Christian attacked in Uttarakhand

Two Gospel for Asia native missionaries, Rajat Tanak and Savir Santosh, were forced to seek shelter in a sugarcane field to escape a group of hostile anti-Christian extremists in Uttarakhand, India.

Rajat and Savir were traveling to a village where a GFA-related church pastor, Adil Mehal, had invited them to show Man of Mercy, an Indian-made film about the life of Jesus. As the two were walking with their film equipment, a man stopped them and expressed interest in seeing the film. However, when Rajat and Savir invited him to come to the showing, the man’s demeanor suddenly changed. He accused them of violating the state’s anti-conversion law.

“You are trying to convert people to Christianity by using bribes,” the man yelled.

As the man shouted the accusations, other people from the area gathered around them and began questioning them. The missionaries answered their questions truthfully, telling them they were not forcing anyone to become a Christian and were not using unlawful practices. The people finally let Rajat and Savir go, but not without threatening them first.

Continuing on their trip to show the film, Rajat and Savir were stopped again by a different group of anti-Christian extremists.

The group snatched the Man of Mercy DVDs and sound equipment from the missionaries and threw it on the ground. When Rajat and Savir tried to pick the DVDs up, one of the extremists stomped on the discs. Then, the extremists beat up Rajat and Savir and forced them to go to a local shop. The owner of the shop was the extremist group leader. He also began accusing them of illegally converting people to Christianity.

The group was going to take the missionaries’ LCD projector, but first they allowed Rajat and Savir to go outside with two escorts. During this time, they ran into some nearby sugarcane fields in an effort to save the projector. Because the fields were so dense, the two missionaries were able to escape.

Rajat and Savir waited in the field until the extremists gave up their search, and then they called Pastor Adil to tell him what had happened. When the pastor heard about their situation, he cancelled their scheduled film showing in his village. The local Bible colleges and GFA main office also began praying for their safe return.

The missionaries waited in the sugarcane field until 3 a.m., when they felt it would be safe to venture out into the darkness. Rajat and Savir walked for three hours until they got to a main road, then caught a bus going to a village where a GFA district supervisor lives. They finally reached the safety of his home later that day.

When members of the extremist group found out that Rajat and Savir were working with Pastor Adil, they went to his house, but he was not there. They told his wife, who answered the door, that they would kill Pastor Adil if he ever allowed the film team to come to their village.

For a while, Pastor Adil had to conduct his ministry in secret because of the extremists’ threats. Now, he is able to freely minister in the area himself, but the extremists told him he cannot bring missionaries in from other places. Rajat has continued film ministry in other villages, and Savir is now working to plant a church in Uttarakhand.

Pastor Adil requests prayer that he will be able to continue his ministry in the village. He also asks for prayer that the extremists will come to know the Lord. Also pray that Rajat and Savir’s ministries will be fruitful, and many will see Christ’s love through them.

Pastor attacked in Chhattisgarh

On July 1, 2007 in Rouabandha, Bilainagar, Durg District of Chhattisgarh, about 60 to 70 Bajrang Dal activists attacked Pastor Israel during a church service. Around 11am, the activists interrupted the worship service of Living Grace Ministries church. Besides beating the pastor, they destroyed musical instruments which cost approximately Rs. 15,000 and stole Bibles which they later burnt at the central market in Rouabandha. Also, Mr. Ravi Kumar, a believer who tried to protect the pastor, was seriously injured, with broken teeth and facial injuries.

Pastor Israel received many threatening calls from Hindutva activists during the past two months. Also, on 5 May 2007, the same group of people beat and harassed one of the families who attend the church.

The attackers fabricated a story of fraudulent conversions after an unknown person complained that Pastor Israel had offered Rs. 10,000 to convert to Christianity. They activists used this report as a reason for their attack.

Pastor Israel and his family have been serving in the town for the last 12 years.

FIR has not been filed by either party. Police said they are investigating the incident and will protect the Christian community.

Christian attacked again in MP and Chhattisgarh

2nd July 2007

Around 40 - 45 Bajrang Dal people attacked Pastor Amos Singh and his wife as they were ministering in Reva, Madhya Pradesh in a ECI Church around 1:00 pm today.

Pastor Amos Singh originally from Balaghat is a famous speaker and Christian leader from Madhya Pradesh. He was resting in his room when the attack took place. The attackers suddenly broke into the campus of the Church and broke open the door of the room where Pastor Amos was relaxing. They started beating him with iron rods and pipes and assaulted him with knives. When his wife tried to intervene even she was not spared and has got a knife cut on her cheek.

Along with beating them the attackers also beat up people who had gathered for prayer and reports verify that around 6 - 7 people are seriously wounded including a woman whose head was cut open as a result of the beatings.

The attack took place suddenly and Christians were caught unaware, but local Christian leaders are saying that it was a well planned move by the Hindutva goons.

Last heard of the police had taken the victims for Medical examination and no FIR was filed.

Yesterday Pastor Israel and his wife from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh were also attacked and beaten up mercilessly by the Hindutva goons.

CBCI report reveals Hindu majority in Christian institutes

New Delhi: A national level survey conducted by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India's (CBCI) Commission for Education and Culture has revealed that about 53 percent of students in various Christian organizations located in various parts of the country are Hindus, while 22.7 percent are Catholics and 8.6 percent are Muslims.

The survey gave an insight into the composition of students according to their gender, religion and family income.

It was also found that 59.3 percent of the Catholic educational institutions including schools, colleges and other vocational centres are located in rural areas while the rest are located in urban areas.

An encouraging 54% of the students were females while 40 per cent were males.

"The Catholic Bishops Conference of India standing Committee in April had approved the final draft of the All-India Catholic Education Policy - 2007 and conducted a national level survey of all Catholic educational institutions India during 2004-06. The survey is an important piece of document as it gives us an immediate reference to our student and teacher ratio too," said CBCI spokesperson Babu Joseph.

