The UmBlog

This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I have a special concern for the church in India, which is experiencing "religious cleansing" in some of its states. Here are links to some stories of recent atrocities and an open letter to President Bush from national religious leaders. The Honorable George W. Bush President The White House Washington, DC Dear Mr. President: For more than two months, Christians in seven of India's states have borne the brunt of repeated waves of violent and deadly attacks that have left scores of people murdered, communities and churches destroyed, and tens of thousands of people homeless. The situation demands a strong and urgent American response to a strategic democratic global partner such as India. As has been well documented, the violence erupted following the tragic attack on a charismatic Hindu leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others, which led to their deaths on August 23. Although a r...

From Compass Direct News but easily found on Google news also NEW DELHI, December 28 (Compass Direct News) – At least four Christians are feared dead, many injured and more than 50 churches and 200 homes are either destroyed or damaged in Orissa state in anti-Christian violence that began Christmas Eve. Violence by Hindu extremists continues in some pockets despite the state imposing a curfew and deploying hundreds of police officers. Extremists have pursued Christian leaders into forests where they fled. The Delhi Catholic Archdiocese fears a repeat of 1998 attacks on Christians in Gujarat, followed the next year by the burning alive of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons in Orissa.

I don't post these stories as often as I used to because it happens so frequently. But this one is so frightening.... A pastor who runs an orphanage and Bible college in Kothanur, Bangalore, was beaten Monday by a group of 35 men who damaged his legs and fractured bones his back and neck. An associate of Dr. T.L. Angan Haokip, who contacted the New Delhi-based Christian Today newspaper, reported that the pastor was driving along a busy road in Geddalahalli village when a group of 35 men sporting long marks on their foreheads and wearing red threads on wrists stopped his vehicle and inquired if he was a pastor. Upon discovering that Angam was a pastor, the men said, "It is because of you that the nation is getting ruined," according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), and proceeded to brutally beat him and assault him in full public view. They also damaged the jeep in which he was traveling... Surprisingly, when the police were contacted, they were...

from Compass Direct News Karnataka – Subhas Chalawadi, allegedly a member of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal , and 15 others beat Dyamappa Chalawadi and his wife Geetha on July 4 in Baloga village, Khanapur taluk, Belgaum district, Karnataka, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). Evangelist Santosh Basappa and a pastor from Trinity Church in Baloga were visiting the couple when the group led by Subhas Chalawadi barged into their home and dragged Dyamappa Chalawadi out. They kicked him and hit him with wooden sticks on the palms of his hands and soles of his feet. Some of the assailants pulled his wife by the hair and pushed her against the wall, and Basappa told Compass they grabbed her arm, hit her on the shoulders and back and told her, “We will kill you and your husband if you continue your Christian prayers.” Khanapur police refused to register a complaint from the couple, saying “there are no bleeding injuries,” said Dr. Sajan K. George of the GCIC. Dyamapp...

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 ba...

A group against the defamation of Hindus finds Bible Study Lessons from Antioch, Ill., The Christian Broadcasting Network, Christian Answers of Gilbert, Ariz., Mission Frontiers of Pasadena, Calif., and many others, however, were identified by the Hindu foundation as Internet "hate" sources. "This is the first of what the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) hopes will be an annual report on anti-Hindu hatred found on the Internet," said the report, which was from a group that provides "a voice for the 2 million strong Hindu American community." "Hate is an ugly thing, and its ugliness is well illustrated in its various manifestations on the Internet, including those detailed in this report," wrote Jeffery Long, of Elizabethtown College, in the forward. their solution in India is simply to riot against Christians or force reconversions which is much better than criticizing others on web pages, or not .

02/28/2007: Militants Attack GFA Bible College About 500 anti-Christian radicals attacked a Gospel for Asia Bible college in the eastern Indian state of Orissa on Wednesday evening, February 28. Gospel for Asia leaders in the area report the mob, which was mobilized by a Hindu nationalist group, systematically attacked the approximately 300 students and staff members present on the campus. Five students and the women's dorm director were seriously injured. All have been hospitalized, and one student is in critical condition. The rest of the student body and staff remain inside the dormitories. Local and reserve police have arrived on the scene, but have found it difficult to control the crowd, and the situation remains tense. The attackers also disconnected the electricity and ransacked the campus, destroying the roofs of many of the school buildings. "The magnitude of this attack is unlike anything we've ever seen," said Gospel for Asia President K.P. Yohannan. ...

