Displaying items by tag: Hindu extremists

The persecution of Christians in India is intensifying as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence. The driving force behind this is Hindutva, an ideology that refuses to treat Christians and other religious minorities as true Indians because they allegedly have allegiances that lie outside India; it asserts the country should be purified of their presence. This is leading to systemic, often violent, carefully orchestrated targeting of Christians. The extremists often use social media to spread disinformation and stir up hatred. Pray that social media companies will do more to combat the spread of fake news and hatred on their platforms. Overall, violence against Christians remains at an extreme level, and levels of pressure in all spheres of life remain very high or extreme. Regions experiencing the most persecution are ruled by the Hindu nationalist party (BJP). Pray that this situation changes with the next elections (Himachal Pradesh in November and Gujarat in December).

Archbishop Joseph D’Souza said, ‘In Belguam police are not allowing Christian groups to meet in local churches, house groups and halls. This situation will mean the inability to have Christmas services. There have been increasing numbers of attacks against Christians in Karnataka, where Hindu radicals have been disrupting Christian meetings. In many areas, Christians are now afraid because of the way the extremists are taking the law into their hands. There is no place in India’s democracy for incessant campaigns of hatred aimed squarely at the Christian community, its churches, NGOs and schools. We expect protection from the prime minister as the Christmas season approaches.’ Extremists are ‘walking into Christian worship to disrupt it by conducting their own services with Hindu chanting. We have not seen anything like this before and these extremists are not being arrested.’ He is calling on prime minister Modi to engage in the struggle of India’s Christians.

A mob of 300 chanting ‘Hail Lord Ram! Victory to Lord Ram’ attacked the House of Prayer church, destroying CCTV cameras, lights, fans, musical instruments and furniture. Eva Lance, the church leader, tried to call the police but couldn’t connect. The mob tried to set fire to vehicles parked outside and attacked twelve church members. One man was beaten semi-unconscious, a woman’s hair was pulled out and a young boy was found lying in a pool of his own blood and vomit after having his ears cut off and being badly beaten. He was hospitalised. The police opened an investigation naming Eva’s former school principal and a member of a right-wing Hindu group among those responsible. Then the mob filed a counter case against the victims, accusing them of non-bailable offences like molestation, robbery and organised crime. Christian Solidarity Worldwide said the involvement of the police and community leaders in this attack must be a wake-up call to India’s lawmakers.

Mobs are targeting Christian households, led by aggressive Hindu vigilantes known for their hardline approach. Churches are vandalised, pastors are beaten or abused. Congregations are broken up by mobs and believers hospitalised with injuries. The police raid church services to threaten and arrest congregations. This persecution coincides with renewed attention on a longstanding claim that a string of forced conversions are taking place in Chhattisgarh. Speeches, rallies and press statements have openly attacked Christian pastors and believers for allegedly converting tens of thousands of people from tribal communities and poor, lower-caste Hindu families. They are alleged (without evidence) to have been lured into churches by proselytising pastors offering cash payments, free medical assistance, and foreign trips, funded by foreign donors. Dozens of ‘anti-conversion’ rallies have been held in the past month.

After two months of harassment from high-caste Hindus, a church in Nepal has been forced to shut down. Brahmins had disrupted worship of the Pakhluwa Eternal Life Church each week, and accused pastor Tufani Bhar of converting villagers. Church members had resorted to meeting in homes, but the Brahmins issued threats to anyone found meeting even there. Pastor Bhar said that he had tried everything possible to preserve the fellowship, but was unable to withstand the opposition. Initially the Brahmins objected to the use of guitar and drums in the church service, so they worshipped in silence. The next objection was to the monthly Lord’s Supper, and opposition rose steadily until they were refused permission to meet at all. Church attendance fell from 30 to 16 people, before disbanding last weekend due to fear.

Five Christian families in eastern India were at a service in October when they received a phone call telling them to return to their homes immediately. They rushed back, but found that the villagers had been incited by a tribal group (themselves influenced by Hindu extremists) to destroy one of their houses. The villagers were also told that they must drive out all the families. Threatened with expulsion from the village and with seizure of their farmland, three of the five families converted back to the tribal religion. This is just a sample of persecution in Hindu strongholds in India. Police appear to do little or nothing when Christians make a report.