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Indias Worst anti Christian pogrom of the 21st Century

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Author Topic: Indias Worst anti Christian pogrom of the 21st Century  (Read 2725 times)
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« on: February 16, 2014, 04:59:29 am »

ORISSA, INDIA (Worthy News) – The worst anti-Christian pogrom of the 21st Century was done by Hindu nationalists in India, as reported by Morning Star News.

"India's northeastern state of Orissa was the scene of the most violent anti-Christian pogrom of the early 21st century," Author John L. Allen told a U.S. house subcommittee Tuesday. "In 2008, a series of riots ended with as many as 500 Christians killed — many hacked to death by machete-wielding Hindu radicals — and thousands more injured and at least 50,000 left homeless."
The riots were the result of the assassination of a Hindu nationalist leader who was murdered along with four of his disciples by Maoist rebels; but instead, many Hindus blamed local Christians for the killings long after the real killers took credit for their act!
Attorney Tehmina Arora told the subcommittee that violent mobs acting with impunity are a major contributor to anti-Christian persecution in India.

"The hostility of the state machinery towards the victims of communal and targeted violence was most evident in the aftermath of the violence in Orissa," Arora said.

She said the government of Orissa failed to prosecute most of those accused of violent attacks upon the Christian community. Although the government claimed otherwise, stats showed that of the 827 police reports filed, only 512 charges were ever brought to court, and of those court cases, only 75 ended in convictions, mostly for minor offences.

Arora said that to date only nine people have been convicted for their roles in the killings of hundreds of Christians despite the fact that 84,000 people were accused in more than 2,500 complaints to the Orissa police; most of the acquittals were from shoddy investigations along with a lack of judicial oversight.

In some cases, police failed to gather important forensic evidence — such as bone fragments after mobs burnt bodies — nor did they call upon key witnesses, Arora said.

"Police also failed to provide adequate protection to witnesses, many of whom later retracted their statements made to the police allegedly due to fear and intimidations. Even years after the violence, Christians in Kandhamal, Orissa continue to live in fear, unable in many parts to return to their homes and fields."

"They have been threatened and coerced to convert to Hinduism," Arora said.

http://www.worthynews.com/12768-india-worst-anti-christian-pogrom-of-the-21st-century
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« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2014, 05:08:07 am »

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"Police also failed to provide adequate protection to witnesses, many of whom later retracted their statements made to the police allegedly due to fear and intimidations. Even years after the violence, Christians in Kandhamal, Orissa continue to live in fear, unable in many parts to return to their homes and fields."

"They have been threatened and coerced to convert to Hinduism," Arora said.

Those people are not Christians. "live in fear..."? Whatever!  Roll Eyes

Those people are churchianity converts at best. Real Christians forced to convert to Hinduism? Bull hockey.

Regardless of the website name, there is nothing "worthy" about this, and it's definitely not news, more like propaganda, the kind I hate most, with heretics trying to make people out to be what they aren't.

Personally, I hate these type stories. It's just more of the world wanting pity out of a false back and forth between competing false religions, and I couldn't care less about arguing unbelievers.
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« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2014, 06:10:34 am »

Attacks on Christians Spike as Hindu Nationalists Set to Take Control of India

The Christian minority of India is very concerned about its future in India. The reason for this concern: Exit poll predictions from India's general elections. Currently, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Bharathiya Janatha Party (BJP), looks set to form the next national government of India.

At the center of the NDA is Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and likely nominee as India's next prime minister, and his Hindu nationalist party BJP. Christians are distressed knowing BJP's Hindu nationalist agenda, an ideology that seeks to create a purely Hindu India.

As a matter of concern, Andhra Pradesh, a state located on India's eastern coastline, has seen the highest number of attacks (41) on Christians in India in 2013. Andhra Pradesh is believed to have the highest Christian population in India, yet there seems to be an orchestrated hate campaign by Hindu radical groups, including Sangh Parivar and RSS, being carried out across the state. Brutal attacks on the Christian leaders falsely accused of forcible conversion seemed to increase with the approach of the general elections.

Pastor Christopher from the Malakpet area of Hyderabad told International Christian Concern (ICC) of a gruesome incident that shook him and his entire congregation to the core. On Feb. 2, Bethel Gospel Church, where Pastor Christopher preaches, was set on fire by unknown assailants suspected to be connected to Hindu radical groups. The anti-Christian activists carried out the attack during the early morning hours to inflict maximum damage to the church.

The church was burnt to ashes, everything inside the church including carpets, musical instruments, speakers and chairs were utterly destroyed.

"We are living in fear," the pastor told ICC. "There have been continuous threats from the Hindu radicals. We Christians are treated as second class citizens in this country."

During his 15 years of service, Pastor Christopher has been threatened by the Hindu radical group RSS on many occasions. Once he was threatened by RSS to stop all church activities or else they would "chop him into pieces."

Christopher fears the intensity of these Hindu radicals will only increase if BJP comes to power in the government. But Christopher also believes if an increase in persecution is to be India's future, he hopes this situation will unite the Indian church.

On Feb. 23, more than 30 youths belonging to the Hindu radical group Hindu Vahini barged into a Christian home during a prayer meeting in Marepalli village. These youths were shouting Hindu nationalist slogans as they attacked the small Christian community. Pastor Devaraju, the leader of that community, was verbally abused by the youths with vulgar language.

In an interview with ICC, Pastor Devaraju describes what it is like to be a pastor in a state where most of India's anti-Christian attacks take place.

"Surviving as a pastor in India at the hands of Hindu radicals is every day a challenge. There is no guarantee that I will come back home if I go for gospel work," he says. 

In another incident, the Rev. B. Rajarathnam and his wife, both of whom belong to a Mennonite Brethren Church, were attacked by Hindu radicals in Chadurupally village. During a Hindu festive (Holi) on March 17, more than 15 assailants, likely connected to Hindu radical groups, stormed into the pastor's house and started beating him and his wife.

During the attack, the pastor's wife, who is in her 60s, fell to the ground unconscious after being punched and slapped multiple times. Onlookers took her to the hospital for treatment immediately following the attack.

The attackers also demolished a wall of the pastor's home, causing serious damage to the house.

"There is an increasing trouble emerging for the Christian community with Modi projected as prime minister," Rajarathnam says. "It is a matter of deep distress for Christians."

"There is huge discrepancy when it comes to delivery of justice for religious minorities in this country, and with Modi as prime minister, India will become an even more unsafe place for religious minorities," the Rev. Ronald John, a Christian leader in India, says. 

The attacks on Christians by Hindu radicals continue to flare up all across India as the general elections draw to a close. The Christian community as a whole fears that it will only get worse if BJP and their front man, Modi, assume control of one of the world's largest democratic government. Foreseeing the coming threat, many Christian leaders have urged their followers to pray for the future of India's Christians. They are praying—are you?

http://www.charismanews.com/world/43655-attacks-on-christians-spike-as-hindu-nationalists-set-to-take-control-of-india
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« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2014, 06:58:19 am »

Does New India Gov't Equal Greater Christian Persecution?



The world's largest democracy is set to change governments as results of India's month-long election show the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overwhelming winning.

But some say with that win comes concern over what comes next for India's Christians, who now await their fate under the new leadership.

Sajan George, with the Indian Council of Christians, said to predict the future, just look at the past.

"Past experience is whenever they came into power, they have not been kind to us or they've always tried to violate constitutional guarantees given to the Christian community in India," George explained.

"So, the Christian community is fearful about the outcome and the person likely to lead the government has a very bad reputation as a ruler in his own state of Gujarat," he added.

That person in question is Narendra Modi, the man set to be India's new prime minister.

Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 Gujarat riots when more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Indian Christians say they've fared better under the Congress Party because it is more secular minded.

"Have we seen an improvement for the Christians, or has persecution gotten worse? Physical attacks have come down but there are economical," George argued.

"They are trying to spoil the Christian community by taking away the small, little privileges they've enjoyed as Dalits in the past. They've been driven out of their places, they've not been allowed to run businesses," he said. 

Though less in number in recent years, physical attacks against Christians have continued.

The Catholic Secular Forum documented 4,000 attacks against Christian converts in 2013.

India's Andhra Pradesh is one of the worst affected states, not only for converts but also for those ministering to them.

Last Christmas, militants assaulted a pastor's wife after knocking on the church door at midnight.

"As I opened the door, I saw three people standing, I couldn't identify them, they were not our regular church members. When I asked them to identify themselves, they hit me hard until my head cracked," Suvartha, the Pastor Moses' wife, recalled.

"They continuously beat her, another person was hitting me and then they mercilessly started stabbing me," Pastor Moses said.

"He bent down and they stabbed him nine, 10 times. He was screaming Jesus's name! After a while they thought that he is dead, they came outside the room and also stabbed me a couple of times," Suvartha said.

These Christians survived, but others like Pastor Sanjevalu, have been killed in similar attacks and government officials have done little to bring the murderers to justice or deter the attacks.

Sudhakar Reddy, editor of the Deccan Chronicle, said the law should be upheld.

"The Constitution has given freedom to individuals to choose any religion of their liking. The Constitution has also given freedom to propagate any religion," Reddy said.

But the question now is, will India's new prime minister and government honor the Indian constitution.

"If the government of America wants to do business with India they should make clear that, they should protect the constitutional right guaranteed to the Christians, other minorities and they should also protect the Dalits," George said.

The Dalits are the poorest of the poor, the lowest caste in India considered by Hindus to be beneath the feet of God. They're the "untouchables."

About 80 percent of all new believers in India come from this group of people. Now they wonder, will the new government protect them or must they look to God alone for their security?


http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/May/Does-New-India-Govt-Equal-Greater-Christian-Persecution/
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« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2014, 12:43:00 pm »

Alot like here in America - where everyone has had the impression that (Muslim believer)Obama is feared to really go after Christians, while his predecessor "Christian believer" George W. Bush was kind to Christians.

Not trying to defend Obama or anything, but don't be fooled by all this propaganda mixed in - George W(and Ronald Reagan for that matter too) weren't too kind to Christians either(ie-Iraq was invaded under Bush/Cheney's watch, and subsequently Christians got persecuted greatly under Iraq's new puppet regime. And for that matter too Bush had no qualms with 501c3, despite the whole "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" nonsense started in 2008).

Yes, this new leadership in India is the most wicked - but again, don't buy into all of the propaganda that somehow the previous regime was kind to Christians.

1Timothy 2:1  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.