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Protest against assault

DIPHU: The atrocities perpetrated on some Christians inside a church complex at Manja in Karbi Anglong district allegedly by Assam Police have drawn censure from Christian organizations, who demanded stern action against the guilty personnel.

Condemning the incident, the Assam District of the Assemblies of God of East India demanded immediate action against the culprits as according to the provision of law in the interest of protecting the sanctity of a religious place and the citizens from injustice.

Likewise, the Salvation Army appealed to the authorities to initiate necessary action against those responsible.

It may be mentioned the assault was perpetrated on June 19 near Chong Veng, Manja, when some youths were squabbling among themselves.

Sources said soon after the squabbling, some plainclothes policemen reached the spot. They entered the residence of Rev. R Sanga Keivom, superintend of Assam District Assemblies of God, East India, inside the church complex and assaulted his daughter, son and a religious leader of Salvation Army with rifle butts without any rhyme or reason.

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IEHC Jabalpur workers arrested and office sealed

June 7^th 2007, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh:

Police arrested three workers of the India Every Home Crusade (IEHC) under the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantryata Adhiniyam 1968. They charged them with forced and fraudulent conversions under the section 3 and 4 of the above act.

The problem had started when the police had discovered some letters pointing to baptism ceremony. The letters were brought to the attention of the police by the local Dharma Sena.

The Dhrama Sena has been active against Christians in Jabalpur and every atrocity on the minority community has traces of their involvement yet the authorities have not questioned their role.

Mr. Sudhir Xavier, the manager of IEHC was among the people arrested. The other two are called Pramod Kumar and K Kumar.

The police according to reports from Jabalpur were cooperative and hinted that they were forced to do this as this was an order from above. The three were taken to the police station and let off three hours later. Christian leaders from Jabalpur like Rev. David Lal, Rev. Cyril Cornelius and others were present at the police station. Mr. Handa, a local lawyer from Jabalpur bailed the three out.

The police also sealed the office of the IEHC and last heard the application for the re-opening of the office was rejected by the court on June 14^th 2007.

The police is now after the other staff of the IEHC Jabalpur and asking them to surrender themselves to the police.

Please pray for the IEHC and its staff in India.

Missionary Kidnapped

Chennai: A missionary, J Charles Simon, working with an evangelical movement in the city, has been missing since Saturday night(9th June).

According to a complaint lodged by his wife C Sudha, Charles, 35, was kidnapped by a four-member gang from near his house in Pudur.

Franklin, Charles's brother-in-law, said, "On Saturday evening, he left our house to meet a friend, Shyamala, whom he told that on his way, a stranger had sought his help to withdraw money from a Punjab National Bank ATM. He also told her that the stranger withdrew only Rs
100.

"But while returning from Shyamala's house around 8 pm, he was kidnapped near the Pentecostal Church in Pudur. He called up Sudha around 4 am and told her that the man at the ATM was a thief. He said the kidnappers demanded his credit card though he does not have one
and threatened to kill him."

Franklin, a bank employee, said his brother-in-law does not have a credit card. He also alleged that police did not register an FIR till late Sunday evening.

"The police were questioning us But when a schoolgirl living near the church told police on Tuesday that she had heard the cries of a man on Saturday, police lodged a case of kidnapping. "I think the police have picked him up mistaking him to be an offender," he said.

Pastor beaten in Goa

Pastor S. Zakaria had established a small Church 'Prayer House' in one room in Bambolim, Goa about one year back.

Pastor S. Zakaria conducted prayers and lectures every Sunday, from 9.30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.

About 8 months ago, wife of Mr. John D'Cunha from Mapusa started attending the prayers and services.

Shortly thereafter, wife of Shri. Manoj Nippanikar started going for the prayers, along with Mrs. D'Cunha.

Shri Manoj was annoyed at the attendance of his wife at Christian prayer meetings, he (Mr. Nippanikar)approached the local Bajrang Dal activists for assistance.

He informed the activists of the place and time of the meetings and instigated them that Christian conversion activities were taking place there.

On Sunday June 10th, Mr Nippanikar along with a mob of 25 extremists went to the 'Prayer House' and took the Pastor to task during his lecture.

Mr. Nippanikar and other furious radical Hindus gave the Pastor a sound beating. Later, they lodged a complaint with the police against the Pastor in Mapusa police station.

MP anti-conversion law unconstitutional: Attorney General

June 12,2007

MP anti-conversion law unconstitutional: Attorney General

According to sources in the state government, Attorney General Milon Banerjee, central government’s chief legal advisor, has given his opinion on the request of state governor Balram Jakhar. The latter had sought Banerjee’s opinion on the amendments which was criticized by the Church leadership and other secular activists as anti-Constitutional.

The governor is yet to grant his assent to the crucial amendment.

A state government official told ICNS that they were waiting for the governor’s “nod to the amendment”, but was ready to face “any eventuality”.

Last year’s amendment passed by the BJP government makes it compulsory on individuals who wish to convert to a religion to take prior approval from the local district administration. If an individual fails to notify the authorities and obtain permission severe punishments can be imposed on him/her.

The amendment also makes it compulsory on those conducting the conversion ceremony to inform the district magistrate a month before it, and give him the details including the venue and time of the ceremony, and the names and addresses of those converting.

Once the district magistrate is informed, under the new amendment, elaborate police verification would be carried out and only on a positive report from the police the magistrate would give his nod for the ceremony.

Madhya Pradesh was one of the first state governments to introduce an act in 1968 on religious conversions, then by a Congress government. It was then amended last year by the BJP government.

However, as reported by the Indian Catholic recently, the National Minorities Commission is yet to receive any reply from the central Indian state to prove that there is any large-scale conversion going on in Madhya Pradesh. The Commission has been asking state governments where such laws are in existence about the data regarding violators.

Christians arrested in Guntur

Two Christians were arrested by local police for distributing Christian literature in Amaravati, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh on June 2 under Sections 296 and 298 IPC.