NEW DELHI, February 27 (Compass Direct News) – The body of a 29-year-old pastor was found with stab wounds on February 20 in a canal in Krishna district of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Pastor Goda Israel was found dead last Tuesday in a canal near his house in Pedapallparru village in the Gudivada area of the district. The slain pastor, who is survived by his wife and small children, was overseeing 15 churches that he established in the region. “Pastor Israel had earlier been threatened by Hindu extremists due to his involvement in the preaching of the gospel in the area, and he had no enmity with anyone,” a leader with Emmanuel Mission International who requested anonymity told Compass.

Christians in India face growing persecution as they are attacked, beaten and killed for believing in Jesus Christ. The Voice of Martyrs recently received information Christian attacks were escalating. On February 10, a 58-year-old Christian, S. Stanley was stabbed and killed by rioting youth in front of his house in Pavaloor, Kerala State, India. VOM contacts report youths assembled in front of Stanley’s house shouting blasphemous abuses against Christians. The attackers later climbed over the locked gate, entered the house and stabbed Stanley several times on his back, neck and stomach. His wife was also assaulted. “Where Stanley was martyred has traditionally been an area of India that has less persecution. The fact that something like this is happening is further evidence of the worsening climate for Christians in India,” VOM contacts working in India said. “The persecution in India has risen at an alarming rate, to the point that it seems we get multiple stories of perse...

 INDIA – On Saturday, February 10, a 58-year-old Christian, S. Stanley, was stabbed and killed by rioting youth in front of his house in Pavaloor, Kerala State, India. According to contacts working with The Voice of The Martyrs, youths assembled in front of Stanley’s house shouting blasphemous abuses against Christians. “Stanley and his wife came out of their home and asked the youths to leave. This angered them further and they began stoning the house and tried violently to force themselves through Stanley’s gate,” VOM contacts said. The contacts added that while Stanley was inside the house calling the police, the attackers climbed over the locked gate, entered the house and stabbed him several times on his back, neck and stomach. His wife was also assaulted. “Where Stanley was martyred has traditionally been an area of India that has seen less persecution. The fact that something like this is happening is further evidence of the worsening climate for Christians in India,” VOM contac...

NEW DELHI, February 13 (Compass Direct News) – The Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission claims that reports of Hindu extremists persecuting Christians in the state are “baseless,” angering the small Christian community. The state commission’s claim contradicts a report by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) in June 2006. The NCM fact-finding team found that Hindu extremists had frequently invoked the state’s anti-conversion law as a means to incite mobs against Christians and have Christians arrested without evidence. “The life of Christians has become miserable at the hands of miscreants in connivance with the police,” the NCM noted in its report. But Anwar Mohammed Khan, chairman of the state minorities commission, told Compass, “We don’t think any special mention should be made about attacks against Christians.”

Chhattisgarh, February 9 (Compass Direct News) – A small group of people allegedly belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on February 8 beat an evangelist of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band and forced him to the police station in Devasari village in Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja district. Anil Khakkar had gone to Devasari to conduct a meeting in a house church when a jeep full of Hindu extremists arrived; they beat him and took him away. The extremists took him to the Kusmi police station and filed a complaint against him for forcibly converting Hindus. Police said Khakkar had been remanded in custody. No complaint was filed against the extremists for attacking the evangelist. The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum today held a rally along with the local Communist Party of India-Marxist in Raipur, the state capital, to protest the increasing number of anti-Christian attacks in the state. They also submitted a memorandum to the state governor, requesting him to ensure protection of th...

NEW DELHI, February 5 (Compass Direct News) – About 25 members of the Hindu extremist group Dharam Sena (Religion Army) attacked a pastors’ conference in Raipur, Chhattisgarh state, on Friday (February 2), injuring at least 10 Christians. The attack took place at about 3:30 p.m. as organizers were preparing the opening session at the Singh Palace banquet hall in Pandri, a sub-district of Raipur. “When the Dharam Sena barged into the hall, my female manager tried to stop them, but they manhandled her and then proceeded to attack the participants,” Jay Prakash, the Christian owner of Singh Palace, told Compass. The extremists shouted “Jai Shri Ram! [Hail god Rama]” as they beat the Christians with sticks, verbally insulted them and accused them of forcibly converting Hindus.

