Persecution in India
- Who? Hindu terrorists
- How? Christians threatened, attacked, beaten, raped, mutilated, murdered; attacks usually ignored by police; Evangelism effectively outlawed in Tamil Nadu state
- Why? Extremist Hindu nationalists want to purge India of other, 'contaminating' religions
Persecution in India has increased dramatically in recent years, with more incidents recorded between 1998 and 2003 than in the previous 100 years.
This is largely due to a surge in Hindu fundamentalism. The ruling Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has created cells of young Hindu activists in many towns and universities. Hindutva, an awakening of militant Hinduism, is gaining ground as a result.
Pastor Gopal from Maharashtra state told how Hindu villagers attacked his church after members refused to convert back to Hinduism. The mob broke the cross at the front of the church and erected a Hindu god in its place.
The local police chief called in 300 policemen to guard the building and ordered the Hindus to remove their god. The chief was later forced to resign because of his actions "against" the Hindu community.
Anti-conversion laws
Another worrisome trend is the introduction of anti-conversion legislation. Five states in India have passed laws governing religious conversion. Gujarat is known as a hotbed of religious conflict, mainly between Hindus and Muslims, although Christians also find themselves targets of violence.
Under the new legislation, anyone converting to another faith must register with the local authorities. People who convert without legal sanction face one year in prison and a 5,000 rupee (£60) fine, while those responsible for "illegal" conversions receive five years in prison and a fine of 10,000 rupees (£120).
Christians are concerned about the wording of this legislation, which allows for wide interpretation and abuse. Dr Richard Howell, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, says: "The law is not the issue so much as the implementation of the law. It should be applied to every community, but in reality it is only applied to the Christians and possibly Muslims."
An Australian missionary and his sons who were burnt to death at the weekend in an attack allegedly by Hindu extremists. The widow of an Australian missionary murdered bya Hindu mob has vowed to remain in India and continue her husband's among lepers. Gladys Staines also denied that her husband Graham was in attempts to forcibly convert local tribes people in the state of Orissa.
The mob stopped Mr Staines fleeing
the blazing jeep
All three were burnt alive in a
station wagon. They were sleeping in it overnight in Manoharpur during
an annual Christian event known as the jungle camp. They were, it seems,
singled out to be killed, and forced back as they tried to escape.
Mr Staines, 58, and the couple's
two young sons were burned to death at the weekend when a mob set fire
to the jeep in which they were sleeping. More than 50 people have so far
been arrested for the murders in the remote village of Monoharpur where
Mr Staines was attending a Bible reading. The missionary had worked in
India for more than 30 years. His wife has already forgiven the killers.
Police have blamed the Hindu extremist group, Bajrang Dal, and launched
a manhunt for a key activist Dara Singh, who they believe masterminded
the attack.
Mrs Staines comforts her daughter at
the burial of her husband and sons
Thousands of mourners joined a silent funeral
procession for the Australian missionary and his two sons who were killed
at the weekend in an attack allegedly led by Hindu extremists.
CONDEMNATIONS ATTACK BRUTAL MURDER
President KR Narayanan said in his
address that Indian unity was based on a tradition "of tolerance,
which is at once a pragmatic concept for living together and a philosophical
concept of finding truth and goodness in every religion". "Long
ago, Mahatma Gandhi put it very simply and I quote: 'I do not expect the
India of my dream to develop one religion, that is, to be wholly Hindu,
or wholly Christian, or wholly Mussalman (Muslim), but I wanted it to
be wholly tolerant, with its religions working side by side with one another'."
He described the latest murder "a monumental aberration from India's
traditions of tolerance".
Part of the protest against religious
intolerance
Activists handed out lists of violent incidents
to demonstrators
Tens of thousands of members of
India's minority Christian community have taken part in protest rallies
against what they say is a campaign of religiously motivated attacks by
Hindu extremist groups. Christian activists say there have been more than
90 such attacks this year alone and they say the national government led
by the Hindu Nationalists BJP is not doing enough to stop the violence.
There are 23 million Christians in India in an estimated population of
970 million. India's Christians rarely if ever take to the streets in
protest or even as a political gesture. But church leaders say they have
never known such a period of religiously motivated violence. They say
Hindu extremists feel they can act with impunity now that the Hindu nationalist
BJP leads the coalition government in Delhi. BJP ministers say this simply
is not true and they are taking action against anyone involved in religious
or sectarian violence.