The two missionaries - a Christian woman from Bangalore, joined by 15 year old local boy identified only as 15-year-old Chilka Peter and Sister Prabha,, were visiting the temple town when they were arrested for distributed Christian literature among devotees from Karnataka who had come to visit the temple.

Hindu activists who noticed the activity alerted the local police who in turn arrested them under Sections 296 and 298 of the Indian Penal Code for causing disturbance and wounding religious feelings respectively

They were finally released on bail on the intervention of local Christian leaders.

Stir against Christian preacher in Andhra Pradesh

Stir against Christian preacher in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, Jun 12: Members of the outfit named after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today staged a demonstration, demanding an apology from Evangelist K A Paul who had claimed that Dr Reddy had demanded Rs 20 crore as donation to the Congress.

Enraged activists of the ''Jagan Yuva Sena'' stormed a star hotel here, where Paul had been staying, and raised slogans against the preacher for making 'baseless' allegations against the Chief Minister as also Housing Minister B Satyanarayana.

Policemen providing security to the hotel brought the situation under control and dispersed the activists.

The Congress activists had taken to stirs in different parts of the State after the preacher also charged that Dr Reddy did not arrange for the visit of party President Sonia Gandhi to his orphanage for failing to provide the amount.

--- UNI

Two Pastors attacked in MP

Pastor Mukesh Pal has been running a church in Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh. On 3rd June, a mob owing allegiance to the RSS appeared at his house at 2:30 pm, stopped the meeting which was going on and dispersed the participants by threatening them with dire consequences if they stayed. They then proceeded to systematically wreck the house and left after warning the pastor against continuing his work in the area.

In a separate incident, a pastor in Kharward district was attacked at his home on the same day. Pastor Bheem Singh pastors a church in the region. On 3rd June, he had returned home after the Sunday morning service when his house was attacked. His aged father suffered a fractured leg and his wife suffered injuries. Both have been admitted to hospital. Police have registered a case.

www.persecution.in

Muslims and Christians not minorities

KOCHI: The Muslim and Christian communities in India do not deserve to be classified as minorities and as such are not entitled to special benefits either in admissions or in the running of educational institutions, Subramaniam Swamy, former Union Law Minister and president of the Janata Party has said.

He was talking after inaugurating a national seminar on `Minority Rights in Education - Logics and Fallacies' organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

Dr. Swamy, in his speech, went on to define `minority' on the basis of a set of conditions.

He said that Muslims and Christians should voluntarily give up reservation benefits if they were to be treated on an equal footing.

He urged the AVBP to oppose tooth and nail any attempt to provide reservation to Muslims and Christians in educational institutions.

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Technorati tags: attack on Christians

Priest attacked in Jharkhand

Priest at RIMS after attack

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Ranchi, May 15: A 45-year-old priest, identified as George Minj, has been shifted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences Ranchi (RIMS) in a serious condition after he was beaten up by some unidentified youths late last evening.

Minj is currently the in-charge of Garha Lodhma parish under the Roman Catholic Church, under Bharno police station in Gumla. The priest, who sustained serious head injuries, is admitted at the neuro ward of RIMS for advanced treatment.

The incident occurred yesterday evening after Minj was returning from Kharsanga Village under Bharno police station in Gumla, some 65-km from Ranchi.

“I had gone to see the people there following reports of an outbreak of malaria. Around 7.30 pm, while I was returning to my parish some youths attacked me. The area where I was waylaid was near a dense forest adjoining the village area,” Minj said.

According to Minj, the attackers were carrying sticks and they had hit him on the head several times unless he lost consciousness. His left eye is badly swollen whilst his left hand is suspected to have been fractured. After recovering from the initial shock, the injured priest somehow managed to inform the nearby villagers who had brought him to his parish at Garha Lodhma. Doctors attending the injured priest said his condition was stable.

Minj recalled that a week ago, some youths had attacked St Paul’s High School and had broken many of the glass panes.

“Attacks on priests are frequent, though we do not complain and carry on our service to the people,” he said.

Meanwhile reacting to the incident, Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo, who is currently in Rome, told The Telegraph over the phone that the attack on priests reflected the poor state of affairs prevailing in the society.

“Priests go to the most remote of villages, unarmed and unescorted to serve the poor and needy. Attacks on priests need to be condemned in the strongest of terms. However, I will pray both for the injured priest as well as for the attackers so that God might show them the light of the day,” Toppo said.

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Technorati tags: attack on faith, jharkhand, attack, beaten

Christian Principal Shot at in Delhi

NEW DELHI: A Christian priest was seriously injured when two unidentified youths fired at him inside a school at Sangam Vihar in south Delhi on Tuesday afternoon. One of the assailants, according to the staff, had visited the school the day before, seeking admission for his son.

Father George Phillip was admitted to a private hospital with a bullet lodged in his chest. The two assailants opened fire at the 37-year-old priest when he resisted their attempts to rob the school, said the police. The duo managed to flee and a manhunt has been launched to arrest them, the police added.

The incident happened at St Vincent Pallotti School in L Block. Though preliminary investigations suggest that it was a robbery attempt, the police are not ruling out other possibilities, including the fact that the incident could be a fallout of personal enmity.

The priest is currently undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit at Batra Hospital. "He suffered two bullet injuries, one in his chest and the other bullet grazed past his forehead," said a senior police officer.

The school authorities said they had no idea about the intention behind the attack. Said an eyewitness, a junior staff at the school, Devnish Toppo: "Two men entered Father Phillip’s office, seeking admission forms, around 1 pm on Tuesday." One of the youths, Toppo said, had come on Monday as well with some queries relating to the admission of his son in Class I.
Confirming this, another priest working at the school, Father Dominique, said: "We asked him to come on Tuesday along with his ward. On Tuesday afternoon, the same man came with his associate. They asked me for the forms and I directed them to Father Phillip’s office."

