the President of the Koraput Pastor’s Association, he said, “Since the 20th of March 2020, I have come to this village at least 6 times to sort out the issues. On every occasion, the fanatics come to a compromise but soon begin to harass the believers again.”

Since January 2020, Persecution Relief recorded a total of 18 cases of Christian Persecution in the state of Odisha and reported 6 murders in the same state since 2015. 293 cases of Christian persecution were recorded by Persecution Relief in the first half of 2020. From January 2016 to June 2020, Persecution Relief has recorded 2067 cases of Hate crimes against Christians in India

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has downgraded India to the lowest ranking, ‘Countries of Particular Concern’(CPC) In its 2020 report. The US State Department ranked India’s persecution severity at “Tier 2” along with Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the past seven years, India has risen from No. 31 to No. 10 on Open Doors’ World Watch List, ranking just behind Iran in persecution severity.

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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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Christian Father of Two Killed in Jharkhand State, India

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – When Kande Munda heard a knock on his door one night last month, the Christian father of two knew it was likely the same thugs and their colleagues in his area of Jharkhand, India who had harassed him for nearly four years.

They were particularly upset that Munda had reported them to police for a 2018 assault on his mother-in-law. The assailants, followers of tribal Adivasi religion, had opposed her conversion to Christianity by labelling her Christian prayers as “witchcraft” and gang-raping her.

Munda and his family were already in bed after a hard day of work on the night of June 7 when they heard the knock on the door. Munda told his wife not to answer it.

“He was suspicious that they must have come for him,” his wife, Bindi Munda, told Morning Star News.

Three men forced the door open and entered, while four or five remained outside, she said. Darkness obscured their faces.

“One of them pointed a gun at my husband and told the other two men that they should first rape me and then kill my husband,” Munda said.

Their children, ages 1 and 3, were asleep. The armed assailants seized her husband by the neck as he knelt and pleaded with them not to kill him, she said.

“I have done nothing wrong – please don’t kill me,” he cried repeatedly, according to his wife, who picked up their children, holding one in each arm, and fled into the wilderness. She hid there briefly before running into the village screaming for someone to save her husband.

“But by the time I had returned to our shanty with some neighbors, he was not there,” she said. “I went about half a mile on foot to a believer’s home to get their help to search for my husband.”

That night Kande Munda’s youngest brother, returning to Bari village on a motorbike, found his corpse in a pool of blood under a tree by the side of the road to Latardih village. The mutilated body was barely recognizable.

“He suspected that the body was that of his brother,” the wife of the deceased told Morning Star News. “He rushed to our shanty looking for us, and as he could not find us there, he called on my husband’s phone. I picked up the phone, and he told me that there was a corpse lying by the road, and it looked like that of my husband.”

Kande Munda, also known as Philip Munda, was 27.

It was the second killing of a Christian for his faith in India last month. On the night of June 4 in Odisha state, followers of tribal religion abducted 16-year-old Sambaru Madkami for his faith before stabbing and stoning him to death. In Uttar Pradesh state on May 28, villagers tried to kill pastor Dinesh Kumar in an ambush that left him unconscious.

Mixed Motives

Munda and his family previously practiced their traditional, animistic religion as tribal Adivasis. After he put his faith in Christ in 2017, his wife soon converted, and when her mother came for an extended visit in 2018, she too received Christ, Bindi Munda said.

After Adivasi villagers abducted her mother from their home, took her into the woods and gang-raped her, Kande Munda filed a police complaint, she said.

“The police investigated the matter and arrested some of the accused,” she said. “Since then, opposition against my husband and our Christian faith increased.”

Sanjay Sandil, a member of Siyon Church in the area, said the primary suspect remained at large. After police arrested some suspects, he said, one of Munda’s cousins continually harassed Munda with the help of some militant Maoist colleagues, pressuring him to withdraw the charges.

The cousin and Maoists issued an ultimatum about three months ago that Munda should drop the case or “face consequences,” Sandil said.

“Every time he would inform us about the harassment, we supported him as a church and stood by him,” Sandil told Morning Star News. “We always reached Bari village in the next couple of hours and ensured that the Maoist group did not lay hands on him or sister Bindi Munda.”

