Church life in India

from Compass Direct...

Recent Incidents of Persecution

Maharashtra, May 8 (Compass Direct News) – Members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) beat two Christian workers in Shahpur village, Kolhapur district before a television camera and a large crowd on May 7. According to the Christian Legal Association (CLA), the victims, Ramesh Gopargode and Ajit Belavi, were conducting a baptism service for seven local people when the attack took place. A private TV channel, IBN 7, showed a mob led by the VHP beating the evangelists and dragging them to the police station, where they were arrested and booked for fraud and hurting religious sentiments. According to the local superintendent of police, the seven converts had complained that they were not informed about the “conversion ceremony” and felt they were “tricked” by the evangelists. Dr. Abraham Mathai, vice chairman of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, told CLA that the attack was “pre-planned” and those baptized were seemingly part of the plan. Local sources later told CLA that the VHP had pressured the seven to lodge the complaint.

Karnataka (Compass Direct News) – A mob of some 50 to 60 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh wearing saffron headbands attacked a newly-dedicated Marthoma Church in Narasapur, in Kolar district of Bangalore on May 6. As believers left the church at 10 a.m., the mob shouted curses at them and demanded that the church be shut down within 10 days, Dr. Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told Compass. The mob then demanded that two evangelists identified only as Jaya Raj and James be handed over to them. Since the evangelists were not present, the mob beat several believers including three identified only as Santosh, Philip and Govindappa. They also destroyed the electrical circuitry in the church building. Church members filed a complaint with police, but at press time no arrests had been made.

Chhattisgarh (Compass Direct News) – A group of Hindu extremists launched an attack on about 20 Christians while they were gathered at the home of Dr. Vijay Pradhan late on May 3 in Chhattisgarh state’s Sarguja district, according to Dr. Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians. The attackers beat the Christians with clubs and hands before fleeing the scene. One believer suffered a broken leg, and others received minor internal injuries. According to Arun Pannalal, general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, “The believers went to the police station that same night at around 11 p.m. and tried to lodge an official complaint, but police refused to register it until I phoned them and threatened them with a sit-in protest.” At press time, no arrests had been made.

Uttar Pradesh (Compass Direct News) – Seven Hindu extremists vandalized a Christian school and beat a staff member on May 1 in Sikandara area in Agra, Uttar Pradesh state. The Rev. Richard Howell, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, said members of the Bajrang Dal arrived on motorcycles and tried to break into the Grameen Mission School while a board meeting was underway. “When the school guard tried to stop them, they beat him up in a brutal way,” Howell said. The board members escaped injury by locking themselves inside the room. Infuriated, the assailants then vandalized school property. Police have since told the Christian Legal Association of India that they arrested two suspects and sent the school guard for a medical examination.

Orissa (Compass Direct News) – The Hindu extremist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has accused Christian missionaries of “inducing” more than 500 Hindus to convert during the last three months in the villages of Rajnagar Tehsil, Kendrapara district, Orissa; and of planting three churches and a dozen prayer houses. “We have so far come across around 100 families that have embraced Christianity. And there is prima-facie evidence of offer of inducement by missionaries to carry out these conversions,” Golakh Behari Behera, general secretary of the district RSS, told the Kalinga Times on April 26. “We are of the view that the number of converts may increase threefold,” he added. The local paper said District Collector Kashinath Sahu was investigating the charges. The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act requires that all conversions be reported in advance to district authorities, otherwise both convert and clergy can be fined 1,000 rupees ($23).

Chhattisgarh (Compass Direct News) – Eight Hindu extremists attacked a U.S. Christian businessman on April 30 in the Pandri area of Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state. Steve Allison, a furniture dealer who is married to an Indian citizen, was attacked while out for an evening walk. The assailants shouted slogans against Christian missionaries, accused him of being involved in forced conversions and asked him to leave the state immediately. After beating him severely, they left him in the street. Allison, a diabetic, sustained head and abdominal injuries. Eventually a passerby informed Allison’s wife, Purnima Singh, who rushed him to a hospital where he received treatment. Senior Superintendent of Police B.S. Marawi told The Indian Express that no arrests had been made, although “a case has been registered against unknown people as the victim was unable to identify the culprits.”

Rajasthan (Compass Direct News) – Hindu extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal severely beat Pastor Walter Massey following a church service held at his home in Jaipur district on April 29. Massey’s wife Joyce said initially three people came to the door and engaged Massey in conversation but soon started beating him. Other men with covered faces joined the attack; they thrashed him with wooden clubs and kicked the pastor when he fell to the floor. The mob also broke plastic chairs, utensils and furniture in the house. A television crew was present to film the assault, and many national television channels aired footage at 4 p.m. that day. Massey was admitted to the Sawai Man Singh medical College Hospital in Jaipur for treatment. Another local pastor, the Rev. Rakesh Malachi, told the Times of India that the attack was planned and “we have received information of other possible attacks on Christians.” On April 30, police arrested five people in connection with the attack.

Andhra Pradesh (Compass Direct News) – The Congress Party government in Andhra Pradesh state on April 27 decided to enact a law against propagation of other religions in certain places of worship belonging to a particular religion. The law provides for three years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of 5,000 rupees ($114) and was enacted in response to complaints that Christians were preaching at a Hindu temple in the Tirumala hills, Chittoor district. The Indian Constitution provides for enactment of an emergency law at a time when the Assembly is not in session. “The law will be misused by anti-social elements to book any Christian they find in Tirumala,” Dr. Sam Paul of the All India Christian Council told Compass. In addition, the Bharatiya Janata Party has accused Christian missionaries of forcibly converting Hindus in the university and hospitals inside the Tirupati-Tirumala area.

Karnataka (Compass Direct News) – Twelve Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bajrang Dal barged into a Christian prayer meeting in Christoppara Colony, Karwar, on April 20 and began shouting tributes to Krishna, according to Dr. Paul Ciniraj of Salem Voice Ministries. Ciniraj said extremists armed with wooden clubs approached evangelist Anthony Dasa, who was leading the meeting, tied his hands and feet and then gagged him. They then ordered the congregation to stop singing and praying, and forced the believers to repeat Hindu devotional chants, finally threatening to wipe out Christianity from the village. A Christian who arrived late for the meeting witnessed the assault and went to inform men in the fields, who arrived with farm implements and stones; the extremists then fled. Ciniraj said the group had been meeting for eight years but that intimidation from the RSS and Bajrang Dal began only last year.