The youths entered Father Phillip’s office, and at gun-point, asked him to hand over all valuables to them, said the police. One of the men pounced on the priest and snatched away his mobile phone. Later, they shot at him twice when he resisted their attempts to rob the school.

The school staff came running on hearing the gun shots and a brief scuffle ensued as they tried to hold back the assailants. But the attackers managed to break free and one of them scaled the main gate, bolted it from outside, and ran towards the main road, while his accomplice scaled the wall and vanished into the woods near the school.

Their country-made revolver, which fell on the ground during the scuffle, was recovered by the police.

The duo managed to flee with the principal’s phone, which has been placed under surveillance, said the police. A police team with sniffer dogs visited the school and the adjoining forest, but nothing could be found.

At the time of the incident, the two priests, who stay in the residential block of the school, and some school staff were present. The school, which teaches up to Class VI, has around 150 students and eight teachers. But they were not present, as the school was closed for summer vacation, the police said.

The primary school is run by the Queen of Apostle’s Church, based in Kanpur. It was established in 2004. Father Phillip joined as the principal here about six months back. Before that, he was looking after the Indore branch of the school, the police said.

toireporter@timesgroup.com

Pastor arrested in Orcha, Madhya Pradesh

Pastor arrested in Orcha, Madhya Pradesh

15^th May 2007

Kunal Pasricha, a Pastor was beaten up by Hindu fundamentalists and later arrested by the police on the evening of May 14^th at Narayanpur village, District Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh.

On 14^th May Pastor Kunal Pasricha was visiting a village in order to show a film on the life of Jesus Christ. Before he could do that a mob of about 70 -80 people attacked him, beat him and took him to the local police station. They accused him of hurting their religious sentiments and of forcible conversions. An FIR under sections 153 of the IPC and Section 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam has been registered against the Pastor.

Christian Priest Attacked in Delhi

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

DL: Christian priest attacked

New Delhi: Two unidentified miscreants on Tuesday opened fire at a church priest following a scuffle in south Delhi, police said. Father George Phillips, who resides in the St Vincent Palloti Primary School campus in Sangam Vihar area, received bullet injuries after the two men tried to snatch his mobile phone. The assault shot at him after failing to overpower him. The accused entered from the school gate and later fled into the bushy area in the school vicinity, a police official said. Phillips was later rushed to the Batra Hospital where the bullet was removed. His condition was said to be stable.

However, police did not rule out the possibility that the priest was attacked for religious reasons. "We have launched investigations and the actual motive behind the crime could only be known after the arrest of the accused," a senior police official said. (IANS)

Bills to ban cow slaughter and conversion in coming session of Assembly – Khanduri

By Ravindra Saini in Dehradun

Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri has assured the saints to bring the cow protection and anti-conversion Bills soon in the state. He said the cow is backbone of Indian economy and she is most revered for Hindus world over. He said cow slaughter would not be allowed at any cost in the state. Shri Khanduri was addressing a large gathering of saints in Haridwar on April15. He said the anti-conversion Bill would be brought soon to ban conversion with allurement or fraudulent means. Prominent saints who were present on the occasion included Swami Satyamitranand Giri, Swami Hansdas, Swami Chidanand Muni, Swami Paramanand Maharaj, Dr Pranav Pandya, etc. Shri Khanduri said the Bills to ban cow slaughter and conversion would be brought in the coming session of the Assembly.

Later talking to Organiser in Dehradun, the Chief Minister spoke about the changes he brought in the state to improve the economic condition and administrative set up. “Since the financial condition of the state is bad the wasteful expenditure needs to be stopped with immediate effect. I have said that any strict action to stop the wasteful expenditure should begin from me. Therefore, I have tried to cut down the unnecessary expenditure on my office. I have reduced my caravan and vehicles from 8 to 2. I have directed the bureaucrats to travel by train where the train connection is available particularly between Delhi and Dehradun and not use the helicopter or road transport which prove very costly. We have brought out a number of changes in the number of vehicles, which were unnecessary,” he said.

When asked about the welfare of the people living in remote areas of the state, Shri Khanduri said he would do everything to improve the pitiable condition of the people living in remote areas. “We will make all the resources available in these areas so that there may not be any inconvenience to those people and people don’t need to come down the places where facilities are available.

He said the efforts are being made to come out of the dept of Rs. 14000/- crore. Several steps have been taken to bring about financial discipline and austerity in the state, resulting in the saving of crores of rupees of the state exchequer during the last one-month.

Commenting on his government’s decision to put a ban on fresh appointments in the state, he said the reports on irregularities in ongoing appointments including issuing of backdated appointment letters made the government freeze all appointments that were in the pipeline. “There is no ban on fresh appointments. We want to first put a system in place where there is no scope of corruption or recommendations,” he added. He said the objective behind this whole exercise is to ensure that we should not commit the same mistakes that were made by the previous government and get caught in scams.

The focus is to put a foolproof system in place right from day one. He said the government has reiterated its resolve to check the spiraling prices of real estate in the state, much to the consternation of builders and property dealers. Shri Khanduri had hinted at it a few days before he took over as the Chief Minister. During the last two years or so, there had been phenomenal rise in real estate prices in Uttarakhand, particularly in Dehradun. The possibility of about 500 industrial units coming up near the BHEL in a few years resulted in manifold increase in the prices. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) had all along demanded introduction of Section 371 to check the rise in real estate prices.

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Newly baptised believers and Pastors threatened and thrashed in Maharashtra

On Sunday 7th May , Pastor Ramesh D. Gopargode (34) and Pastor Ajit Belavi (35) of the "Friends Mission Church", Bangalore had set a church in Shahapur village , Maharashtra for the past 6 months. They had a small congregation of regular believers who attended the prayer meeting regularily.

7 believers expressed a great desire to embrace Jesus as Savior out of their own freewill.

The pastors of Friends Mission Church arranged the baptism of the 7 believers while returning after the baptism in the local river; they were waylaid by a mob of 65 RSS extremists.