In May eight men surrounded their home, and Sandil and other Christians arrived to stand with the family, he said. Police also arrived and gave assurances that they would not let any of the accused go free, Sandil said.

The day of the attack (June 7), police had received word that the primary suspect was in Bari village and were searching for him, he said.

“They could not catch him, but in the night at around 8 p.m., the men unleashed the attack by forcefully entering his house,” Sandil said. “It is more likely that the same persons who gheraoed the house in May must have showed up at their shanty that night. Brother Philip Munda was brutally hacked to death with machetes. The marks can be seen clearly on the back of his body.”

Noble Soul

On June 8, officers at the Saiko police station registered cases against the eight men under sections for kidnapping or abducting to murder (Section 364) and murder (Section 302) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The persons who abducted and murdered Kande Munda have absconded from the crime scene soon after they committed his murder,” Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar told Morning Star News. “The investigation and search for the accused are still underway. We have been able to list the names of suspects, and a few other names also had surfaced during the investigation. All the accused persons would be arrested very soon.”

Sandeep Oraon, Jharkhand legal aid coordinator for advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom India, visited Munda’s family at their new location on June 24. He assured them of legal assistance in the matter and prayed with them.

Sandil recalled Munda as a noble soul – a selfless, skilled construction and field worker who would agree to work for half the normal wage for people who could not afford to pay more.

“He was providing for his family by working very hard,” Sandil said. “Now the small children do not have a father to provide and raise them.”

Bindi Munda has relocated with her children to another village, as the killers could come after her since she witnessed the abduction of her husband, he said.

“After Brother Philip Munda’s funeral service, the church members spent some time with sister Bindi, counselling her and telling her to remain strong in faith,” Sandil said. “She shared that her husband told her that he could be killed and asked her to bring up their children in a godly manner.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a “Country of Particular Concern” to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.

India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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Police Unresponsive or Hostile toward Christians Beaten in Jharkhand, India

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – Police in Jharkhand, India refused to register a complaint about an attack that sent Christians to the hospital for treatment, while officers in another area falsely accused the victims’ relatives in an assault that left a woman unconscious, sources said.

A mob of about 400 animists of the tribal Sarna religion tore down parts of a church building under construction in Budhakaman village, West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand state, on May 10 and attacked Christians at the site, according to Suman Sinku, wife of the church pastor.

“They abused the Christians present there in extremely derogatory language,” Sinku told Morning Star News. “They held Suraj Chatomba and punched his jaws and back. The assailants then knocked another Christian, Muni Chatomba, to the ground and kicked her on her face and upper body.”

Another Christian woman, Bijayanthi Chatomba, ran over to rescue her but was struck in the nose with enough force for it to bleed, Sinku said.

“The mob forcefully held a female Christian, stripped off her clothes including her inner garments, leaving her half-naked, and continued punching her face,” Sinku told Morning Star News. “They thumped Shiromani Chatomba’s chest.”

Christians phoned police about the attack, which began shortly after 11 a.m., and officers showed up at about 2:30 p.m. and dispersed the mob, she said.

Village elders had summoned Christians to a meeting at 7 a.m. to question them about construction of the church building, but church members waited for three hours and no officials showed up, Sinku said. After the Christians had returned home, a mob formed at the meeting venue, ignoring social distancing norms to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, and then went to the church site to attack, she said.

The next morning, May 11, Sinku and others accompanied the injured Christians to the Jagannathpur police station, where officers refused to register cases against the assailants, she said.

“Police insisted that the villagers also must be allowed to share their grievances before deciding if cases must be registered against them,” she told Morning Star News. “We waited for the village elders, but nobody turned up.”

At last one Sarna representative showed up carrying his child in his arms, she said.

“The station house officer kept delaying the matter, so I had reminded him that as a law- abiding officer he must accept the victims’ complaint and must ensure that necessary action is taken against the assailants,” Sinku said. “But he tried to suppress the matter, and his driver harassed the victims mentally, abusing them in filthy language.”

