Students attacked in Andhra Pradesh

According to reports from GCIC, a team of Christian students was attacked by Hindutva goons in Miryalguda, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh. The attackers also seized Christian literature from the team and burned them down.
On 29th July two Christian girl students were spotted by around 3 Hindutva hardliners while they were distributing Christian literature among the college students in the area.

Catching the girls unaware the miscreants attacked them, beating them and snatching away the Christian books. Three boxes of books which were carried by the team were also destroyed by the Hindutva gang.

Following this the attackers pelted stones at a Christian house nearby.

Not satisfied with this the miscreants themselves complained to the police that the Christian students were engaged in forced and fraudulent conversions and registered an FIR against them. Last heard local Christian leaders have also given a complaint against the attackers to the police.

Pastor threatened in Andhra Pradesh

ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA (ANS) -- A pastor was threatened for showing the well-known Jesus movie.

The incident occurred on July 27 in Andhra Pradesh in India.

According to a story on www.persecution.in, Pastor Devadanam organized a screening of the Jesus movie at his residence in Sanjeev Nagar Colony. The event drew about 100 people.

The website reported that as the film was being shown, between 15 and 20 young people from the Indian Peoples Youth Front (the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janatha Political Party, BJP) burst into the home.

According to the story, without saying anything the young people destroyed the speakers, tables and projector. They also tore and burned the screen, along with Bibles.

As the incident continued, the pastor and his family took refuge in one of the rooms in the house and locked the door. Banging on the door but unable to get in, the alleged perpetrators shouted to the pastor that if he ever screened the Jesus film again, they would kill him.

The story on www.persecution.in reported that following the attack, the pastor filed a complaint with the police against the alleged attackers. Six of the assailants were taken by law enforcement officers to the police station.

According to the story, Devadanam came to faith in Jesus many years ago, and has been in full-time Christian service for about a decade. His house church serves about 25 families.

Click here for source

Christian team attacked in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Hindutva activists have attacked a Pastor and a Christian media team representing The Book of Hope at Jangaon in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. The attackers have also destroyed the media kit, including the film and the screen.

A team from The Book of Hope was screening a film on Jesus under the supervision of Pastor Devadanam of Telugu Baptist Church at Jangaon on 27 July 2008. Around 8 pm, more than 30 members belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party, Viswa Hindu Parishad and Bajarang Dal arrived at the venue and ransacked the place. They also beat up the Pastor and the team members and then destroyed the screen, the film and the furniture.

Thereafter the attackers sat in dharna in front of the Pastors’ residence, protesting against conversion activities in the area. They damaged the gate and doors of the house. The Pastor’s plea to spare them fell on deaf ears. They then went back to the spot where the film was screened and destroyed all the books and pamphlets and set fire to them. Upon this, the Pastor rang up the police, informing them about the continued attack by the Hindutva men. Just before the police arrived, they escaped into the dark.

On 28 July 2008, a group of Christian leaders took out a procession to the office of the District Superintendent of Police, wearing black badges. In the meantime the Circle Inspector of Jangaon approached them, assuring that similar incidents would not happen again.

By evening, the police official got all the attackers together and brought about a compromise between them. The Christian leaders thereafter withdrew the police complaint.

Source: AICC

Pastors arrested in Rajasthan

Pratapgarh: Five Christians have been under police custody in Rajasthan for their alleged vandalisation of an idol of a temple nearby.

A Pastor belonging to Good Shepherd Community Church (GSCC), who has been running a worship group at Hamirpura village under Talamgarh Police Station in Arnod taluka of Pratapgarh district, Rajasthan, has been facing resistance from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), led by the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sarpanch. The Hindu radicals wanted the Pastor to stop all his activities at the village.

It so happened that an idol of a nearby temple was found broken recently. Taking advantage of the situation, the activists filed an FIR at the police station alleging that the Pastor and his believers had damaged the idol. Since the police were aware of the truth, they refused to act. However when the radicals threatened to take law into their hands, the police kept the five Christians at the police station as a precautionary measure.

On 21 July 2008 morning, local Christian leaders arrived at the police station and held talks with the police. The police officers said they were convinced of the innocence of the Christians and promised to release them the same day.

GCIC

Christians arrested on false charges

Pratapgarh: Five Christians have been under police custody in Rajasthan for their alleged vandalisation of an idol of a temple nearby.

A Pastor belonging to Good Shepherd Community Church (GSCC), who has been running a worship group at Hamirpura village under Talamgarh Police Station in Arnod taluka of Pratapgarh district, Rajasthan, has been facing resistance from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), led by the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sarpanch. The Hindu radicals wanted the Pastor to stop all his activities at the village.

It so happened that an idol of a nearby temple was found broken recently. Taking advantage of the situation, the activists filed an FIR at the police station alleging that the Pastor and his believers had damaged the idol. Since the police were aware of the truth, they refused to act. However when the radicals threatened to take law into their hands, the police kept the five Christians at the police station as a precautionary measure.

On 21 July 2008 morning, local Christian leaders arrived at the police station and held talks with the police. The police officers said they were convinced of the innocence of the Christians and promised to release them the same day.

Source: AICC

Question mark on motive: Was anti-conversion law really needed? - ExpressIndia.Com

An excellent coverage on the so called "Freedom of Religion Bill" in Gujarat.

Gandhinagar, July 11 Answer to an RTI question reveals that there have been just three conversions in the last five years

The state government has enforced the anti-conversion law in right earnest from April 1, and even notified its rules in detail on Thursday. But a Home department response to a petition under the Right to Information Act has raised questions over the utility of the legislation that was passed last year amid controversy.

On a query by Ahmedabad-based Samson Christian of the All India Christian Council seeking to know the number of complaints of forceful conversions made to the police in Gujarat in the last five years, the Home department replied “only three” — with two of them in 2007.

Of the three cases, two were connected with conversion to Christianity in Dahod district, while one —closed by the police for want of evidence — was conversion to Islam in Godhra.

The activist says that if this is the number of conversions that came to the notice of the police in two decades, the unreported instances would not be big enough to warrant a whole new Act. “We are going to approach the courts based on this reply against the anti-conversion law,” Christian said.

Christian believes that the Indian Penal Code already has provisions to tackle any forced or deceitful conversion, obviating the need for a draconian law to deal with the issue.

In response to an earlier RTI petition filed by him seeking to know the Gujarat government’s view on what constitutes Hinduism, a confused Home department had passed the query to the Legal department only to get a response that “the government had not defined Hinduism”.

Apart from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh also have anti-conversion legislation., In Himachal Pradesh, the previous Congress led government had passed a similar law late last year.

Christian had also filed a petition before the Gujarat High Court along with Anand-based Alpha Charitable Trust following a police case against the Trust under the new Act in May 2007. After the HC reprimanded the government, the case was withdrawn.

Question mark on motive: Was anti-conversion law really needed? - ExpressIndia.Com