The extremists questioned the believers and pastors of their activities. The terrified and poor newly baptized feigned ignorant about the pastors.

They abused the pastors in filthy language and also Christianity.After thrashing the pastors they dragged them to the nearby police station and lodged a false complaint of forcible conversion.

Pastor Ramesh and Pastor Ajit have been arrested filed under section 295A of the Indian Penal code.

Source: persecution.in

Pastor Walter Massey

Probe team indicts Catholic centre

THE HIGH Court-appointed special police team that probed the functioning of a Christian retreat centre in Kochi has filed a preliminary report making serious charges against the centre.

After a six-month investigation, the team has registered a case against the director of the centre, Father George Panackkal, and nine other office-bearers, including nuns- They have been booked under various charges, including forceful confinement, causing hurt by poison, cheating and destroying evidence. –

The team is learnt to have found that during 1996-2006, 927 “mysterious deaths” took place at the centre, and on many occasions the bodies were disposed of without informing the police. Documents were allegedly forged to make the deaths appear natural, the FIR said, demanding a detailed probe into the deaths.

Claimed to be the largest Catholic healing centre in the world, the Divine Retreat Centre in Muringoor, near Kochi, was in the news recently after one of the believers sent an anonymous letter to the High Court. The letter reportedly carried serious charges, including of sexual harassment, forceful confinement and murder, against the centre.

The court suo motu constituted a team headed by Inspector General of Police Vincent M Paul.

“Prima facie, we found some of the charges against the centre were right. A high-level inquiry is needed. So we filed an FIR. We are proceedthg agathst them,” IGP Paul told the Hindustan Times.

In the centre, the probe team found that people were locked up in cells in the name of healing. Those showing violent behaviour were often injected with unknown drugs by untrained persons.

Besides the FIR filed at the Koratty police station, the team has also filed a report before a magistrate recommending a probe into the foreign funding of the centre.
Reacting to the police action, Father George Panackkal said, “It is a concerted bid to destroy the centre. We are yet to see the details of charges filed against us.”

Source: Hindustan Times

 

Kerala police finds irregularities in Christian prayer centre

Police Monday filed a formal complaint against a leading Christian faith-healing centre in Kerala on the basis of the findings of a court-directed probe into allegations of criminal activities there.

From correspondents in India, 30 Apr 2007 - (www.indiaenews.com)

Police Monday filed a formal complaint against a leading Christian faith-healing centre in Kerala on the basis of the findings of a court-directed probe into allegations of criminal activities there.

The court-appointed special investigation team filed a first information report (FIR) at the police station here indicting Fr George Pannackal, director of the Muringur Divine Retreat Centre near Trissur district, and 10 other members of the staff, including nuns, confirmed Inspector General of Police Vincent Paul.

'In order to go ahead with the investigation an FIR is required and we have filed it. The director and 10 others have been named in the FIR,' Paul told IANS.

Acting on various complaints, the Kerala High Court had in March last year asked Paul to submit a report on allegations about criminal activities going on at the centre and irregularities in foreign funds received by it.

The centre, billed as Asia's biggest of its kind, was subjected to a surprise inspection by a joint team of police and state health department officials in September.

The inspection detected irregularities in the manner in which the centre was treating a large number of patients suffering from depression and alcoholism.

Following the scrutiny, politicians in the state, cutting across the party lines, raised a hue and cry while Pannackal urged the court to stop the inspections.

Justice R. Basanth dismissed the petition and ruled that the court has the right to order inspections even if it is a place of worship or prayer.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)

 

Technorati tags: Kerela, anti-christian propaganda, false cases

Five arrested for attack on Pastor Walter Massey

Jaipur, April. 30(PTI): Five persons were arrested today by the police in connection with the assault on a pastor Walter Masih at his house in the Nandpuri area here.

In a shocking incident, a group of 20 masked youth had barged into the house of Masih yesterday and beat him up badly with lathis alleging that he was indulging in religious conversions.

The five persons were identified as Suresh(20), Vimal(27), Pratap Singh(42), Mukesh Singh(20) and Ganesh Singh(25), all slum dewellers from Bhojpura kachchi basti.

Masih said in the FIR that he had received multiple injuries after being manhandled by the assailants.

Meanwhile, nearly two dozen members of congress accompanied by some Christian community representatives met Governor Pratibha Patil and demanded a probe.

State Pradesh Congress Committee President B D Kalla termed the beating of the pastor as inhuman and demanded immediate action against the police for remaining "mute spectators".

State Home Minister G C Kataria told PTI that the government will take stern action against all those who were behind this act. "It does not matter what brigade or outfit they belong," he said.

Members of Jaipur Christian Fellowship has also organised a peace march to express solidarity with the victim.

Source: The Hindu

Technorati tags: attack on Christians, attack on faith, Rajasthan

Christian preacher attacked in Jaipur

Special Correspondent

Masked intruders go on rampage in house in the vicinity of Chief Minister's official residence

— Photo: PTI

BEFORE AND AFTER: Getting ready for the attack on preacher Walter Massey are some men who are covering their faces.

JAIPUR: Masked youth attacked and seriously injured a Christian preacher and went on the rampage in his house in the neighbourhood of the official residence of the Rajasthan Chief Minister here on Sunday afternoon. Walter Massey has been admitted to the emergency ward of the Sawai Man Singh Medical College Hospital here. Authorities there termed his condition stable. No arrest has been made so far.

Mr. Massey runs a small congregation, `Masihi Sanghti,' from his middleclass residence at Nandpuri Bazar. The intruders, numbering 15-20, used sticks and whatever came in handy to attack Mr. Masseyin the presence of his wife and child.

His wife Joyce told this correspondent that initially three persons came seeking to meet her husband. When the door was opened, they engaged the preacher in a conversation and in no time started assaulting him. And more men, covering their faces, joined in the attack.

As the attackers dragged a profusely bleeding Massey out of the house, a neighbour Samuel Roberts, who was passing by, rushed to the Sodala police station, half km away.