Upon receiving information about the attack from Pastor Sudarshan Sinku and his wife, the Jharkhand Legal Aid Cell coordinator for Alliance Defending Freedom India, Sandeep Tigga Oraon, helped the injured Christians send a complaint to the West Singhbhum District Superintendent of Police, she said.

The village elders told the Christians to show certificates as evidence they had renounced the Sarna religion and had accepted Christianity, Sinku said. Village chiefs in the area assume arbitrary powers to deny tribal benefits to people who have left the traditional tribal religions, a source who requested anonymity said.

“There have been instances where the village chief refused to enroll the Christians converted from indigenous groups as members of the village,” the source said. “He would deny them residential and tribal status, making it difficult for them to apply for government subsidies, benefits for lower-income groups and also for higher education.”

Area village chiefs also send young adults to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) training sessions to develop a Hindu nationalist mindset to oppose Christian and Muslim minorities, he added.

On May 31, the tribal animists returned and set the church building cross on fire, and police later summoned both parties to the police station, Sinku said. Village chief Vignesh Tiriya again told the Christians to produce certificates to prove their Christian faith, she said.

“At the police station, I once again questioned the police if they were aware about the constitutional provisions for religious freedom and the special provisions for Scheduled Tribes,” Sinku said. “The inspector seemed clearly annoyed, asked me to leave the room where the discussion was going on and attempted to effect a compromise without listening to the Christians’ pleas.”

Morning Star News tried to reach the police inspector of Jagannathpur police station, but officers there were unavailable.

False Charges

Also in Jharkhand state, relatives of a woman beaten unconscious for refusing to renounce Christ learned on May 31 that police had falsely accused Christian family members in order to protect Hindu extremist assailants, they said.

Hindu extremists had stormed into the home of the Christian woman, 23-year-old Reena Kumari, took her outside and pressured her to renounce Christ, relatives said. The six upper-caste Hindus attacked Kumari in Bichagara village, Khunti District, on April 16, her mother Phulmani Devi said.

“They were after her that night tormenting her, ‘Will you leave Christian faith or not?’” the 61-year-old Devi said. “They badgered her.”

The next morning, the six Hindu extremists intruded into the family’s home and dragged Devi, her husband and three daughters out and presented them before the village council, she said.

Officials demanded that Kumari sign a document pledging to refrain from attending church services and telling anyone about Christ, Devi said. Under immense pressure from the village elders, she said, her daughter agreed to sign it but balked at their subsequent demand that her parents and family also had to sign, she said.

“My daughter told them that she had signed it and that should be enough, and that they must not force our family to sign it,” Devi told Morning Star News. “They went on to angrily hold her by her hair and punched her on her back and head.”

Reena Kumari’s brother, Suraj Kerketta, also witnessed the assault.

“They beat up my sister very badly, so that she fell unconscious,” Kerketta told Morning Star News. “We took her home, and in a short while we found that she suffered severe blows and must be taken to the hospital.”

A relative took Kerketta to the police station to file a complaint against the assailants, but an officer there said he was writing too slowly, snatched the paper from him and began writing it, he said.

“I dropped out of school to earn a livelihood from daily wages and support my parents,” Kerketta said. “I had no time to argue with the officer, as my sister was growing very weak. I rushed out of the police station to drop my sister at government hospital. Doctors told us that she had suffered internal injuries. A CAT-scan was done on her, but the medical staff refused to show the reports. They told us that they would only submit in the court directly.”

Kumari was hospitalized until May 28 and is still unwell, Devi said.

“Her head aches if she talks for a few minutes,” she said. “She also is unable to chew food, I am feeding her semi-solid food. She is fainting every now and then. We don’t know anything about her health. The doctors have not shared anything with us.”

On May 31, Devi and Kerketta went to the Khunti District Court as the case they had filed had come up before a judge. They were forbidden from passing through the court gates due to coronavirus restrictions, Devi said, but they noticed that police had made false accusations in their report.

“The police had noted names of our relatives who were actually helping us rescue our daughter from beatings as the accused in the case,” Devi told Morning Star News. “The next hearing is on June 15. We are hoping to bring this to the notice of the judge that the police wrongfully framed our relatives also in this case.”