Persecution on the Increase in India
Wednesday, April 4, 2007 From Gospel for Asia
INDIA (ANS) -- Persecution of Christians appears to be increasing in scope and intensity in India. During one recent 24-hour period, Gospel for Asia correspondents reported three serious incidents of persecution that clearly demonstrate the increased boldness of anti-Christian extremists in the country.
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Anti-Christian extremists often beat up Christians. This Bible college student was attacked as he was out telling people about Jesus. |
'As the Nazis in Germany believed that the Jewish race must be eradicated-which led to the brutal killing of 6 million innocent Jewish people, the Hindu religion's extremists are determined to do all they can to hurt those who believe and follow Christ,' said GFA President K.P. Yohannan. 'These minority extremists don't represent India nor the sentiments of the Hindu majority of the land.' These extremists consistently accuse Christians of forcibly converting people to Christianity. The extremists say that Christians use 'allurement' to convince people to receive Jesus as their Savior. This is often the accusation when the conversion comes after a healing. However, in most cases, the people come to the missionaries requesting prayer for healing. The extremists are very concerned about the growing number of people leaving the Hindu religion, which is viewed by many as the official religion of India. Many people say that 'to be Indian is to be Hindu.' Leaders in the anti-Christian movement contend they are simply maintaining a cohesive Indian society by ensuring that Hinduism remains the country's chief religion.
No matter the reason, these recent reports of persecution are clear indicators that preaching the Gospel and following Christ are dangerous propositions for the people of India.
Students attacked in Punjab
On March 26, about 40 anti-Christian extremists attacked a group of 15 students who live and study in a Gospel for Asia-related home Bible school in Punjab, in northwest India. The 40 extremists, who are all reported to be teenagers, beat up the students. Thirteen of the students fled to a nearby GFA-affiliated church, and two ran back to their homes to escape the extremists.
The students have been actively involved in sharing the Gospel with people in the village where the Bible school is located. The extremists saw what they were doing and warned them to stop. The students continued to share the Gospel and pray for the people in the village, which angered the youths.
The students were eventually able to return to their home after the attacks. Their Bible school teacher asks that Christians around the world would pray that his students would not lose heart and that they would remain bold in their calling.
Believers, pastor, persecuted in Jharkhand
Gospel for Asia missionary Prakash Ramteki was attacked on March 18 as he walked home from a nearby village where he had been ministering to the people. Prakesh's attackers accused him of forcibly converting the people to Christianity. He sustained injuries to his head and hands, and was hospitalized following the attack.
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Christians in India form strong bonds of love with one another when they face persecution. |
The attackers also stole Prakesh's cell phone and Bible, and warned him never to return to the village. Prakesh must return to that village because he pastors a church there. Each week he conducts Sunday services, and stays in the village Monday to conduct a Bible study and visit people in the area. Attacks on missionaries have unfortunately become all too common, and now believers are increasingly coming under attack, too. Deepti Pradhan was a Hindu woman who received Jesus as her Savior. Her oldest son, Janardin, also chose to follow Christ. Their decision became a source of tension within their family, and the tension soon spread out into their village in Jharkhand. Hindu extremists who live there led a charge to harass Deepti and Janardin. They even tried to keep them from attending church. In spite of the harassment, the mother and son continued to follow Jesus and seek after Him. The villagers increased the attacks, going after the family's livelihood by cutting down some of their trees and preventing them from cultivating their rice paddy and vegetable plants. This put the family in a severe crisis situation.
The extremists became even bolder and broke into the family's home, chasing out Deepti and all three of her sons. The family found refuge in Pastor Masudan Singh's home that night.
On March 25, the extremists disrupted a worship service at the Gospel for Asia-affiliated church that Deepti and Janardin attend. They accused Pastor Masudan of forcible conversions of Hindus to Christianity, and told him to leave the church and the village. They also planned to put the believers through a program to 'reconvert' them to Hinduism. The believers stood together, protected their pastor and refused to participate in the conversion back to Hinduism.
Jharkhand is ruled by the Hindu political party, which has unsuccessfully tried to put an anti-conversion law in place. The bill was voted down in 2006, but it is expected to reappear.
GFA leaders in that area ask for prayer specifically for Prakesh, that he would recover from his injuries, and that God would provide all his needs and bless his ministry abundantly. They also ask for prayer for Deepti, Janardin and the other believers in pastor Masudan's church, that the Lord would protect them and that the extremists would come to know Jesus as their Savior.
'We cannot be silent nor ignore what is happening to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ in India,' Yohannan said. 'We must pray and fast for God to intervene and bring about a heart change and give boldness to His people to love and proclaim the Good News in the midst of persecution.'