Ms. Joyce and the child were not hurt though the intruders broke plastic chairs, utensils and furniture.

— Photo: PTI

The image of the bleeding missionary.

Mr. Roberts said there were around 25 men, who covered their faces and were wielding sticks, outside Mr. Massey's residence.

Assailants on video

Additional Superintendent of Police (South) Subhash Vishnoi said the police were trying to identify the persons spotted on a video on the incident telecast by some TV channels. A case has been registered.

The Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind condemned the attack.

Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot termed it a "very serious matter" and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits.

"Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers have once again taken law into their own hands in the name of stopping religious conversions in the State and this is condemnable." CPI (M) State secretary Vasudev said, "The Chief Minister and the Home Minister should take the responsibility for the attack," which occurred in the Civil Lines locality."Hardly four days ago did workers of the BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad attempt to attack the CPI (M) State headquarters on Hatwara Road, he alleged.

Engineer Mohammed Saleem, new president of the State Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said the attack put a question mark on the very existence of a government in the State.

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VHP, Bajrang Dal goons beat Pastor in Jaipur

VHP, Bajrang Dal goons beat Pastor in Jaipur

Event is captured by news channels

By Vijayesh Lal

29^th April 2007: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Walter Massey, a Christian pastor was attacked by VHP and Bajrang Dal goons without any provocation. At about 12:30 – 1:00 pm, all of a sudden 20 – 25 VHP and Bajrang Dal people stormed inside Pastor Walter’s home and started beating him.

The attackers were carrying weapons, iron rods, sticks etc. They mercilessly beat Pastor Massey in front of his family and ransacked his home. They broke furniture and destroyed property.

While this was going on a TV camera crew happened to notice the armed brigade with weapons and followed them as they entered Pastor Massey’s home and beat him up mercilessly. This is the version of the camera crew as told to Jaipur Christian Fellowship. There are several questions however. For example how did the camera crew manage to film the attackers while they were getting ready to attack Pastor Massey? How did the camera crew manage to get the tape to so many channels at such a short period of time etc?

A shocked India watched as the 4:00 pm news showed Pastor Massey bleeding from the beatings and being roughed up by the goons, while the family was scared because of the whole ordeal and was unable to help him.

All through the beating Pastor Massey was calling aloud the name of Jesus while people slapped him, beat him with sticks and with metal chairs. Pastor Walter Massey had enough courage to step out of his home and proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to the curious but unhelpful bystanders. He also later on spoke to the camera crew about the love of Jesus Christ and how as Christians we pray for our nation. After this he was carried away to the hospital.

The police initially refused to admit an FIR in this case. It was only when Jaipur Christian Fellowship and other organizations exerted pressure that they admitted the FIR. But even after most attackers can be plainly identified as shown on television for some hours at a stretch now, the police still claim that they are yet to identify the attackers and so have admitted an FIR which says that Pastor Massey had been attacked by unidentified men. The FIR does not mention the VHP or the Bajrang Dal in spite of the attackers themselves claiming on TV that they belonged to the VHP.

Right now Pastor Massey is in the hospital where he is on IV’s. He has difficulty in walking and his eye has been hurt badly. He was beaten up with iron rods so most of his injuries are internal, but he is unfazed. His family however is finding it difficult to cope with the situation. His wife Joyce saw him getting beaten up and his 6 year old daughter is terrified.

Pastor Massey has been in Rajasthan for a long time. He is an ex-worker of the India Every Home Crusade and right now runs his own house Church by the name of Masihi Sangati Kendra. He lives in Nandpuri, near Hawa Sadak, Jaipur, Rajasthan. He had been threatened for a long time by the Hindutva brigade and had even appealed to the police for protection but was given none.

We managed to get his phone number but he was not available so we spoke to the members of the Jaipur Christian Fellowship (JCF). Rev. Jagdish Chandra Sharma, the secretary of the JCF told us that they had spoken to the Home Minister, Mr. Gulab Chand Kataria and that he had assured them of firm action in the case. However on television Mr. Kataria denied any knowledge of the incident. Mr. Kataria is famous for his anti-Christian stance and played a major role in the persecution of the Thomases from Kota, Rajasthan.

Meanwhile the mud-slinging and politicization of the incident continues. The Congress came out openly against the BJP led government and criticized them of practicing communalism to gain electoral mileage. The TV channels also blamed the BJP led government for its failure to curb the Hindutva brigade.

Please pray for the situation in Rajasthan and especially for Pastor Walter Massey. Please also send letters of concern, and faxes to the following:

	Name	Phone Number
	Smt. Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister	(Off) 0141-2227351, 2227462 (Fax) 0141-2227687 (Res) 0141-2228712, 2228713, 2228705
	Smt. Pratibha Patil, Governor of Rajasthan	(O) 0141-2228768 (Fax) (R) 2228737
	Shri Umrao Salodia Prin. Secretary to Governor	(O) 2228792 (R) 2275132
Dr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister of India			Office Address Room No. 152, South Block, New Delhi, 110001 Office Tel 23012312 23016857 (Fax) Residence Address 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi Residence Tel 23011166, 23018939 23015603(Fax) Parliament House Address Room No. 10, Parliament House, New Delhi 110001 Parliament House Tel 23017660, 23019817 23014255 (Fax)

Church attacked in Hyderabad

A Church in Kabeernagar under Sanathnagar police station in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, has been attacked, resulting in serious injuries to the Pastor and a few women, including a minor girl.

On 15 April 2007, some unknown anti-Christian men entered the church when the worship was going on and attacked the Pastor and the believers, including women and children. They also destroyed the sound system and other electronic items. When objected, they kicked some of the believers and tried to stifle a minor girl.

After the attack, the miscreants fled the scene without leaving any trace of their identity. Later the Pastor and the believers went to police station at Sanathnagar and filed an FIR against them.

The police are investigating the case.