Police at the Karra station were not available for comment.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 28 urged the U.S. State Department to add India as a “Country of Particular Concern” to its list of nations with poor records of protecting religious freedom.

India is ranked 10^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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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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Maharashtra: Christian gathering attacked during prayer meet, 12 injured

A congregation attending Sunday Mass in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district was attacked by a group of masked men armed with swords and iron rods, police said on Tuesday. Around 25 people had gathered for their weekly Sunday prayer at the residence of one Bhimsen Chavan in Kowad village, which borders Karnataka, when the incident happened.

The incident comes on the back of a debate on intolerance against minorities in the country. A group of 10 to 15 masked men armed with swords, iron rods and glass bottles reached the event venue on motorcycles around noon and tried to barge into the house, PTI quoted police as saying.

The masked men also threw stones at the congregation, injuring 12 people in the process. However, a group of women, who were part of the prayer meeting, thwarted their attempt to enter the house by throwing chilly powder. The injured have been admitted to hospital and their condition is stated to be stable.

Senior police officials said the situation was now under control but they were keeping a close watch in the area. A police official said even though they were yet to come to a conclusion on the motive behind the attack, prima facie it seemed the intention was to disturb the prayer meeting.

Police have registered a case of rioting and attempt to murder against unidentified people. Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh visited the spot on Tuesday and is supervising the investigation. The attackers most probably had come from Belagavi in Karnataka.

Police have already recorded the statements of people who had seen the attackers. The CCTV footage of the area was also being scanned, the official said and expressed hope that the attackers would be nabbed soon.

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‘Total impunity’ in India, as Muslims and Christians ‘bear brunt of ruling ideology’

Frequent reports of violent attacks against India’s religious minorities show the “total impunity” enjoyed by their Hindu nationalist attackers, says one civil rights activist.

In one recent attack, a pastor, his wife and their congregation were attacked at their ‘house church’ in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state on Sunday (8 July), advocacy group CSW reported.

Paul Stephen was hit with a heavy stone, leaving him with severe injuries. He had reportedly received several threats during the past year. His wife, Prathiba Stephen, was also assaulted, including an attempted rape, CSW said, while other members of their family were also assaulted.

The pastor had previously reported incidents of violence and harassment against his church in Paguthampalayam village, with the local government being forced to step in to settle a conflict reportedly instigated by the head of a local Hindu extremist group, Hindu Munnani (Hindu Front).

Following the attack, four people were arrested who in turn filed a complaint against the pastor and his family, accusing them of assault.

“It is not uncommon for the victims of religiously motivated violence to find their cases undermined by counter-accusations by their attackers,” CSW said.

“We urge the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are held to account,” said CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas. “The cycle of impunity around cases such as this must be broken to ensure that Indian citizens of all religions can exercise their right to practise their religion or belief without fear.”

Nehemiah Christie, Director of Legislation & Regulations of the Synod of Pentecostal Churches in Tamil Nadu, condemned the “inaction” of local authorities. “We hope that the authorities will now take seriously the concerns raised by civil society in both Tamil Nadu and wider Indian society,” he said.

In another incident reported by CSW, Christians from Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh state were attacked on 2 July by an armed Hindu mob, who broke into the church grounds shouting anti-Christian slogans.

They disrupted the prayer meeting with a gunshot into the air and attacked those inside the church, including women and children, CSW said. Eight people were reportedly wounded and taken to a local health centre.

Church furniture, equipment, motorbikes and literature were also reportedly damaged.

The attack has been attributed to Hindu Yuva Vahini, a group that has the support of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, according to civil rights activist John Dayal.

“Impunity is total in the state, where Muslims and Christians bear the brunt of the ruling ideology,” he said. “It needs to be remembered that Uttar Pradesh does not have an ‘anti-conversion law’, and yet even the police and judiciary presume that evangelical activity and even prayer groups are illegal or a criminal activity.”