IOW, remember we're still in the Church Age.
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« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2014, 07:11:56 am »

Bans on Christian Activity in Indian State Escalating Into Violence Against Believers

Attacks on Christians in Chhattisgarh state have raised suspicion that local officials are collaborating with Hindu extremists, church leaders said.

Local officials on Saturday summoned area Christians to a meeting in Madota village, Bastar District, on the pretext of resolving conflict over bans in the district on missionaries and non-Hindu religious activity. Dozens of villages in the district passed such bans earlier this year.

Christians in Madota village gathered at the designated spot all day, but nobody turned up, church leaders said. Armed Hindu extremists wearing saffron bands arrived in the evening, accused the Christians of converting Hindus and beat more than 15 of them; 12 were taken to hospitals for treatment, including seven who were seriously injured, church leaders said.

“Some of the injured Christians were admitted in a hospital in Jagdalpur, and some local Christians have also been forced to go into hiding due to the constant threats they received from the right-wing groups,” Bhupendra Kohra told Morning Star News.

Early in the morning, local officials had summoned villagers, with the aid of drum beats, to assemble in Madota to discuss the district administration’s response to Christians’ petition to the Bilaspur High Court contesting the ban on missionaries and non-Hindu religious activity in Bastar villages, said Arun Pannalal, president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum (CCF).

He accused Bastar District authorities of working “hand-in-glove” with Hindu nationalists, who equate being born in India with irrevocable adherence to Hinduism.

“The district authorities, along with some right-wing elements, are also pressuring us to withdraw the petition filed in the high court against the ban on the entry of non-Hindu missionaries in Bastar,” Pannalal said. “Now our writ is pending in the high court. We see this latest attack as a pressure tactic.”

Bans by various Bastar District villages on non-Hindu religious activity were passed in July and May with the aim of prohibiting conversions to Christianity, citing alleged “forced” conversions.

The previous Sunday (Oct. 19), Hindu extremists attacked a worship meeting in Madota. A mob of about 30 people shouted chants for Christians to stop a worship service, according to religious freedom advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom-India (ADF-India). Five Hindu extremists then entered the church building and began beating the Christians, including women and children.

The assailants later placed a picture of the Hindu god Hanuman at a water pump near the church building and forbade Christians from drawing water from it. On the same day, in a similar attack in Farasgoan, Bastar District, a mob of 25 Hindu extremists beat Christians at their Sunday worship meeting. The church filed a police complaint, but no action had been taken at press time.

The next day (Oct. 20) in the same district in the Tokapal area, a Christian identified only as Laxman was beaten unconscious for following Christ by his three brothers, according to ADF-India.

“The Hindu extremists were behind the attack,” Akhilesh Edgar, area church leader, told Morning Star News.

ADF-India reported that the Christian remained unconscious for 24 hours. At press time he was still in the hospital.

Similarly, in Mahasamund District, Hindu extremists loitered near the premises of the Believers’ Church the first three Sundays of the month, threatening to harm church members if they continued to attend worship services. Area Christian leaders sought police protection.

The Hindu extremists had attacked a church building and adjacent cemetery on Oct. 1, breaking a cross on the boundary wall and a gate lock and stoning the tin roof of the cemetery shed, reported the Evangelical Fellowship of India. Two days later, the extremists broke another cross on the wall of the church, damaged outside lights and wrote, “Jai Shree Ram [Victory to Lord Ram]” on the church wall.

The head of the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India had written to federal and Chhattisgarh officials on July 10 that the bans in the Bastar District villages, including some that include a prohibition against non-Hindus entering the hamlets, could lead to large-scale persecution of Christians and other minority communities.

“The government must reverse the decisions of these [villages] immediately to restore the confidence of the Christian community in the state, which is under considerable stress in recent days,” wrote Vijayesh Lal, national director of the commission.

Suresh Yadav, president of the Hindu extremist umbrella group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, or World Hindu Council) in Bastar District, told reporters that more than 50 village councils had adopted resolutions banning outside missionaries.

Chhattisgarh state is 94.7 percent Hindu and 1.9 percent Christian, according to Operation World.

- See more at: http://christiannews.net/2014/11/03/bans-on-christian-activity-in-indian-state-escalating-into-violence-against-believers/#sthash.OmlK4Afk.dpuf
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« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2014, 09:06:35 am »

Radical Hindus Push Christian 'Purification,' Converting Churches to Temples

Hindu radicals in India are intensifying their religious purification practices, amping up cleansing, reconversion and converting Christian churches in the state of Uttar Pradesh to turn it into a Christian-free zone. The brutal religious cleansing attacks that have engulfed the Christian community have left many Christians feeling like they are facing a life and death struggle in the world's largest democracy.

Radically right-wing Hindu organizations such as Dharma Jagran Vibhag, Shuddhikaran (Cleansing) Movement and Religious Awakening have increased their reconversion campaign to turn India into a Hindu nation by carrying out numerous attacks on Christian communities. Mr. Rajeshwar Singh, a leader within the Religious Awakening, said in a newspaper interview that, "On Dec. 23, the martyrdom day of Swami Shraddhanand (the leader of the 19th century re-conversion movement), we will convert Muslims to Hinduism in at least 50 locations in west UP," Singh claimed. "On Dec. 25, the day when Christians convert people to their religion, this year, we will do the reverse—by converting them back to Hinduism. In two to three years, the rural hinterland will be free of Christians."
Asroi's Christians and Church Converted to Hinduism

As a part of this reconversion campaign, a church in Asroi village, located in U.P., was forcefully converted into temple and three Christian families were also forcefully converted back to Hinduism by members of a radical Hindu group. Asroi is located about 22 miles from the district capital of Aligarh in western UP, which is where one of the most intense reconversion campaigns is being carried out by Hindu radicals in recent months.

The reconversion "ceremony" took place inside the church where Hindu radicals placed portraits of Hindu gods and build an altar complete with a sacred fire to symbolically declare the church and its followers were unclean and needed purification. All of the Christians in Asroi were forced by the radicals to attend this ceremony and were told they needed to return to Hinduism or face dire consequences. Following this ceremony, the radicals claimed they had turned the church into a Hindu temple.

Mr. Rajender, a 65-year-old former member of the church told ICC in an interview that, "I converted back to the Hindu faith on my own wish." However, this statement and the others that followed seemed to be scripted and well-rehearsed. When pushed, Mr. Rajender went on to say that, "a Bajrangdal leader from the area came to the village several times persuading me to come back to Hinduism." He continued, "We were educated of the benefits of going back to Hinduism and disadvantage of continuing as Christians. We weighed both and we thought it is safer going back to the Hindu faith."

Mr. Rajveer, another former Christian of the church, said, "As Christians, we were denied and discriminated against, unlike our Hindu counterpart." He continued by saying, "We want to be treated on par with everybody, when it comes to government schemes and subsidies from which we were denied because of following Jesus."

This pattern of reconversion is being followed by many Hindu radicals all over U.P. In the case of former Christians in Asroi, the Hindu radicals first warned them that they will lose government benefits designed to help poor people due to their religious identity. Next, they frighten these Christians with social expulsion from mainstream society if they remain as Christians. In order to ensure they didn't violate India's anti-forced conversion laws, the radicals likely told these reconverted Christians what to say in case their conversions were ever questioned.
The Christians Who Said No to Reconversion

Khem Chandra, a leader within Dharma Jagran Vibhag in Aligarh, told the Times of India,"This is called ghar wapasi (referring to Christians, who reconverted in Asroi village), not conversion." Chandra added that, "in the years that followed their adoption of Christianity, he met heads of the eight Valmiki families (untouchables under Hindu caste system) numerous times to convince them to reconsider their decision."

In another incident similar to what happened in Asroi, a local pastor in Senata Safipur did not allow a reconversion ceremony in his church. Pastor Jeypal is now facing constant threats from local Hindu radicals groups because he resisted.

On the Jan. 29, 2009, Pastor Jeypal and his church faced a life and death situation, as he described it, when more than 300 Hindu radicals surrounded his church, the Glorious Church of Christ in India, in an attempt to force the Christians to leave the area. They demanded the pastor and his church members leave the Christian faith and reconvert to Hinduism or else face the consequences. The mob wanted to conduct a reconversion ceremony, similar to what happened in the Asroi, by constructing an alter and a fire in the church to declare that the village is pure and it's now a Christian free village.

Pastor Jeypal, along with his church members, stood strong and, with the help of the police, did not allow the mob into church for the reconversion ceremony. Pastor Jeypal said that, "I am reminded of a verse where Paul in the New Testament says, 'to live, is Christ and to die, is gain.' God gave me strength to stand in such manner, bravely facing more than 300 people on one side and very few Christians the other side."

The police had to threaten shooting orders against the mob if they tried to enter into the church by force. When the Hindu radicals realized that they would not be able to carry out what they had planned, they left. However, the church member turnout decreased significantly after that incident.

Whatever the phrases or terms are being used to describe these acts of communal reconversion or purification in the name of nationalism, they certainly go against Article 25 of India's Constitution which guarantees religious freedom for all India's citizens.

In a recent interview with the Times of India, Rajeshawar Singh, a regional leader of Rashtriay Swayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.) claimed that R.S.S. has taken possession of as many as 60 churches across the state (U.P.), where no Christians worship now, "as they have all be reconverted to Hinduism." This widespread issues continues to be a grave concern for the Christian minority across India. Many fear that someday they may be forced to deny their Christian faith when these radical groups show up in their village. Without action by the Indian government, this situation is likely to continue to spread, potentially forcing millions of Christians to choose between their security and their faith.

http://www.charismanews.com/7-news/46434-radical-hindus-push-christian-purification-converting-churches-to-temples
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« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2014, 09:09:03 am »

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Mr. Rajveer, another former Christian of the church, said, "As Christians, we were denied and discriminated against, unlike our Hindu counterpart." He continued by saying, "We want to be treated on par with everybody, when it comes to government schemes and subsidies from which we were denied because of following Jesus."

Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
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« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2014, 07:49:11 pm »

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Mr. Rajender, a 65-year-old former member of the church told ICC in an interview that, "I converted back to the Hindu faith on my own wish." However, this statement and the others that followed seemed to be scripted and well-rehearsed. When pushed, Mr. Rajender went on to say that, "a Bajrangdal leader from the area came to the village several times persuading me to come back to Hinduism." He continued, "We were educated of the benefits of going back to Hinduism and disadvantage of continuing as Christians. We weighed both and we thought it is safer going back to the Hindu faith."

Matthew 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.