and i thought maybe the situation was improving... too many things to list here so click the link

Compass Direct reports: An 18-year-old convert from Hinduism breathed his last on January 12, four days after he was found lying wounded near a railway track in the north-central state of Madhya Pradesh. Christians say he was pushed out of the train by Hindu extremists. Passersby noticed Bansi Lal, an independent Christian worker, lying with a severe head injury at the S-12 signal post near the Bolai railway station in Shajapur district at about 7 p.m. on January 8. Lal, who hails from Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district and attends a house church, accepted Christ in 2004. He was reportedly returning from a Christian meeting when the incident took place. Lal died before he could give a statement to railway police, who have reportedly registered a case of suicide. Station master of the Bolai railway station, Chinmay Rai, told Compass that as soon as he was informed about it, he made arrangements to send Lal to a hospital in nearby Ujjain district. Rai, who said Lal had a deep head inj...

from bosnews a former Hindu died in the neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh as he was allegedly thrown off a train by militants of the Bajrang Dal. Bansi Lal, 18, died of his injuries January 12, three days after the incident, AsiaNews agency reported. Police officials said initially that the incident in Devas district appeared to be a "case of suicide" but local Christians said too his death was the "latest example of religious persecution by Hindu extremists." The young man converted to Christianity from Hinduism two and half years ago and had reportedly been threatened ever since as even his family did not approve of his decision.

from Compass Direct MUMBAI, India, January 10 (Compass Direct News) – Seven youths beat Pastor Robert Kennedy of Bangalore in Karnataka state on Sunday (January 7), after asking him to “pray for a sick friend.” The pastor required 16 stitches to his head and back after the assault. In neighboring Andhra Pradesh state, Hindu extremists beat two pastors on January 6 and 7, and another on December 28, after warning them to cease Christian activities in their villages. Pastor Kennedy and the small congregation of Jesus Preeti Church had gathered for worship for about and hour on Sunday morning when seven young men entered the house church and sat down. They talked among themselves, and one of them made calls on his mobile phone as Kennedy preached. At about 12:30 p.m., when the service had ended and the believers had left, the youths approached Kennedy and asked him to accompany them to the home of a sick friend who needed prayer. Since the house was supposedly nearby, Kennedy asked some o...

  December 27 (Compass Direct News) – Hindu extremists burned down a church in India on Saturday (December 23), arrested carol-singers on Christmas Eve and disrupted yuletide services in several states. One Christian suffered a fractured hand, and another lost his hearing. Extremists burned down a thatched church in Boriguma area, Koraput district of Orissa state on Saturday night (December 23), preventing church members from celebrating Christmas there. The congregation had already decorated the building for Christmas festivities, but everything was destroyed in the fire.

can't blame this on some backward tribals this time. what so threatens a man that he needs to beat up women because of their faith? December 22 (Compass Direct News) – A group of Hindu extremists in the southern state of Karnataka have tortured two young women and a girl who converted to Christianity in an attempt to “reconvert” them to Hinduism. The incident took place in Guruparahalli area, 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, on December 14. A man identified only as Ramesh broke into the house of three sisters – Jyothi, 20; Nandhini, 18; and Jalaja, 16. He pressured them to reconvert and beat them for refusing. The victims, who work in a garment factory, attend the Assembly of God church. Ramesh, who used to live nearby until three months ago, had been opposing the sisters since they converted to Christianity from Hinduism a few months ago. “The extremists intruded into the house of the women in the evening and got violent upon finding a Bible a...

excerpted from a Compass News article: Persecution affects both rural and urban populations, but Christians living in villages suffer more due to the practice of sharing common facilities and the presence of hierarchical religious and caste communities within the isolated settlements. Most of India’s Christians live in rural areas. According to India’s 2001 Census, Christians make up 2.3 percent of the 1 billion-plus population, or 24 million people. Of these, almost 16 million live in rural areas. Most of the rural Christians are Dalits (the lowest level of the Hindu caste system, formerly known as “untouchables”), or from tribal backgrounds. In addition to violent attacks launched and incited by Hindu extremists, rural Christians face denial of the use of common facilities like ponds, wells, grazing ground for cattle, schools and cremation grounds. At times they are also treated as social outcasts because of their faith in Christ. Villagers sometimes rape Christian women as a means o...