Earlier this week, World Watch Monitor reported the detention of 16 more Christians in Jharkhand state, which became the seventh state to pass a so-called “anti-conversion law” last year. As World Watch Monitor has reported, although ostensibly aimed at preventing “forced conversions”, in reality such laws are often used to prevent all conversions – whether by force or through free choice – and especially conversions away from Hinduism to minority religions such as Christianity.

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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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Christians Seriously Injured after Attempted Burial in Eastern India

DELHI, March 5, 2018 (Morning Star News) – Tribal animists upset that Christians tried to bury one of their dead in a village in eastern India seriously injured a 13-year-old girl and others who tried to protect a Christian woman the villagers threatened to burn alive.

On Feb. 26 Christians in Chitrangapalli, Tamguda village, were about to bury the body of a 3-year-old girl who had died of natural causes in Odisha’s state’s Malkangiri District, when villagers reached the field where they were performing last rites. The mob insisted they would not allow a Christian to be buried in their village, even though the burial site was on land owned by one of the Christians, area sources said.

They demanded that the Christians take the body outside the village for burial. After the land owner argued that he was free to bury his dead on his land, the villagers left, only to return at midnight with weapons.

About 20 to 25 villagers carrying wooden sticks surrounded the houses of the three Christian families in the village of nearly 35 families and ordered them to come out. The mob was shouting loudly, reviling them for changing their faith.

Some Christians came out of their houses, and the villagers told them to renounce Christianity. When they refused, the attackers entered their homes, dragged the rest of their family members out and beat them, area residents told Morning Star News.

Savagely beating 45-year-old Nandi Madkami, an aunt of the girl who had died, the assailants threatened to burn her with gasoline they were carrying.

“As they were attempting to burn her, Nandi’s 13-year-old daughter ran to her rescue,” Enka Pusham, a Christian from a neighboring village who gave refuge to the Christian families after they spent the night hiding in the forest, told Morning Star News.

Mob beat Deba Madkami when he tried to rescue his daughter. (Morning Star News)

The villagers began to beat Madkami’s daughter, Savita Madkami, with wooden sticks, leaving her bleeding from head wounds. Savita’s father, Deba Madkami, was beaten when he came to his daughter’s rescue, as was his father, Ganga Madkami, and brother, Jaga Madkami. The elderly Ganga Madkami sustained a broken right hand.

The attackers proceeded to burn the houses of the Christians, destroying a roof.

“The mob also looted 10,000 rupees (US$153) from Jaga Madkami’s house and destroyed his cycle,” Pusham said.

The Christians ran to the jungle to save their lives and spent the night there. One badly injured Christian who could not run was secretly taken in by some kind villagers and kept safe.

The next morning Pusham, from nearby Kalimela village, and other Christians went in search of the Christians hiding in the forest.

“News reached our village that the villagers assaulting the Christians had actually burnt Nandi alive, and we were horrified,” Pusham told Morning Star News. “We started to send messages for help and prayer support on social media.”

Pusham and the others rescued the displaced Christians, who have now taken refuge at an undisclosed location.

That day (Feb. 27) the Christians went to a local police station to file a complaint but were refused, as officers told them to contact the main police station in Kalimela. Police did not help them obtain medical treatment as they customarily would, Pusham said.

“Anti-tetanus injections were all that the Christians were given in the name of first aid,” she said.

After the Christians filed a complaint on Wednesday (Feb. 28) at the Kalimela police station, officers took the wounded to a hospital.

Savita, Ganga Madkami and Jaga Madkami are still receiving hospital treatment. Nandi Madkam, who was threatened with being burned alive, sustained injuries on her legs and back, while Deba Madkami and Jaga Madkami have injuries on their legs, face and back. Savita has a severe wound on her head.

“The police had assured us that they would arrest the attackers, but we have not heard from them since,” said Pusham.

Christian leaders from Malkangiri approached police, resulting in a First Information Report being filed against the assailants.

Those assaulted are members of the Indian Missionary Society Church in Pulimtla village, six kilometers (less than four miles) from their home.

After the attack, the villagers are not allowing the Christians to return to their homes or enter the village.