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Pastor Jeypal, along with his church members, stood strong and, with the help of the police, did not allow the mob into church for the reconversion ceremony. Pastor Jeypal said that, "I am reminded of a verse where Paul in the New Testament says, 'to live, is Christ and to die, is gain.' God gave me strength to stand in such manner, bravely facing more than 300 people on one side and very few Christians the other side."

Matthew 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

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« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2014, 07:52:00 pm »

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Mr. Rajveer, another former Christian of the church, said, "As Christians, we were denied and discriminated against, unlike our Hindu counterpart." He continued by saying, "We want to be treated on par with everybody, when it comes to government schemes and subsidies from which we were denied because of following Jesus."

Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I'm not at liberty to judge anyone salvation(for obvious reasons) - but sometimes you wonder if these people were ever saved. Yes, Peter denied our Lord 3 times - but he regretted it and wept bitterly over it(on the contrary).

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

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« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2014, 04:18:43 am »

Mass conversion in India PM's home state sparks anger

Hardline Hindu groups came under fire Sunday after some 200 Christians were converted in the Indian prime minister's home state, amid increasing concern at the right-wing government's perceived pro-Hindu tilt.

The radical Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) said it converted Christian tribal people to their original Hindu faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's western home state of Gujarat late Saturday.

The mass event drew widespread criticism from Christian groups and Modi's political opponents on Sunday. They accused radical organisations linked to Modi's ruling party, like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), of forcing or enticing religious minorities to convert to Hinduism.

"Extreme right wing is flexing its muscles. VHP/RSS through Hindutatva ("Hinduness") ... rewriting history and economic policies," Digvijay Singh, a leader of the opposition Congress party, posted on Twitter early Sunday.

A Gujarat-based priest said he could not "accept that anyone who has been a Christian will convert to other religion by personal choice".

"VHP is forcing people and luring them to convert their religion," Father Dominic was quoted as saying by Zee News channel's website.

Saturday's mass ceremony took place in a tribal village 350 kilometres (215 miles) south of the state capital Ahmedabad.

It happened hours after Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor RSS called for a new law to ban "forced religious conversions".

"Over 200 people were asked to throw their religious pendants in a holy fire and were given new pendants with the image of (Hindu) Lord Rama," Ajit Solanki, a Gujarat state VHP secretary, told AFP.

Solanki however denied using any kind of force or monetary promises, maintaining that the conversions were voluntary.

The world's most populous democracy is a secular country under the constitution and religious freedom is considered a fundamental right.

The issue of mass conversions has paralysed India's parliament, with opposition lawmakers demanding Modi make a statement on earlier reports of poor Muslims being coerced into Hinduism.

A hardline group linked to the BJP was accused of converting some 50 slum-dwelling Muslim families about a week ago in the Taj Mahal city of Agra.

One of the converts told AFP they were promised ration cards and other financial incentives if they switched religions.

Critics say Hindu hardline groups have become emboldened since the BJP was elected, promoting a Hindu-dominant agenda.

Modi, who spent his early years in the RSS, has made no comment on religious issues since becoming premier.

He was himself accused of failing to curb 2002 anti-Muslim riots that claimed at least 1,000 lives when he was chief minister of Gujarat.

He has always rejected the accusations and India's Supreme Court found no evidence to prosecute him.

India is 80 percent Hindu while Muslims make up 13.4 percent of the 1.2 billion population. Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and other religions account for the rest.

http://news.yahoo.com/mass-conversion-india-pms-home-state-sparks-anger-084844015.html
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« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2015, 09:19:42 am »

Christian Detained in India After Hindus File Complaint Over ‘Spreading Christianity’

Arvind D’Souza was stopped by the police “for reasons of public order,” even though he had committed no crime. The incident occurred on Jan. 2 in the district of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

D’Souza, who is still in prison under preventive detention, the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) told AsiaNews, ran afoul of a group of Hindu radicals in the village of Maulvikhurd.

The latter filed a complaint with police against the Christian man for “spreading Christianity” and “forced conversion of women and children through the gift of Bibles.”

Continue reading this story >>  http://asianews.it/news-en/Christian-man-detained-on-security-grounds-even-though-he-did-not-commit-any-crimes-33130.html
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« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2015, 07:29:07 am »

Narendra Modi: India PM warns against religious attacks

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to protect all religious groups after a string of attacks on churches in Delhi. Addressing a Christian audience in the capital, he called on all religious groups to show restraint and respect. Since December, five churches have been attacked, but this is the first time Mr Modi has commented on the issue.   

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-31499978
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« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2015, 06:14:59 am »

Days after Indian Police Torture Christians, Hindu Extremists Attack in Madhya Pradesh

Days after police tortured 20 Christians in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, Hindu extremists in Madhya Pradesh struck two churches in four days.

In central India’s Madhya Pradesh, where a law against forced or fraudulent conversions is routinely invoked to harass Christians – though none has ever been found guilty – members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal on Wednesday (March 4) stormed into a prayer meeting at a private residence at Haldad, near Julwania in Barwani District, with a contingent of police officers.

After the Hindu extremists accused pastor Lal Singh and Indram Chauhan of fraudulently converting poor tribal people, the officers arrested the two Christians.

“The Hindu group members caught hold of Pastor Lal Singh and Indram Chauhan, manhandled them and passed them over to the police, after creating much disturbance in the area,” pastor Anar Singh told Morning Star News.

Police reportedly confiscated Bibles belonging to Pastor Singh and Chauhan as evidence.

The incident took place near the Julwania police station, but officers took them to the Rajpur police station, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) away. The law requires that arrested persons be presented before a magistrate within 24 hours, but area Christian leaders said the process for Pastor Singh and Chauhan was delayed.

“Police personnel in Rajpur seem to be waiting for police people from Julwania police station to come and complete the formalities,” a local Christian leader said.

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In New Delhi, Vijayesh Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) said he had received reports that Hindu extremists with the Dharm Jagran Samiti had surrounded the Julwania police station and prevented police from going to Rajpur to complete formalities necessary to present the arrested Christians before a judge.

“It appears that the Hindu groups want the Christians to stay in the police station for a longer period of time,” Lal said.

Barwani District has a history of attacks on Christians. According to the Religious Liberty Commission of the EFI, Christians in Barwani were targeted in October and November of last year, resulting in the arrest of pastor Ashok Pratap and Kallu Rai Singh. At least four people received hospital treatment for serious injuries.

On March 1, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) away in Alirajpur District, about a dozen Hindu extremists shouting anti-Christian slogans tried to break into a church service in Rampura village, sources said. The village is three kilometres from Jobat, a century-old Christian mission station.

While about 300 people were worshipping, the Hindu extremists led by Pratap Singh Dawar, head master of the government school in Jobat and leader of the Hindu Jagran Manch (Hindu Revival Platform), tried to force their way into the building, pastor Pastor Kanhaiya Lal (pictured) told Morning Star News.

“They were shouting slogans against Christianity and using abusive language,” said Lal, whose church worship site moved from Jobat to the village three years ago. “I had not seen most of them before and think they are from nearby villages, because I do not recognize them as residents from Jobat city.”

One of the Christians present alerted police.

“The sloganeering and abuse continued for over an hour, till the police reached the spot,” said Emmanuel Ariel of the Church of North India in Jobat. “They were vilifying the Christian faith.”

Kanhaiya Lal said police told church members to return to the building and continue their worship, which they did. Police continued talking with the extremists, eventually persuading them to pursue the matter legally and file a complaint, he said. In the complaint they named Noel Immanuel, who had given the church its land, and assistant pastor Pratap Rawat.

“Three of them have alleged that Pastor Pratap gave them money to convert to Christianity, when the fact is we have never seen these people before,” Kanhaiya Lal said. “I have heard that they even made affidavits to this effect and have deposed before authorities against us.”

Policemen have been visiting church leaders continually to record their statements, he said.

“I have been called to the police station tomorrow with four of my church members for statements again,” the pastor said. “It is troublesome, but what can we do?”

Alirajpur and surrounding areas also have a history of violence against Christians, said the EFi’s Vijayesh Lal.

“It was particularly violent in 2004, as many Christian homes were damaged, church buildings demolished and destroyed, Christians beaten up and at least one Christian woman was raped as a result of mass violence against Christians,” he said. “Incidents of attacks against churches have continued on and off, but largely calm has prevailed till last year.”

Three years ago Kanhaiya Lal’s Filadelfia church moved from a rented location in Jobat to Rampur village after Immanuel provided the land as a gift.

In October 2014, Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) protested and threatened to burn the 100-year-old church building in Jobat after a Christian, Joseph Pawar, and a Hindu woman, Ayushi Wani, eloped. Under pressure from HJM extremists, police found the adult couple and annulled their marriage, ignoring their protests.

Human rights defenders criticized the administration actions as Wani was sent to a government shelter for women and Pawar was sent to Indore under strict police orders to refrain from contact with her. They were later reunited after the High Court of Madhya Pradesh declared the actions of the administration illegal.

Tortured in Rajasthan

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke twice in less than two weeks about religious freedom for all, police detained 20 Christians from Andhra Pradesh who were visiting Jaipur, Rajasthan, and tortured them in custody, sources said.

The members of the Hebron Church at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, had come to Jaipur to sight-see and proclaim Christ. The 20 Christians, most of them middle-aged, were staying with A.P. David at Shanti Nagar in Jaipur.

As the group distributed Christian literature near the Mansarovar market area in Jaipur on Feb. 25, a mob of about 60 people from Hindu extremist groups ambushed them, said area Christian leader Rajesh Malaki.

“The mob abused them in filthy language and pushed the members around,” he told Morning Star News.

Rajasthan state president of the National Christian Council, Malaki said group left after the mob called police.

Pastor Walter Masih, the subject of international attention after a video of Hindu extremists mercilessly beating him in 2007 went viral, was the host of the group. He said the mob followed the group, subjecting them to much abuse, and some forced their way into the hostel where the Christians were staying.

“Soon the mob increased and the police arrived,” Masih told Morning Star News. “Instead of confronting the mob, who were trespassing and hurling abuses, the police rounded up the Christians in two Jeeps and took them to the Mansarovar police station, where they were beaten up by policemen.”

Officers kicked and pushed the Christians as they got out of the police Jeeps at the station, Malaki said. Assistant Sub-Inspector Daya Ram and two other policemen lined the Christians up, made them spread their palms and beat them with belts and sticks on their hands and wrists, he said.

“What is surprising is that the police, instead of protecting the Christians from the hands of the mob, took them to the police station and indulged in beating them using torture akin to third degree and abused them with objectionable language,” said Lal of the EFI. “If the protectors turn into perpetrators, where will the victims go? It looks like the police in Jaipur have not heard the prime minister’s promise of ensuring freedom of religion for all citizens of India.”