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Five held for praying in Hyderabad hospital

Five Christians who visited Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad to pray and distribute Christian literature were taken into custody by the city police on 14 April 2007.

The five people, including Charan, Rajeswari, Sunita and Mary from Tarnaka, visited the hospital to pray for the patients. During their visit, they also distributed Christian literature among the patients.

Some of the junior doctors who noticed them acted as relatives of the patients and listened to them. Then they informed the police who took them into custody.

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Church converted to Sikh temple in Punjab

Bajrang Dal activists converted a Christian church into a gurudwara in Lehragaga of Sangrur district of Punjab on April 10, 2007. Later Sikh leaders came to the rescue of the Christians.

Sources told the All India Christian Council (aicc) that Pastor Malok Singh from Lehragaga was falsely accused of rape by Bajrang Dal activists. He was arrested under 109 section of the India Penal Code (IPC) on April 10, 2007 and remained in jail until he was bailed after 9 days.

In connection with the allegation against Pastor Singh, Bajrang Dal activists numbering over 100 came and attacked the church. Aicc was told that church furniture was broken and musical instruments were stolen, A Granth Sahib (Sikh religious scripture) was placed inside the church, holy reading of Granth Sahib was conducted, and church signboard was changed into Gurudwara Sahib.

It has also been reported that Bibles were torn inside the church and large number of Christian literature was taken by two lorries to undisclosed place and reportedly burned.

A source said that Sikh leaders along with police personnel restored the church by removing the Granth Sahib placed inside the church.

Church members have filed a complaint against the Bajrang Dal activists at Lehragaga Police Station for provoking enmity among two religions of Christianity and Sikhism. The complaint against the culprits was lodged under the IPC sections 295, 452, 447, 506, 148, and 149 on April 11, 2007.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Balraj Singh reported to the aicc that the District Magistrate has set up an enquiry commission under the leadership of Sunam Sub-Divisional Magistrate to submit a report within two weeks.

No arrests of Bajrang Dal activists have been reported, while pastor Singh was arrested within short time of the complaint against him.

Pastor Singh reported to the aicc that he was severely beaten up in the police station and forced him to accept the allegation against him. He said that a girl was brought by Bajrang Dal activists to his house and then Bajrang Dal activists locked the door from the outside and accused him of rape.

According to a source, Bajrang Dal had a meeting at Lehragaga on April 18, 2007 and submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate to sack the District Superintendent of Police for performing his assigned duty to protect the Christian minorities.

Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party activists have been telling Sikh communities the false allegation that Christians are forcefully converting Sikh communities into Christianity. Hindutva leaders have called for an anti-conversion law in the state of Punjab.

Press Release by Rev. Madhu Chandra of AICC

Christians beaten up in Delhi

Daljit Kaur and Govindra Singh, Sikh converts and members of New Life Fellowship, Delhi were attacked by members of Daljit’s Sikh family on the night of April 14th, 2007. Govindra was badly beaten and Daljit was abducted and taken back to her home in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. Govindra, a church elder and his wife lead a church cell group which Daljit attended regularly before the incident.

The incident took place because of Daljit’s family’s unhappiness at her decision to covert to Christianity. The family is further agitated due to Daljit’s refusal to marry her Christian fiancé according to Sikh customs.

According to Open Doors International (ODI), Govindra was warned not to take legal action against Daljit’s family or his life would not be spared.

Pray that the hearts of Daljit’s family members will be softened and that they would respect her decision to be a Christian. Pray that Govindra’s safety and that all three (Daljit, her fiancé and Govindra) would be given strength to face this situation.

*Certain names have been changed for security reasons.

Richard Howell

General Secretary – EFI

Baptist Church in Assam to be made into a car park

Guwahati: The Assam Government has directed a 162 year old First Baptist Church here to hand over its premises to the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority GMDA for construction of a multi-storeyed car parking lot. The Council of Baptist Churches is North East India, CBCNEI, also has its headquarters here.

A CBCNEI delegation submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on 14 March 2007, demanding revocation of the government order issued by Revenue Secretary S Thadou.

The Baptist Church, officially known as the War Memorial Chinch, was established in 1845 by Reverend Cyrus Barker, while the CBCNEI is the largest Baptist group in South Asia with 10 lakh [One Million] members. The CBCNEI was founded in the Nineteenth Century by pioneer American Baptist Missionaries like Miles Bronson, author of the first Anglo-Assamese dictionary, and others who championed the cause of the Assamese language when the British introduced Bengali as the official language of the region. The American Baptist Mission which arrived in 1836 AD brought out the first Assamese newspaper Orunudoi [Sunrise] in 1846 AD.

Emerging from Good Friday service, Pastor Aziz-up-Haq described the order as an attack on religious minorities and said it had come at a time when the Centre was talking about minority welfare. Apart from Assamese, Christians, Hmars, Nagas, Khasis and other ethnic communities also worship regularly in either in the main church building or at the adjacent Louis Memorial Hostel auditorium.

My religion, your religion!

The RSS is working out on a strategy with the help of its frontal organization to counter conversion drive of the Christian missionaries in the state

S Santosh.

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and its frontal organizations like Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram are working on a well-planned strategy to counter conversion activities of Christian missionaries in Rajasthan.

These organisations also sought the help of the BJP government in their efforts to check missionaries’ activities and the government is expected to help them in every possible manner.

The tribal belt of Rajasthan comprising Udaipur and adjoining districts, which are close to Gujarat, are the main target of missionaries to spread Christianity among tribals. The other area of activity is Kota division, which also has sizable tribal population.

Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad has opened its branches in Udaipur, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh, Rajassmand, Banswara and Pratapgarh. It organized a Rashtra Shakti Sammelan of adivasies at Udaipur in the last week of February. The organisers claimed that over one lakh adivasies had participated in the sammelan. The number of adivasies gathered at Maharana Bhoopal Stadium was far less than the claim but it was an impressive show of strength by the Parisahad.