“We had sent a known person to the Tamguda village to assess the situation there,” Pusham said. “He returned to report that the villagers are waiting to attack these families if they try to return to their homes.”

The three families had already been boycotted in their village, she said.

“They were not allowed to fetch water nor associate with the other villagers,” she said. “In September of last year, animals belonging to the Christian families were taken away and were slaughtered. But they have stood strong in their faith.”

On Friday (March 2), Christian leaders from Malkangiri area, along with the police, arranged for a peace meeting between the leaders of the attackers and the Christians. It may be possible for the Christians to return to their houses soon, but at this writing the area remains tense, and the assaulted Christians are still waiting to return home.

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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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Christian persecution in India surges in first half of 2016; radical Hindus see threat to culture, identity

Hindu radicals are intensifying their persecution of Christians across India with no end in sight.

In the first half of 2016 alone, the authorities recorded at least 134 incidents of violence against Christians in India compared with 147 incidents in all of 2014 and 177 in 2015, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India's Religious Liberty Commission, citing an independent report.

What's even more alarming, according to the Commission, is that the cases recorded from Jan. 1 to June 30 this year were "just a fraction of the violence on the ground," the Gospel Herald reports.

The persecution is widespread with the cases of violence against Christians reported in 21 of India's 29 states. Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 25 cases.

The report attributed the rise in Christian persecution cases to the success achieved by Hindu radical groups in associating local cultural and customs legislation with Hindu religious practices, denouncing everything non-Hindu as a threat to their culture and identity.

In one area, "religious fanatics attacked a church and tried to set a pastor and his pregnant wife on fire after thrashing them," the report states.

"The pastor and his wife managed to escape after they were beaten up and doused with petrol. The attackers destroyed the electronic equipment at the church, besides thrashing the pastor's children and setting ablaze scriptures and furniture."

The frequent crimes committed against Christians by Hindu fanatics include physical violence, arrests on false allegations, stopping church services, attacks on churches, vandalising and threats on churches and pastors. One person was reported to have been murdered because of his faith.

Some of the attacks were brutal. Hindu radicals attacked a pastor in Tamil Nadu during a worship service on Jan. 17, piercing his head with a heavy, sharp object. Fortunately, the pastor survived the attack.

In many of the incidents, the Hindu fanatics accused Christians of conversion by force in violation of the so-called Freedom of Religion Acts, a law that radical Hindu groups often use to falsely implicate Christians.

In one such incident, a Christian named Balu Sastya and his wife Bhuri, who were both blind, were called to pray for a sick person. When they had gathered at the house of the sick person along with 11 companions, a Hindu mob armed with sticks and stones surrounded the house.

They threatened to kill Sastya and his companions. When police arrived, the extremists filed a complaint against him and others, accusing them of attempting to convert gullible villagers by promising them physical healing. The blind couple and their 3-year-old son had to spend two days and three nights in jail before they were released on bail.

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Rising persecution in Punjab, India, alarms Christian community

On Wednesday 25 May, in the city of Jalandhar in India’s Punjab state, a Christian was severely beaten by eight Hindu extremists after he protested against Hindu desecration of a Christian graveyard. Even though a complaint was registered with the police on the day of incident, a First Information Report (FIR) was not registered until Monday 13 June.

Anoop Masih cannot afford the surgery and is fearful of malpractice because of the influence of local Hindu extremists over doctors in the area
Masih continues, “They hit me all over my body with many blows using their fists and legs, and then started to hit me in my private parts. One of them was wearing boots and his boot repeatedly hit one of my testicles so hard that I collapsed with the intensity of pain and I almost thought I’ll soon be dead.”Arif Chouhan (centre) said, ““In my 16 years of ministry as a Christian leader, I have not faced such opposition before”

Anoop Masih, aged 47, is a resident of Jalandhar and works as an auto-rickshaw driver. In his recollection of events to Barnabas Fund, Masih said that on the evening of 25 May a man “who seemed to me a learned gentleman” was booked for a ride. “I was asked to stop for a moment in front of a shop in Santokhpura area, where seven men were waiting to ambush me. They suddenly pulled me down from my auto-rickshaw and started to assault me, saying that they are going to put me in a grave today.”