Civic and Christian leaders who reached the police station were horrified at the condition of the Christians.

“I was told by members of the civil society as well as Christian leadership of Jaipur, that the Christians were beaten up very badly,” Lal said. “Their hands were swollen red as a result of the beating that they got, in which belts and sticks were used on their hands and wrists.”

Masih added that some were bleeding, and one Christian’s watch broke off as a result of the beating.

“Policemen had also indulged in a lot of verbal abuse against the Christian group,” Masih told Morning Star News.

“When we reached the spot along with leaders from the Sadbhav Manch [Interfaith Dialogue platform] as well as some members of civil society, we were shocked to see the utter impunity and the scant regard for law as practiced by the police themselves,” Malaki said. “At least six people were seriously injured out of the 20, but there was no sign of the station officer.”

EFI reported that prominent community leaders spoke to the superintendent of police and assistant commissioner of police, and only with great difficulty did he get a complaint registered.

“The Assistant Sub-Inspector kept threatening the Christian group even in the presence of his superiors and then finally began pleading with them to agree to a compromise,” Malaki said.

The police station was filled with Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) throughout the effort to file a complaint, he said.

“The RSS workers tried to threaten us and hurled abuses at us, as we were speaking in favor of the Christians, but the police did not stop them,” Malaki said. “Since our group was an interfaith group and influential members of the community were part of it, we were not attacked and the police were willing to listen to us.”

At about 11 p.m., after more than nine hours at the police station, the Christians were released at the request of the local leaders. Police accompanied them to their accommodation in Shanti Nagar, where officers threatened their host.

“The policemen who accompanied the group back to Mr. David’s place threatened Mr. David with possible police charges against him if he continued to provide shelter to the Christians,” Masih told Morning Star News. “The policemen put so much pressure on Mr. David that he was forced to ask the Christians to move out of his property. The Christians, who were already tired and beaten up, were also told to leave Jaipur immediately by the same policemen, who warned them of a bigger and more vicious attack by the RSS the next day.”

A memorandum submitted to Police Commissioner Janga Rao by the Christian Community, Interfaith Dialogue platform and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties of Rajasthan the next day confirmed the police threats.

“What shocked us was that after we reached our own homes, we learned that the police which had gone to drop the 20 had pressured the owner of the hostel where they were staying, Mr. A.P. David, to not let them spend the night there,” the memo read. “The people were thrown out and told to make their way to the railway station and not return to the city; they were told that cases of conversions would be filed if they would not leave the city. Terrorized and devastated, the group left after midnight, despite our assurances, including informing you that the Mansarovar [Police station in charge] had indulged in this mischief of despatching them off.”

The memorandum demanded that three policemen who beat the Christians be arrested and suspended, and that the complaint registered by the Christians be converted into a First Information Report and be investigated. It also demanded that the station officer of Mansarovar police station be held accountable for threatening the Christians and pressuring David to make them leave.

“The State Police Department of Rajasthan must ensure that the law enforcement agency is free from all bias and from people who promote hatred,” the EFI’s Lal said. “We appeal to Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje to ensure that minorities are protected in her state and are free to profess, practice and propagate their faith without fear. This is what the prime minister has promised, and we expect that the Bharatiya Janata Party state government led by Mrs. Raje will keep the PM’s word.”

http://christiannews.net/2015/03/10/days-after-indian-police-torture-christians-hindu-extremists-attack-in-madhya-pradesh/
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« Reply #14 on: April 04, 2015, 04:42:30 am »

Christians in India Hit with Beatings, Official Opposition, Discrimination

A rash of anti-Christian attacks this month hit Haryana state in northern India, where a new chief minister spoke against Christians and 45 were severely beaten at a burial service.

A mob of more than 700 Hindu extremists on March 6 assaulted the 45 Christians as they began burial rites for an elderly Christian woman at a cemetery in Faridabad.

“The Christians were beaten very severely as the mob targeted the Christians individually,” the Rev. Virendar Kumar of Bethenia Church told Morning Star News. “Each and every Christian was being beaten up by 10-12 people from the mob. Around 35-plus Christians are hospitalized in different hospitals in Faridabad. Some are seriously injured.”

The Christians were forced to flee, taking the body of the deceased with them.

The assailants said the Christian burial ground was too close to their village, Pali, a half kilometer away, so they would not allow Christians to bury their dead there. The local administration had assigned the graveyard to the Christians, and Christian churches in Faridabad have all necessary permissions and papers for it.

“This was the third plot allotted for the cemetery purposes to the Christian community in Faridabad after the old one got filled,” said pastor Sunil Salvation, president of the Faridabad Pastors Fellowship and secretary of the Faridabad Cemetery Committee.

A plot was first allotted to Christians in 2008 near Budhana village outside Faridabad, but strong opposition from villagers in Budhana compelled authorities to allocate another space, called Sector 8, next to Hindu and Muslim cemeteries.

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“Trouble arose related to the Sector 8 cemetery as well, as someone claimed it was his personal land,” Salvation said. “We went to the administration, and finally this present cemetery was allotted to the Christians in 2013. We were told by the Joint Commissioner to go ahead with the burials, and that the local administration would build a boundary wall later.”

Two burials have already been conducted in this cemetery.

“We were given police protection for both the previous burials that we conducted, but March 6, being a holiday on account of the festival of Holi [Hindu festival of colors], we decided not to bother the police and perform the burial ourselves,” Salvation said.

Christians reached the cemetery at 11 a.m., Kumar said, and soon a small mob began following them, which quickly grew. As threats increased, some of the Christians began leaving.

“Only those who escaped early escaped the beating,” said Kumar. “I was one of them. It was a mostly young crowd, but because of color on their faces due to the festival, we cannot identify them.”

Salvation, who said he lost a new motorcycle in the attack, said the assailants beat Christians with the tools they had brought for digging.

“We were beaten mercilessly,” Salvation said. “The ambulance in which we were carrying the body was also broken; the glass windows were shattered. The spade with which we were digging the ground was taken up by someone in the mob, and he swung it at the ambulance driver with full force. Thankfully the driver ducked, and the spade did not hit him. If it had, the driver would not have survived.”

Other cars and motorcycles belonging to Christians were also damaged as a result of the attack. A car belonging to Mahavir Singh was destroyed.

Kumar said the Hindu cemetery is in the middle of Pali village, and the Christian burial ground is 1 kilometer away on government-allotted land.

“How can this happen in a country where law and order is supposed to prevail?” Kumar asked.

Salvation added that an illegal Hindu temple has been built next to the cemetery.

The village head of Pali was also present with the mob when the Christians were beaten, they said.

The Christians later returned with the body, this time with two police vehicles for protection, but the mob blocked them from burying it.

“Even with the police, we were not able to bury our dead in our allotted cemetery,” Salvation said. “She [the village head] stopped us again. So we left and somehow buried the dead in the old cemetery, which is already full.”

The next day a First Information Report (FIR) was filed in the local police station, naming only the village head, as the rest were unidentified. There have been no arrests so far. Christian leaders led by the Rev. S.P. David, president of the Faridabad Cemetery committee, submitted an application to the commissioner of police and the district magistrate.

The district collector has asked Christians to seek police protection before each burial.

“We do not feel bad that we were beaten up but are sad that the community is being targeted in this way,” Salvation said.

The Rev. Vijayesh Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission said Haryana has not been a hot spot for anti-Christian action until the past few months.

“Things have changed in the last few months, and now more than ever the minority Christian community in Haryana is being victimized by hate crimes,” Lal said. “We are concerned and urge the chief minister, Mr. Khattar, to intervene in the situation to restore the confidence of the community.”

Chief Minister Defends Desecration

Following the desecration of a church building under construction in Kaimri village, Hissar District, the newly elected chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, on March 16 defended the attack and accused the pastor of fraudulent conversion.

The Rev. Subhash Chand of the Believers Church returned to Kaimri after a trip to a nearby city on March 13 to find Hindu extremist groups had replaced the church’s cross with an idol of Hanuman and installed a flag of the Hindu extremist umbrella group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) depicting Ram, a Hindu deity.

Along with damaging and vandalizing the church building, the assailants also stole a water cooler and other items, he alleged in his First Information Report to police on March 14. The report accuses 14 people under Indian Penal Code sections 147 for punishment for rioting, 153A for promoting enmity between groups, 295 for destroying or damaging a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class of persons, 380 for theft in a building, and 506 for criminal intimidation.

Chief Minister Khattar of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who took power in October 2014, defended the vandalization during a budget session of the Haryana assembly and accused Chand of trying to convert Hindu boys by promising them brides. Saying villagers were opposed to the “so-called church,” the chief minister told the assembly that a complaint has been filed against Chand for allegedly assaulting a youth who ran away from a prayer meeting because Chand had insulted Hindu gods.

“The youth was shunted out and beaten up when he opposed the priest’s statement,” Khattar said.

Chand denied the accusations, saying the charge was frivolous.

On the same day (March 16), the Union Home Ministry asked the Haryana government to send a report on desecration of the church and action taken so far. On March 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern through social media over the church desecration and an incident in West Bengal, prompting police to arrest Anil Godara that day.

This led to widespread outrage by Hindu groups in the area; VHP leader Ravinder Goyal and Bajran Dal leader Kapil Vats led mobs that demanded the release of Godara and asked for the return of the Hanuman idol the church had taken down.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also issued notices to the chief secretary and director general of police in Haryana, calling for reports within two weeks. The NHRC has enquired about the steps being taken for the protection of religious places of minorities in the state.

Pastor Chand, meantime, has moved his family to the nearby city of Ambala for security reasons.

John Dayal, spokesperson of the United Christian Forum, told Morning Star News that he was astounded by the chief minister’s comments.

“His government has showed its commitment to Hinduism by its recent actions and comments on beef, making Gita [part of an epic tale in Hindu scripture] a part of the curricula and such,” he said. “His justification of the actions of the violent elements who oppose the church and attacked it undermines the rule of law in the state.”

Khattar’s comments also open vulnerable religious minorities to coercive action and violence by vigilante groups, he added.

“The chief minister has lowered the dignity of his office and betrayed the trust of people he is sworn to protect,” Dayal said.

This was not the first time that Chand had faced opposition. Members of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal on Feb. 11 attempted to destroy the church cross after objecting to construction of a church building in the area. More than 20 people gathered at the site demanding a halt to construction with chants and foul language. Chand had informed police.

Christian Loses Job

In the state’s Rohtak District, a Christian identified only as Mukesh lost his job after a mob publically targeted him over his faith.