RSS chief K S Sudarshan, a dozen of sadhus and saffron leaders addressed the gathering. The focus of the sammelan was to send a message to the adivasies that they are part of Hinduism.

Sudarshan held a meeting with some mahantas of the area a day before the sammelan at Sanwaliaji temple near Chittorgarh. A resolution was passed in the meeting that non-Hindu should not be allowed to enter the temple.

The government has started Golwalkar Welfare Scheme for the benefit of adivasies in view of the birth centenary celebration of the former RSS chief M S Golwalkar.

State Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram chief Laxaminarayan Chatak announced to contact 70,000 people during Ramanvami and Hanuman Jayayti to collect funds for the constructions of hostels, opening of schools, Sanskar Kendras and to carry out activities for the welfare of adivasies. He said that the total tribal population of the state is around 85 Lakhs and as per the Christian missionaries' plans they would convert around ten percent of the tribals into the Christianity in the next couple of years.

About a year ago, Emmanual Mission International (EMI), which used to run about five-dozen schools, orphanage and such other institutions in and around Kota, was banned by the government after it’s head M A Thomas and other people were allegedly found engaged in conversion activities. The institutions run by the organization have been taken over by the government.

Rajasthan minister for cooperative Madan Dilawar launched a campaign against the EMI and virtually forced the district administration and the police to register cases against Thomas and others.

Thomas challenged the government order in the Rajasthan high court, but the single judge bench of the court rejected his plea saying that the government decision was very much in order. But the government lost the case, when it went to the two-judge bench.

Around this time, the Vasundhara Raje government passed an Anti Conversion Act in the assembly. But when it was sent to governor Pratibha Patil for her ascent, she declined to approve it. She sent it back to the government saying that this king of act could be made only by the central government.

She said that if government is not satisfied with her decision it could directly sent the bill to the President and since than the matter is lying with her. The government has taken the stand that similar kinds of bills were passed by MP, Orissa and some other states and were approved by the governor of those states.

The police had registered a case against Thomas before taking over institutions run by the EMI for publication and distribution of a book Hakeequat, which allegedly carries derogatory remarks against Hindu gods. The government banned the book immediately. The police issued arrest warrant against Thomas. The case is still before the court and the Supreme Court recently gave a directive to the state government not to arrest Thomas till any further order.

Palm Sunday meeting attacked by Dharma Sena in Jabalpur, 7 Christians injured.

By Vijayesh Lal

1st April 2007: Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

A Palm Sunday gathering was brutally attacked by Dharma Sena activists resulting in injury for seven Christians and one Dharma Sena man.

Members of the St. Paul’s Church belonging to the Church of North India have celebrated the Palm Sunday for the last 20 years by carrying out a procession which starts from the Church in Gokulpur, Jabalpur and ending at the mountainous terrain of the COD, Jabalpur. It has been a tradition for the members to fast the whole day and to break the fast with prayers at the COD. This year was no different with about 250 people gathered in the rally. Many among them were women and children. Police permission had been taken and the administration was in the know how of it.

At about 6:00 pm, when the final prayer was going on all of sudden 30 – 35 Dharma Sena people led by Yogesh Agrawal and other office bearers of the Dharma Sena attacked the crowd. The Sena activists were fully armed with swords, baseball bats, huge bamboo sticks and knives. Since prayer was going on most of the people had their eyes closed and this came as a surprise to them.

First the Dharma Sena people damaged the vehicles of the people breaking glasses and smashing windows and headlights. Then they turned their attention to the Pastors beating them black and blue. Pastor James Masih who is the presbyter in charge for the St. Paul’s Church at Gokulpur was beaten mercilessly and has suffered internal injuries.

The Dharma Sena people then turned their attention to women and children and started beating them with baseball bats and sticks. According to eye witnesses, women were pulled by their Chunnies (cloth used for head and body covering), which amounts to outraging the modesty of women. Even children were not spared. Pastor James Masih’s 5 year old son, who was playing the Congo drum, was beaten by bats.

The food which was meant for fasting people after the prayers was also spoiled by the attackers.

Mrs. Rajni Dilraj, who was also beaten up, told us, “I was having my eyes closed when the attack took place all of a sudden. They beat me on my hands repeatedly with sticks and my hand is in a lot of pain.”

Mr. Rajnish Daniel also an elder in the Church was leading the prayers when the attack took place and he was roughed up very badly. He spoke to us of his injuries. He also told us, “The Dharma Sena people used a lot of abusive language against the women in particular. They also abused our religion and hurled insults at the Christian religion in general.”

When the Christians saw that they are surrounded a few of them started throwing stones at the Dharma Sena activists in self defense. Seeing this, the Sena people fled, but one of them while getting away lost his balance and was hurt a little because of falling down the cliff.

It was not until late that the police decided to admit an FIR against the Dharma Sena activists. One motorcycle belonging to a Dharma Sena man was captured by the police although we do not know about the status of the arrests of the attackers.

The media has chosen to call this a communal clash instead of highlighting the plight of the minority Christian community.

Concerning this incident the Jabalpur Pastors Association has called for an urgent meeting at CARAVS on Monday morning, where in the course of action will be decided.

Jabalpur has been in the eye of the storm for long now and Christians have been intentionally been targeted by the Hindu Fundamentalists and the administration together. This was also observed by the members of the National Minority Commission while on their visit to Jabalpur especially in the wake of the many incidents against the Christian community in the past year.

The Dharma Sena as usual is claiming forcible conversions which is laughable considering that only Christians were gathered for the observance of the Palm Sunday. But a greater question remains, which is: Has the BJP government in the state given the law and order machinery in the hands of the Dharma Sena and anti-social elements like them? For if conversions were alleged why the police was not sent there by the administration?

There have been too many instances in Jabalpur to clearly point out that the administration is hands in glove with the anti-social Hindutva fundamentalists in the persecution and attacks on minorities. Now whether they do this by choice or under direction of their political masters is a question to be answered.