The attackers fled, leaving Masih lying on the street. All of the shopkeepers in the area quickly closed their shops and left. A passer-by who recognised Masih informed his family who came to his aid.

Vishnu Dev, pastor of a church in the nearby city of Ludhiana, said, “The Hindu extremists intended to spread fear and teach Masih a lesson for speaking for the Christian community.”

The incident had begun earlier in the day when Masih went home for lunch. His mother informed him that a group of Hindu extremists were throwing waste soil and garbage on a graveyard designated for Christians. Masih went to the graveyard and spoke to the groups. “I told them not to demean the Christian land and reminded them that the sentiments of the Christians are with their dead buried here,” said Masih.

This particular graveyard is common land given to the Hindu and the Christian communities to cremate bury their dead respectively. According to land records, this was designated even before India’s independence in 1947. Government officials subsequently divided the area a few years back and assigned separate portions to the two communities.

“Some Hindu troublemakers are trying to grab the whole graveyard land for the Hindu community. Amendments are being carried out to the Christian portion of the land without our consent. The idea is to take complete control over the Christian portion gradually,” said Masih in frustration. “We will deal with this issue through the court now.”

Doctors have recommended surgery for Masih, but being poor he cannot afford this. He is also fearful of malpractice during the surgery because of the influence of local Hindu extremists over the doctors in the area.

“The situation for Christians in Punjab is getting difficult. This also coincides with the rise of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) in the state. Now that elections are just around the corner, the political elements are using these incidents to polarise the state and divert the attention of the people from the real issues like corruption and drug addiction that plague the state,” said Rev. Vijayesh Lal, Executive Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

“We appeal to the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr. Prakash Singh Badal, to direct his officials to look into this matter in particular and also on the issue of increased targeting of Christians in the state and take appropriate measures to ensure that the rule of law prevails,” he added. 

“Small incidents of violence against Christians used to happen sporadically in Punjab…now since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government come to power [in 26 May 2014], every now and then there are major incidents reported,” said Pastor Vishnu Dev.

Grandmother and granddaughter thrown out of their home

In another incident, which took place in Pakhowal village, in the district of Ludhiana, a seven-year-old girl and her grandmother were thrown out of their home by the girl’s Hindu father because of their decision to convert from Hinduism to Christianity. The father of the girl has also filed a police complaint against Dharminder Bajwa, the pastor of the church which the girl and her grandmother attend.

The grandmother became a Christian five years ago. Her family opposed the decision and tried to convince her to return to Hinduism. The trouble heightened when the young girl – who had been watching her grandmother’s life closely – decided herself to follow Jesus. This was met with strong opposition, and after the young girl stood firm in her new faith both she and her grandmother were asked to leave home.

Pastor Vishnu Dev told Barnabas Fund that the grandmother is now working to support both herself and her granddaughter. “[She] has started to work in a small school where she serves water to the staff and sweeps the school,” he said. 

Attacked with sickle for holding Christian rally

Elsewhere in Punjab state, in the city of Gurdaspur, Arif Chouhan, aged 29, had organised a Masih Chetna Rally (Christian Awareness Rally) on Tuesday 31 May. Four days before the rally, on 27 May, Chouhan was chased by four masked men in a car whilst travelling home on his motorbike. The men stopped Chouhan and brutally assaulted him.

“Each of them was carrying a sickle in their hand and they hit me holding it upside down in a way that I would get internal injuries and not bleed,” said Chouhan to Barnabas Fund. The attackers told Chouhan that they wanted to stop him from running the Christian rally. They hit Chouhan until he fell unconscious. He was left on the road for an hour, after which time he regained consciousness.

Chouhan added that the attack was well-planned, saying, “While assaulting me the attackers said that they had been following me for ten days and finally found me in a secluded place.”

Chouhan sustained internal injuries and fractures to his elbow and ankle.

The incident was registered with the police on 28 May. “I was unable to move for two weeks and the police have now given me two security personnel for my safety,” Chouhan said. He went on to say, “In my 16 years of ministry as a Christian leader, I have not faced such opposition before.”

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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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