On March 9 a mob gathered outside the small government hospital where Mukesh was working as a sweeper.

“The mob consisted of around 15-plus people and was stirred by Raj Kumar Dhaka, a lab technician working in the same hospital,” Mukesh told Morning Star News.

Mukesh said Dhaka, a local leader of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had called media to record the Hindus shouting chants against him. Originally from Farmana Badshahpur village, Rohtak District, Mukesh is a member of a church in nearby Kalanaur.

“They objected to me being a Christian and attending church in Kalanaur,” he said. “I am attending the Uddhar Ka Jeevan Kalisia [Eternal Life Church] since April 2012, when my wife was healed miraculously as a result of prayers.”

The media questioned Mukesh, as did the crowd.

“I know most of them who were in the crowd – they are good-for-nothing people who idle away their time, drink and fight; Dhaka used them against me,” Mukesh said. “I do not evangelize at work, but people know I am a Christian. There is no prayer being held at my house, but I do attend church. This is a frame up.”

When Mukesh reported for work the next day, the medical officer in charge, Dr. Vikram Sagwan, summoned him.

“Dr. Sagwan handed me a letter from the contractor which said that they are not satisfied with my work, and just like that I was without a job,” he said.

Mukesh said he has lost his salary of the equivalent of US$110 per month and has no means of income.

“I was not given any notice period, and neither were the charges explained,” he told Morning Star News. “I have been terminated because I am a Christian. I don’t know what to do now. I have a family to support.”

Pastor Summoned

Following the attack at the cemetery in Faridabad on March 6, Hindu extremists belonging to Hindu nationalist groups attacked Bethenia Church’s service on March 8, said pastor Kumar. He was later summoned to a police station after an unidentified person asserted that the elderly woman who died should have received a Hindu burial.

The assailants beat church members, threatened them with demands to leave the area and verbally abused them, though no one was seriously injured. The Christians went to a neighboring branch church and continued their worship there.

The 42-year-old pastor Kumar was summoned to the police station after a Hindu who had been attending his church filed a complaint against him. The complainant, whom Kumar declined to name, was offended at the Christian burial given to a relative of the pastor.

“My relative was a recent believer in Christ from the Hindu background, and this church member was offended as to why we did not perform the last rites according to Hindu rituals,” Kumar told Morning Star News.

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« Reply #15 on: May 06, 2015, 10:59:33 am »

Hindu Attack in Assam State, India Depletes Village of Christians

 Church members have fled a village in northeast India after a vicious attack that seriously injured at least three Christians, including a 7-year-old girl.

A mob of about 100 Hindu extremists armed with swords, bamboo sticks and stones attacked Christians who were eating after a service at 8 p.m. on April 17 in Amtola village, Golpara District, Assam state, church leaders said. At least 15 Christians were injured, many of them wounded on their heads and upper bodies.

“Right now there are no Christians in the village – all have fled,” said David Boro, a pastor in Guwahati. “The Christian families who were the main target of the attack are now in a safe-house after they were released from the hospital. The more critically injured are still in the hospital, and when they will be released, they too will join the others in the safe-house.”

The village is no longer safe, and in any event the families have no homes to go back to, church leaders said.

“Not satisfied with merely beating the Christians, the mob led by Hindu extremists broke and destroyed the homes of these Christian families,” said another Christian leader, Kamleshwar Baglary. “All together, five houses have been completely destroyed along with household items.”

The 7-year-old girl, Pranita Rabha, suffered serious chest injuries and clots in her brain due to the beating, church leaders said. She and two other Christians were rushed to Guwahati, the state capital, for medical treatment at Guwahati Medical College.

“The attackers did not even spare women and children but beat them mercilessly with the intention to kill,” Boro said.

Less seriously injured Christians received treatment at the district hospital in Golpara, church leaders said. Only three to four church members were unhurt as they ran away when the attack began.

Hostilities against the church began last year after Christian prayer healed a villager of cancer, leading five families from the Rabha clan to begin attending worship services, Baglary said. Since December 2014, there have been five attacks on the new Christians in the village, he said.

“Out of the five families who had declared themselves as Christians, two have gone back because of the constant attacks and social pressure against them,” Baglary said. “Members of the Hindu extremist groups earlier also had physically attacked these families during the time of the Bihu [Assam’s cultural] festival.”

In January Christians filed a First Information Report on the attacks, but police took no action, he said.

“The village elders are against the Christians and under the influence of Hindu extremist groups,” Baglary added. “This time, the Hindu extremists used the extended Rabha family against the Christians. They instigated the rest of the clan against them, so the Rabha family led the attack with the Hindu extremists and villagers following them.”

“They simply arrested two Christians who had been beaten a lot and taken to prison, while they took no action against the attackers or their leaders,” Boro said. Police arrived well after the mob had beaten the Christians and had burned their homes, Boro said.

The two Christians were arrested in connection with the death of one of the assailants, though no charges have been filed, church leaders said.

“During the attack, as a result of the pandemonium, one of the attackers, fell head first on the stony surface and later died,” Boro said.

Vijayesh Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s (EFI) Religious Liberty Commission said the brutality of the incident was shocking.

“The way children have been beaten up mercilessly shows the extent of hate created by external elements,” he said. “We have written to the chief minister of Assam, appealing to him for intervention in the case.”

The EFI documented four incidents of persecution against the Christian community in 2014, “but this latest incident surpasses them all in terms of the magnitude of the violence,” Lal said.

Those injured were identified as: Harin Rabha, male, 45; Nimai Rabha, female, 40; Parbati Rabha, female, 17; Sandani Rabha, female, 22; Pranita Rabha, female, 7; Purnima Rabha, female, 3; Umed Rabha, male, 32; Sefali Rabha, female, 30; Sanda Rabha, 21; Nipon Rabha, male, 27; Gita Rabha, female, 22; Sanakya Rabha, male, 20; Mahendra Rabha, male, 24; Bonis Rabha, female, 10; and Nripol Rabha, male, 26.

Christians number 986,589 and constitute 3.7 percent of the population of Assam, according to the last census.

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« Reply #16 on: July 26, 2015, 05:16:53 am »

Hindus Are Now Driving Christians Out Of Their Homes, And Want To Make India Absent Of All Christians

Hindus in India are driving Christians out of their homes and forcing them to leave. The fundamentalist Hindus want a Christian free India, just like ISIS wants a Christian free Middle East. Just look at whats happening in India’s Jharkhand state, where a Hindus mob began to force Christians out of their homes. As we read from the report:

    Christian families driven from their village in India’s Jharkhand state have returned home with police help, but tribal people instigated by Hindu extremists are still bent on expelling them, sources said.

    Hindu extremists last month mobilized tribal groups to banish the Christian families from Kullu village in Chanho Block, Ranchi District, about 30 miles from the state capital, Ranchi, an area pastor said.

    “The Christians in the village have been discriminated and threatened for a long time, but the banishment started in the first week of June, when five Christian families were threatened and banished from the village,” said pastor Moosa Minj, who also was forced to flee. “The tribal families that have been banished have been Christians for more than 20 years.”

    Minj fled the village on June 10 after receiving death threats, he said. Villagers threw his belongings out of his house. Also fleeing were the families of Gossner Ekka, Vardhan Kujur, Premchand Kujur, Masihcharan Kujur and Premchand Ekka, he said.

    “They threatened me with dire consequences and misbehaved with me as they did with the others,” Pastor Minj said.

    The expelled Christian families on June 13 approached the local police station at Narkopi, only to be initially turned away, the pastor said.

    The Rev. Vijayesh Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship of India told Morning Star News that when Christian groups in Delhi made inquiries to the police station in Narkopi, officers there said that no Christians had come to the station until June 15.

    “The local police want to portray this as a family feud, which it is not,” Lal said. “Rev. Moosa Minj gave a report and asked for protection for the Christians in the village. His appeal for protection was accepted, but his First Information Report was not filed.”

In Kerala state, Hindu radicals attacked Christians as they were praying. The mob consisted of about 50 Hindu terrorists, and they marched toward the Attingal Municipal Library Hall where the prayer meeting was occurring. They began to shout slogans that were very anti-Christian, and accused the Christians of “organizing a conversion drive and targeting those belonging to the Hindu faith.” One source named Lal said:

    The attack took place without any provocation… The attackers targeted not only the 200 worshippers but also the pastor present. Shouting anti-Christian slogans, they broke the furniture, musical instruments, fans and scattered the lunch kept for the church members. … The attackers even misbehaved with a physically challenged man who was seated on a chair during the attack… They pushed him and asked him to get up and go away. Many Christians were manhandled during this attack on religious freedom. Even the police acknowledge this.

There is a intense and enthusiastic effort to purge India of Christians by Hindus, just like what the Islamists are doing. Its all part of the satanic mission to destroy Christianity.

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« Reply #17 on: July 30, 2015, 10:47:24 am »

Police Complicit in Attack on Christians in West Delhi, India

 After watching idly as a mob of Hindu extremists dragged Christians from a prayer meeting in West Delhi and beat them, police questioned those who were attacked as if they were guilty of fraudulent conversion, sources said.
 
A mob said to be members of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stormed the prayer meeting in Nangloi, Nihal Vihar on July 18 and beat them, leaving one Christian with a damaged eardrum, they said. Police watched without intervening, and initially officers refused to register a case against the assailants, Christian leaders said.
 
Three pastors had gathered at the home of Ayaid Prasad to pray for his sick daughter when about 15 Hindu extremists accused them of forceful conversion as they barged in with clubs at about 4 p.m. They shouted at the Christians to stop the meeting and beat pastor Harchand Singh and two guest pastors from Kerala, Pastor Singh said.
 
West Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Also present at the prayer meeting were 13 other Christians.
 
“They pulled us out from the house to the road and beat us up where another 50 extremists were waiting,” Pastor Singh of Shalom Mission told Morning Star News.
 
The owner of the house tried to tell the Hindu extremists that the pastors had come at his invitation, and that they had witnessed improvement in his daughter’s health after prayer, but the assailants continued to kick, punch, slap and beat the church leaders with clubs, Pastor Singh said.
 
The attackers claimed that Prasad’s family had been forcefully converted to Christianity, said A.C. Michael, former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission.
 
“The extremists claimed that Prasad now put up the picture of Jesus in his house, and they angrily demanded to know why he took off the picture of Hindu god Hanuman from his house,” Michael told Morning Star News.
 
Police took Pastor Singh and the two other pastors to the police station, the pastor said.
 
“The police asked us uncomfortable questions, like how much money we offered to people to convert them to Christianity,” Pastor Singh said.
 
Police released the pastors at about 9 p.m., claiming that they had kept them in custody for their own protection, attorney Pramod Singh of the Christian Legal Association (CLA) said.
 
When another pastor, Rajan Gill, led a group of Christians to the police station to help the pastors in custody, the Hindu extremists beat them there, Pastor Gill said.
 
“Hurling verbal abused against us, about 15 extremists rushed towards me and started to push, kick and slap me, and they tore my shirt and beat me up,” he said. “When one church member, Ranjinder Masih, came to defend me, he was mercilessly beaten up.”
 
They beat Masih, 36, for about 15 minutes before police intervened, he said.
 
“The police simply told the crowd that they have beaten us enough, and that they will take us inside the police station now,” Pastor Gill said. “I asked one police officer why they did not intervene when the mob beat us up right in front of the police station. He replied that it was not his duty to intervene outside the police station.”
 
Pastor Gill sustained bruises and abrasions on his body. Masih suffered a serious eardrum injury as well as wounds on his face and neck, Pastor Gill said.
 
After about 400 Christians staged a protest in front of the police station against police inaction the next day, police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the assailants.
 
“The police on duty seem to have a soft side for the attackers, and it was only when we approached the Additional Commissioner of Police that a case was registered against the attackers of Pastor Harchand Singh,” attorney Singh of CLA told Morning Star News.
 
The Station House Officer of Nihal Vihar, Sharad Chandra, refused to comment on the case to Morning Star News.
 
Michael said the Delhi Minorities Commission is submitting a memorandum to the lieutenant governor of Delhi demanding justice and prompt police action.
 
“One police inspector from the special branch did not talk like a police officer, but like that of an RSS member, and we were deeply saddened that the police were mute spectators of the beating and the utterance of their duty not pertaining outside,” Michael said.
 
Attacks in the Area
 
The same anti-Christian elements in the area have been harassing pastor Praveen Kumar of New Life Fellowship since March of last year.

 In March 2014, church members from New Life Fellowship were on a bus to attend an evangelistic convention when local leaders Vinod Singh, Sanjay Sharma and Om Pal led RSS members in stopping them and slapping some of them, Kumar said.
 
A police complaint was filed, but no action was taken, he said.
 
“I have been to the police station at least four times, but police did not take any action,” Pastor Kumar told Morning Star News. “They made the excuse of not being able to identify the culprits. However, I told them many times that I can help them in identifying the people who troubled us, and I have even mentioned the names of the attackers, but they refused to comply.”
 
Singh of the CLA said the police investigation has been inadequate.
 
“It is sad that the police did not take corrective actions, and that there was no proper investigation into the matter,” he said. ‘The police inaction has emboldened the behavior of the extremists in the area.”
 
Every Sunday from mid-August to September last year, RSS members using loud speakers held meetings opposite the school hall where New Life Fellowship worshipped, sources said.
 
“The RSS clad in their uniforms stopped some church members on their way to the church and chased them back to their homes,” Pastor Kumar said. “They teased and uttered vulgar words to the ladies from our church and deliberately offered prasad [food offered to idols] when the congregation came out from the church.”
 
Christians submitted police complaints nearly every Sunday, but no action was taken, he said.
 
“The Station House Officer at that time was B.R. Sangla, and every time we asked for his help, he said that we were the ones creating trouble, and he threatened to lock us up,” Pastor Kumar said. “Finally, one member of the National Minority Commission, Abraham M. Patiani, helped us out by addressing our issue to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, who told the anti-Christian people not to bother us again.”

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« Reply #18 on: September 06, 2015, 08:33:50 am »

Indian Hindus Threaten Christians with Death, Pressure ‘Reconversion’

Heightened hostilities against Christians in India that began late last year continued through a hot summer, with Hindu extremists threatening Christians and forcing them to “reconvert” to Hindusim, church leaders said.

In Rajasthan in the northwest, 10 Christian families in Nakhnool village, near Alwar, have fled after intolerant Hindus harassed and threatened to kill them, area church leaders said.

“Since June 27, we have not been able to have any kind of worship meetings,” area pastor Malkeet Singh told Morning Star News. “The extremists threatened to harm us if we utter the name of Christ or conduct any Christian meetings.”

Tensions grew on July 19 when members of the Hindu extremist Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the village held a “homecoming” to Hinduism (Ghar Vapsi) in front of Pastor Pratap Singh’s house.

“About 600 people gathered in front of Pastor Singh’s house, put up the idol of the Hindu god Hanuman, forced Pastor Singh and 10 family members to worship the idol and forced him to sign a paper which said, ‘I am willing to be a Hindu,’” said Rajamman Johnson, regional secretary of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMBP). “They forced them to drink water procured from the Ganga River and put kumkum [red marks] on their foreheads to show that they were now Hindus.”

As the Hindu extremists had threatened to kill him if he continued to lead worship meetings, Pastor Singh had been in hiding for a month. The extremists found him and took him to his house for the ritual, Johnson said.

“The extremists had been following the movement of Pastor Singh closely for a long time, and then they dragged him back from his hiding place to forcefully convert him along with 10 members of his family to Hinduism in an hour-long Ghar Vapsi ceremony,” he said.

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Pastor Singh, who had been ministering in the village for 15 years, began receiving death threats since last Christmas, church leaders said. Hindu extremists undertook a series of largely bogus,forced conversion ceremonies during the Christmas season after the BJP-led coalition government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in May 2014.

“The extremists boldly claimed that they were the ruling [BJP] party in the state, and that they can stop whatever they like,” Johnson said. “The support they get from the police and the village head emboldened their actions.”

Anil Masih, another area Christian leader, told Morning Star News that Christians in the village have stopped meeting and are living in fear.

“The extremists threatened to socially boycott the Christians if they continue to worship Christ and threatened to kill them if they submit a police complaint against anyone,” he said.

About seven miles away in Narpur village, Hindu extremists on June 28 held a “reconversion” ritual in which 50 Christians were forcefully converted to Hinduism, said Johnson of the FMBP.

“The Hindu extremists collected 50 Christians from Nakhnool, Kota and Nikkach villages and conducted a Ghar Vapsi on the land of the FMBP, and the extremists further threatened to kill and cut the Christians into pieces if they ever go back to church again,” he said.

In Bandholi, about nine miles from Nakhnool village, Hindu extremists secretly planned to demolish the FMBP building on July 18, he said, adding that they also threatened to harm the family of local evangelist Malkeeth Singh. Christian leaders approached the Alwar Superintendent of Police, and as a result the extremists abandoned plans to destroy the church building.

They continued to threaten to kill the Christians, however, if they hold worship meetings in the area.

Stopping Worship in Maharashtra

In Maharashtra state on India’s western coast, Hindu extremists since July 19 have been massing to stop village Christians from worshipping.

“On every Sunday for more than a month now, around 100 Hindu extremists gathered near where we are conducting Sunday meetings and threatened to harm some of our church members if they continue to attend the prayer meetings,” said Pastor Benjamin Gomes of New Life Grace Ministries in Pinguli village, Kudal, Sindhugurh. “Even the village head told us to stop the meeting.”

The extremists submitted a police complaint alleging forced conversion against the Christians. Police later summoned the Christians and told them to stop meeting, but church members went to the police station and told officers that they attended the church of their own free will and said there was no forceful conversion or defaming of Hindu gods, said the Rev. Anand Chougule, an area pastor.

Police have since provided some measure of protection to the church, but mobs continue to form to try to stop them from meeting every Sunday.

“On Sunday [Aug. 23], the extremists sent some women to stop us from conducting Sunday services,” said Pastor Gomes. “Somehow, we still managed to continue our prayer meetings under pressure.”

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« Reply #19 on: December 27, 2015, 05:28:03 pm »

Indian Police Break Spine of One Christian, Nose of Another

 Police hostility toward Christians continued this year as officers in Tamil Nadu, India reviled two Christians for their faith and seriously injured them, sources said.

The two Christians, A. Rethinakumar and C. Nova of Jesus Redeems Ministry, were traveling by motorcycle in Thomas Nagar on Nov. 3 at about 2:30 a.m. when two policemen stopped them and began verbally abusing them, according to attorney T. Hubertson, who submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission about the assault.

He identified the officers as Special Sub-Inspector Ravi Chandran of the Asaripallam police station and Raj Kumar of the Tamil Nadu Special Police Youth Brigade.

“The two policemen were heavily drunk and calling the Christians ‘sons of prostitutes,’” Hubertson told Morning Star News. “They told the Christians to remove their helmets and started punching them in the face.”

Slapping, punching and verbally abusing the Christians, Chandran asked the Christians where they were going. When they replied that they had done some work for an upcoming Christian program and were on their way to see their ministry leader, the beating continued as Chandran uttered derogatory remarks against Christ and asked, “What has Jesus done for you, sons of prostitutes? Why are you running to Him?” Hubertson said.

Kumar, slapping and kicking Rethinakumar and repeatedly kicking and punching him the length of his spine to his neck, called the Christians “sons of prostitutes” and threatened to kill them, said S. Jeyakumar, area leader of Jesus Redeems Ministry.

The two policemen then forced the Christians to call Jeyakumar, and Kumar informed him that they were taking Rethinakumar and Nova to the police station.

After reaching the Asaripallam Police Station, Chandran and Kumar forced the Christians to sit on the floor and continued to assault them, sources said.

When Jeyakumar arrived at the Asaripallam police station, the officers refused to listen to him and continued assaulting the two Christians and disparaging Christ, the ministry leader said. The officers asked the two Christians if Jesus Redeems Ministry founder Mohan C. Lazarus offered them money to become Christians, and if “he is the one brainwashing you,” one source said.

Chandran then falsely accused the Christians of theft.

“He threatened to file false charges against the Christians and remand them to jail if they said anything about what they had done to them,” the source said.

Nova gave the officers copies of the motorcycle registration, driver’s license and vehicle insurance, but the policemen threw the documents to the floor and filed a false case against them of failure to wear helmets and lacking registration, insurance, license and brake light, Jeyakumar said.

The policemen seized their motorcycle and, after obtaining signatures from them on a blank paper, drove them from the police station at about 4 a.m., continuing to beat them and threatening to kill them, the sources said.

Rethinakumar suffered fractures in his spine. He first received treatment at Kanyakumari Government Medical Hospital, and later he was admitted to Peace Health Centre Hospital in Tirunelveli, Jeyakumar said.

Nova suffered a broken nose and a serious mouth injury, Hubertson said.

“His face was swollen, and he was not able to talk or eat properly for many days,” he said. “He was discharged from the hospital after a medical treatment of 25 days.”

The National Human Rights Commission on Nov. 22 registered a case against Chandran and Kumar for assault.

Police officials, however, have not taken any action against the assailants, sources said.

“The local police are not responding to any of our complaints, and no police actions have been taken against the attackers, but we are submitting a memorandum to the higher officials including the chief minister of the state,” Hubertson said.

Chandran and Kumar were not available for comment.

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« Reply #20 on: March 09, 2016, 07:11:41 pm »

Indian Christians Attacked and Beaten by Hindu Extremists while Worshiping in Church

 A group of 60 Indian Christians were attacked and beaten by Hindu extremists while they worshipped at a Pentecostal church on Sunday.
 
The Christian Post reports that a mob of 25 Hindu radicals attacked a Pentecostal church in Kachana colony, beating the Christians who were there worshiping, stripping the women naked, and destroying property such as Bibles.
 
The attack comes only a week after the Indian government denied visas to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
 
The USCIRF had planned to discuss the conditions of religious freedom in India on its visit.
 
Although India claims to be a democracy, persecution against religious minorities such as Christians and Muslims is common. Seven of the church attackers were arrested by police, but activists claim that an “atmosphere of impunity” allows incidents of religiously-motivated violence to go unchecked.
 
"The vandalizing of the church [in Chhattisgarh] comes as the entire nation of India is debating the role of [radical Hindu nationalism] and the government in exacerbating an environment of hate and intolerance against civil society, the intelligentsia, and, above all, religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians,” stated John Dayal, spokesman for the United Christian Forum.
 
Robert P. George, chairman of USCIRF, expressed his disappointment that India denied USCIRF visas.
 
"USCIRF has been able to travel to many countries, including those that are among the worst offenders of religious freedom, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, China, and Burma. One would expect that the Indian government would allow for more transparency than have these nations, and would welcome the opportunity to convey its views directly to USCIRF," he said.

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« Reply #21 on: April 15, 2016, 06:01:18 pm »

Indian Hindus Chase, Beat Pastor on Motorcycle

 Late one morning in northern India last month, pastor Ram Prakash, 52, was riding his motorcycle home when he noticed men on three motorcycles shouting obscenities as they followed him.

The pastor had just visited four Christian families that day, March 24, praying with them at their homes in Karoate village, Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh state. Having had Hindu extremists set his home on fire two weeks earlier, he could easily guess that those following him were radical Hindus.

The men gave chase, and one of them hit the back of his motorcycle, sending Pastor Prakash to the ground and severely injuring his leg. Yelling at him to stop telling people about Jesus, the radical Hindus got off their bikes and began to kick and beat him.

“I tried to get up, but I could not because of the throbbing pain in my right leg,” he told Morning Star News. “The Hindu extremists surrounded me, yelled at me, and they told me never to set foot again in their village and accused me of making people believe in Jesus and telling them not to eat food offered to the idols but rather to eat beef.”

As Pastor Prakash writhed with broken bones in his lower right leg, the assailants phoned local Hindu extremist leaders, and another eight men arrived who helped mock, push, slap and kick him, with one saying, “So finally, we are able to get hold of the Christian man who has been roaming around converting people to Christianity.”

When a passer-by asked the assailants what the matter was, they told him that Pastor Prakash had had an accident, he said. As onlookers began to gather, Pastor Prakash said, one recognized him and called his brother, who soon arrived with seven other Christians.

Police arrived 30 minutes later and took Pastor Prakash in for questioning and then to a local hospital. The severity of his injuries required that he be transferred to the district hospital. Besides the broken bones in his leg, he sustained cuts on his head and hand as well as abrasions over all his body, he said.

“The police are under the pressure of the Hindu extremist group, and they are reluctant to register a case against the attackers,” said the pastor’s brother, whose name is withheld for security reasons.

The assailants submitted a complaint to police, accusing Pastor Prakash of luring people to convert to Christianity by offering to pay them to erect a church building.

“The accusation they levied against the pastor is completely untrue,” area Christian leader Santosh Kumar told Morning Star News. “People decided to follow Christ under their own free will.”

Previously, on the night of March 9, about 25 Hindu extremists armed with clubs had turned up at his hut and told him to leave his village, the pastor said. They said they would no longer allow him to hold worship services or talk about Jesus, and they threatened to seize his land if he continued to do so.

Pastor Prakash, who has been ministering in the area for 15 years, and his brother told the Hindu extremists they could not carry out such threats, and the Hindu extremists began to beat them, leaving his brother with a severe cut on his head and his wife with minor cuts.

The assailants then set the pastor’s hut on fire, destroying its roof and items inside, including beds and chairs, he said.

Police arrived, took the pastor’s brother to the hospital for treatment and registered a First Information Report against the attackers.

“Because of the constant persecution that we are facing here and in the surrounding areas, many are hesitant to come to the church now,” Pastor Prakash said.

Family Locked In

In West Bengal state in eastern India, a new convert to Christianity showed deep faith after he and his family faced opposition from his parents, the rest of the village and Hindu extremists.

Bahadur Chand Sarel, a church leader in Paschim Medinipur District, said the entire village of Gurudpal turned against Kisna Sarel, 37, after he recently put his faith in Christ. On March 6, Hindu extremists locked Sarel and his family inside their home for more than 12 hours.

After locking Sarel, his 5-year-old and 7-year-old children and his wife in their home from 1 p.m. to after 1 a.m., the Hindu extremists took Sarel out and kicked, punched and beat him with sticks in the wee hours, he said.

“They blocked the village entry and harassed the Christian family,” Chand Sarel told Morning Star News. “They told him never to go to the church again but to perform all the Hindu poojahs[offerings to gods] and rituals, and then beat him up.”

A villager phoned Chand Sarel, who informed police, and officers rescued the Christians, he said. Kisna Sarel’s head, chest and other areas of his body were injured, and he received hospital treatment.

“I am not worried about anything,” the new convert told Morning Star News. “I have Jesus, and even if they take my life, I will still follow Jesus.”

Kisna Sarel and his family go to another village about 15 kilometers (nine miles) from their home for worship.

“However, the villagers are closely watching Kisna Sarel’s movement and threatened to harm him if he and his family ever go to church again,” Chand Sarel said.

After the village head submitted a letter to police explaining his regret and giving assurances that it would not happen again, police decided not to register a complaint. Entry into the village for any outsider, however, is still strictly prohibited.

http://christiannews.net/2016/04/15/indian-hindus-chase-beat-pastor-on-motorcycle/
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« Reply #22 on: June 30, 2016, 10:51:13 pm »

Police in India Threaten to Fine Christians Attacked by Hindu Extremists

A month after a crowd of village Hindus in Jharkhand state, India summoned 25 Christians, tied up six of them and beat them with sticks, some of the assailants ran into one of the Christians and asked if he was still worshipping Christ.
 
The Hindu extremists in Hunter village, Palamu District came across Gunni Bhuiya on June 14 on an area road. Bhuiya told them he still believed in and worshipped Christ, and the Hindu extremists manhandled him and threatened to kill him, Christian leaders said.
 
“They told Bhuiya that as the Christians are still worshipping Christ even after they had received severe beatings, they were now going to kill them,” area pastor Sanjay Kumar Ravi told Morning Star News.
 
Area Christians are living in fear as the Hindu extremist forbid them to worship, boycott them economically and threaten to kill them, while police threatened to fine them if they continued worshipping publicly, the leaders said.
 
Hindu extremists led by Dilip Chandra, Ram Chandra Vanshi and Dil Narayan Yadav on May 8 summoned the 25 Christians from six families to a public meeting, forcing them into vehicles and taking them to a middle school on the outskirts of the village.
 
“About 100 people from three neighboring villages were waiting when we reached the place and started to tell us that it is wrong for us to pray to Jesus and that we should follow Hinduism and perform puja (Hindu rituals) to the idols only,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
The Christians refused. Rather, Pastor Ravi began sharing his testimony with the crowd, saying Christ had healed him from an illness in 2007, and that he has followed Him since then.
 
“The pastor’s testimony enraged the crowd more,” the Rev. Akash Nandi, an area Christian leader, told Morning Star News, “and they started to beat him and the other five Christian men while they shouted that they should renounce Christ or else they will kill them. They told them to chant, ‘Jai Shri Ram [Hail Lord Ram],’ perform the puja and worship the idols there and then.”
 
When the Christians refused, the furious Hindu extremists threatened to kill and bury them.
 
“They shouted to each other to bring kerosene oil so that they could burn us all,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
Nandi said the Christians told them, “Do whatever you like, we are not going to leave Christ at any cost.”
 
The extremists then tied the hands and the legs of six Christian men and punched, kicked, slapped and beat them up with sticks, the leaders said. The assailants then hung them upside down, took them down and beat them again.
 
As the abuse went for about half an hour, a 5-year-old child, Eraj Ram, begged the assailants to stop beating his father, Naresh Ram.
 
“He folded his hands and begged them to stop beating his father, however, the extremists caught him by the collar and threw him aside,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
Shouting that they should not worship Christ anymore, the extremists then pushed the Christian men to the ground and stomped on them, the Christian leaders said.
 
All six men were bleeding from their mouths, Naresh Ram’s hands were broken and Pastor Ravi sustained an internal injury that left him with severe chest pain, along with cuts on his hands and abrasions over much of his body. Four other unidentified Christians suffered cuts and wounds on their mouths, eyes, hands and legs.
 
“The extremists threatened to tie up the women as well while they mocked and hurled all sorts of vulgar abuse at them,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
The assailants told the Christians to leave the village or else they would shave them, burn them and set their houses on fire, he said. The Christians managed to return to their homes and left the village at dawn the next day. At Ramgarh village, they received medical treatment from a local doctor.
 
Later that morning, the Christians went to Ramgarh police station to report the attack to police, but officers declined to register a case, and on May 10 they summoned the assailants to the police station. About 50 of the Hindus showed up to meet with three area Christian leaders among the 25 Christians who arrived at the station. Police forced the Christians to sign a statement that they would worship only in their homes or else be fined 10,000 rupees (US$150), along with other possible punishments.

 
“We were forced to sign the bond, we have no other choice as we have nowhere else to stay except in the village,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
The Christians, impoverished “untouchable” Dalits, lost some benefits when the village head came under pressure from the Hindu extremists to exclude them. The Hindu extremists also ensured that the Christians were denied rice, wheat, sugar and other goods at subsidized rates.
 
“Our names were also cut off from the list where houses were allotted to the villagers by the state authorities,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
Likewise, on June 10 the Hindu extremists threatened Dharaya Singh and his wife Sumitra Singh, saying they would keep them from plowing their land and drive them from the village if they continued to worship Christ.
 
“We can only pray in our homes with our respective family, our movements are closely watched and the extremists told us to leave Christ and threatened to beat us up at every opportunity they could find,” Pastor Ravi said.
 
http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/police-in-india-threaten-to-fine-christians-attacked-by-hindu-extremists.html
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« Reply #23 on: June 17, 2017, 04:59:46 pm »

Christian Families in India Forced into Hindu Ritual, Denied Water

Villagers in Uttar Pradesh state, India beat Christians, forced them to participate in Hindu rituals and have refused to provide them water, sources said.

  Four families who were attacked in Jalalabad village, Ghazipur District rely on the water to irrigate their fields, they said.

  “How will we survive if we don’t grow our crops?” Sasikala Kumari asked Morning Star News, noting that the village head and police have allowed the Hindus to cut off the Christians water supply. “They have all joined together and are conspiring against us.”

  Hindu villagers on April 25 beat with sticks Manoj Kumar, his wife Pushpa Kumari and three other Christian couples, including Sasikala Kumari and her husband Ramkreet Ram – and accused them of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity.

  “The mob supported by the village president forced us to drink gangajal [water from the Ganges River, considered holy), eat tulsi [basil considered holy] leaves and declare that we deny Christ,” Pushpa Kumari told Morning Star News. “When we resisted, the men and women of the village beat us even more severely.”

  The four couples along with four other Christians refused to participate in the ritual or deny Christ. A total of 13 other younger Christians felt compelled to participate in the Hindu ritual and deny Christ, they said.

  “The youths were forced by the extremists to consume gangajal and tulsi leaves and deny Christ,” Pushpa Kumari told Morning Star News. “The village president instigates the mob to attack whoever converts to Christianity.” 

  When the Christians went to the Dullapur police station to file a complaint against the assailants, village President Santosh Kumar Gupta arrived also and accused them of forcible conversion.

  Gupta denied that he and the other Hindus pressured the Christians to deny Christ and participate in the Hindu ritual, telling Morning Stars that the incident was a mere quibble between the two groups.

  The matter went before police, he said.

  Manoj Kumar, who leads prayers in his house on Sundays since the families do not have the means to travel into town for worship, said police listened to both sides.

  “The villagers were against us, they made false allegations that we are forcibly converting the people,” Manoj Kumar said. “The police asked the villagers to let anyone follow their own Dharma [religious teaching] peacefully, and that nobody shall disturb the prayer services in the village’s house church.”

  In the presence of the village head, the Hindu villagers said they would abide by the police request, and neither side filed a formal complaint. The agreement, however, made no mention of water service, and the villagers have refused to sell it to the Christians.

  “As a result, we aren’t allowed our share of supply of water in the fields,” Manoj Kumar told Morning Star News. “We are ready to pay the hourly price, but the president and villagers have decided to not let us irrigate. Our field is going dry; it’s burned dead.”

  Village President Gupta told Morning Star News said he cannot prevent the Hindus from cutting off the Christians’ water.

  “As far as the problem about the supply of water, it’s personal,” he said. “If nobody in the village wants to sell them water from the bore wells, it’s their personal choice.”

  Asked if a basic commodity like water can be denied to a people on religious grounds in a secular country like India, Gupta said the families have not complained to him about it. Had they come, he said, he would have resolved it.

  The families said the village president’s statement was untrue.

  “We went to him twice now,” Pushpa Kumari said. “Gupta’s wife told us to bring the attackers to their house, and she will solve our problem. Why would the attackers come?”

  The Christians approached the village head a third time on Wednesday (June 14), but they said he only told them, “You must get down from your high horse. Stop the worship services in the village. Stop following Christ, only then water will be supplied to your fields.”

  Some of the attackers, identified only as Vijay, Hari, Rajender, Mukh Lal and Sonu, are part of a village committee that aids of the village president, Manoj Kumar said.

  The sub-inspector of police of Dullapur in whose presence the matter was settled in the first week of May declined to comment, saying he had been transferred to another post.

  Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, the hostile tone of his National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), against non-Hindus has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians, religious rights advocates say.

India ranked 15th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2017 World Watch List of the countries where Christians experience the most persecution.

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/christian-families-in-india-forced-into-hindu-ritual-denied-water.html
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« Reply #24 on: April 30, 2018, 06:00:09 pm »

'Anti-Conversion' Bill Becomes Law in Uttarakhand State, India

 Uttarakhand has become the seventh state in India to put “anti-conversion” legislation in force.

  Gov. Krishna Kant Paul on April 18 signed the “Freedom of Religion” bill (Dharma Swatantrata Adhiniyam), which the state Legislative Assembly had passed.

  “The bill has been signed by the governor,” Ravi Bijarniya, assistant director for information in the governor’s office, told Morning Star News.

  Despite confirmation from the governor’s office, sources at the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) denied receipt of the signed bill.

  “We confirm the receipt of 10 bills, which do not include the anti-conversion bill,” Officer on Special Duty R.B. Pant told Morning Star News. “We had sent the anti-conversion bill for approval on April 17, and if it has been signed, we might receive it soon.”

  While staff members of the concerned office deny receiving the signed bill, local media and Jagran, a national newspaper, have reported the news of the governor’s approval of the bill and enforcement of the act.

  Uttarakhand now joins Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand as states that have adopted anti-conversion bills, which Hindu extremists routinely use to falsely accuse Christians of forcible or fraudulent conversion.

  Dr. John Dayal, spokesman for the United Christian Forum and the All India Catholic Union, told Morning Star News that enacting the anti-conversion law was driven by the ruling group’s communal agenda.

  “It fails the very basic test of explaining to the world the need for having such a law,” he said. “There is no forcible or fraudulent conversion in the state to the Christian or Muslim or Sikh faiths shown either by the Census data or by the police statistics. In the absence of such reality, the only explanation can be that it is to threaten the minority communities or to curb the freedom of religion of the Dalit and backward communities whose rights are being crushed by the upper castes which exercise political power in the state.”

  The ruling party came to power on a “rabid communal platform,” he added.

  “We will challenge such a law, in the court of law and the court of public opinion,” Dayal said.

  Regulating the Holy Spirit

The new law makes forced conversions a non-bailable offense punishable by a jail term of between one and five years. If a victim of “forced conversion” is a minor, woman or person belonging to either a Scheduled Caste (Dalit) or a Scheduled Tribe (Tribal), the minimum jail term is two years.

  The law also makes it mandatory to obtain permission from the state government prior to religious conversion. An affidavit has to be submitted with the respective District Magistrate at least one month prior to conversion. Persons converting for the purposes of marriage also must submit the same affidavit one month prior to marrying.

  If this procedure is not followed and conversion is discovered, it will be invalidated and considered illegal by the state government.

  The law also requires the clergy performing the conversion ceremony to give a month’s advance notice to the district magistrate. After receiving such information, a police enquiry will be conducted “with regard to the real intention, purpose and the cause of that proposed religion conversion,” according reports.

  The law stipulates that any marriage solemnized for the sole purpose of conversion by a man belonging to one religion with a woman of another religion may be declared null and void by the family court, according to reports. The law also allows immediate family members of a person who has been converted to register a case to nullify the marriage.

  Swift Passage

The entire process of introducing, passing and signing the bill took less than six months in a state where Christians are just 0.37 percent of the population, according to the 2011 Census. The state is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

  The government of Uttarakhand, headed by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, prepared a draft bill after the Uttarakhand High Court in November 2017 suggested the state legislate a “Freedom of Religion Act” to keep a check on “sham” conversions, which in some cases were “only to facilitate the process of marriage,” according to the court. 

  While the judges admitted that “it is not the role of the court to give suggestions to the state government to legislate,” nevertheless it justified the suggestion, “due to fast changing social milieu.”

  The state cabinet, in a meeting led by the chief minister, cleared a draft of the bill on March 12, and it was subsequently introduced in the State Legislative Assembly and passed on March 22. The BJP enjoys a three-fourths majority in the 70-member House.

  According to Pant, the bill was sent for the governor’s approval on April 17. Local media on April 19 reported that the governor gave his approval on April 18.

  The swiftness of the Uttarakhand government to comply with a mere suggestion by the High Court has led many to believe the process was a mere formality.

  Before passage, Dr. Indira Hridayesh, leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, was quoted in media as saying, “There was no need to come up with this piece of legislation; they know they cannot win the elections solely on their own work and are now going back to the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] agenda of Ram Mandir [temple] and religious conversions.”

  She had highlighted that the bill would violate the provisions of religious freedom that allows individuals to practice religion of their choice without interference.

  The Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas, general secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, told Morning Star News that the law empowers the government to trespass on private life.

  “It is a complete encroachment on the private life of a person,” Mascarenhas said. “Religion and faith is something very private; it cannot be taken into public domain and controlled from the outside. These are personal decisions.”

  Dr. Satish John, vice president of the Minority Commission of Uttarakhand, saw the law as very serious matter.

  “This could be misused against minorities,” he told Morning Star News. “We must safeguard ourselves by approaching the Minority Commission if discrepancy is noticed in any individual case. The commission is established to make sure that such laws are not abused.”

  Passed v. Enforced

Anti-conversion laws are currently in force in Odisha (formerly Orissa), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and now Uttarakhand. Arunachal Pradesh passed legislation but has not framed corresponding rules, and a bill passed in Rajasthan was not signed by the then-governor of the state.

  The Gujarat, Jharkhand and now Uttarakhand laws necessitate prior permission in order to convert while the other six laws require notification.

  Uttarakhand is the tenth state to pass anti-conversion legislation and the seventh since 2000. Orissa (now Odisha), Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand have passed similar laws, with Tamil Nadu passing a law in 2002 and repealing it in 2004.

  Though attempts to enact anti-conversion laws happened even before India’s independence in 1947, Orissa (now Odisha) was the first state to enact an anti-conversion law in 1967, ironically titling it a “Freedom of Religion” law.

  Uttarakhand’s BJP-ruled government, led by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, completed one year in power on March 18. Rawat is a known RSS worker who has worked his way up the organization, serving as the Organizing Secretary for the RSS in the Uttarakhand region, and later the state before he entered politics through the BJP in 2002.

  The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.

  India ranked 11th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience the most persecution.

https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/anti-conversion-bill-becomes-law-in-uttarakhand-state-india.html
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