'As the Nazis in Germany believed that the Jewish race must be eradicated-which led to the brutal killing of 6 million innocent Jewish people, the Hindu religion's extremists are determined to do all they can to hurt those who believe and follow Christ,' said GFA President K.P. Yohannan. 'These minority extremists don't represent India nor the sentiments of the Hindu majority of the land.'
Priests killed, churches ransacked by Hindu fundamentalists
by Lorenzo Fazzini
Catholic activist John Dayal blames government impotence and western indifference to religious freedom.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – According to John Dayal, national vice president of the All India Catholic Union, an organisation that represent India's 16 million Catholics, "attacks against religious freedom in India do not draw the attention of Western civil rights organisations even though religious minorities are still victimised by Hindu fundamentalism."
In the last 10 days the Indian Catholic Church has been hit by three serious violent incidents. On August 22, armed assailants attacked and beat up Father John Sunderam, a parish priest in Kubbu, in Jharkhand state's Lohardaga district (eastern India) leaving him in a coma. Another priest, Father Albanus Tirkey also suffered injuries.
On August 26, a group of 300 Hindu fundamentalists stormed the Parish Church of Our Lady of Charity in the town of Raikia, in Orissa's Kandhamal district (north-eastern India). The attackers burst into the church burning bibles, bringing down the Tabernacle and destroying statues of saints. Police was present at the scene but did not intervene. Later local authorities announced the arrest of three people charged with the mayhem in which six people were injured.
Both Orissa and Jharkhand are governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which backs Hindu fundamentalists.
On August 28, the most serious incident took place. Father Job Chittilappilly was killed at his parish in the town of Thuruthiparambu, Kerala state (south-western India). He was saying the Rosary in his private quarters. The circumstances of the crime –no signs of robbery and recent phone calls threatening him because of his pastoral activities among Hindu families– suggest the murder was premeditated.
Human rights activist John Dayal recently met Shivraj Patil, Union Home Minister, to remonstrate with him about the Christian minority's adverse situation. "We can't intervene because it is a local security matter," was the minister's terse reply.
Here is John Dayal's interview with AsiaNews:
When the Congress Party was back in government many thought that the situation for religious minorities would improve . . .
Even if the BJP is no longer in power, Christians are still victims of attacks and violence. The worst cases are in Orissa, Punjab, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. Although fewer people are killed, violence against individuals and religious buildings has not ceased. Violations of religious freedom continue.
In the last few days there have been attacks against Catholics in India . . .
Catholics are not the only victims. Protestant believers and churches have also come under attack. This is why I met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to tell him about the serious attacks against Christians of the last few weeks.
What do you want from the government?
I explicitly told Minister Shivraj Patil –who is also responsible for religious minorities– that we want the government to better guarantee minorities' religious freedom. I told him that we would like to see the situation of religious minorities placed on the national political agenda. Moreover, I said we want each and every violent incident to be fully investigated. I emphasised to him that anti-Christian attacks like those in Rajasthan and Orissa are now under the scrutiny of the international media and public opinion.
What did the minister say?
"We'll see what we can do," was his answer. He said that the Union government could not intervene in areas such as local security that are under the jurisdiction of each state.
What does western public opinion do for religious freedom in India?
We are backed by European Catholic and Evangelical groups, but western civil rights organisations are not interested in religious freedom.
CHRISTIANS ATTACKED BY RSS
First the BJP led Government in India attacked the Muslims, then it attacked the Sikhs and now it is trying to eliminate the Christians in India. It is the policy of the fundamentalist, extremist, orthodox, radical right wing conservative Hindus in the Indian Government to ethnically cleanse India from all the minorities. It is strange that this fundamentalist country calls it self a secular state and blames its neighbors for its own criminal acts.
Hindus plan violence against minorities
NEW DELHI (APP)-India's ruling BJP may insist that Hindu zealots have no anti-Christian agenda, but their foot soldiers in Uttar Pradesh state make no bones about their intention to drive away Christians, "The Times of India" (TTI) reported Friday.
Bajrang Dal, a Hindu zealot group, said,"Christians were now bigger enemies than Muslims."
Dharmendra Sharma, the Bajrang Dal's leader,"declared that his organisation was ready to fight wherever church institutions were active," according to the report. "We are prepared to use violence. There is no limit," the paper quoted him as saying.
When TTI reporter suggested such talk lent credence to the theory of a possible Bajrang Dal link to the murder of Christian priest Brother George, he replied. "So what? We feel that every time there is a crime like this, the Bajarang Dal's name should be taken. Hindus will respect us more and Christians will fear us." "When people blame us, "said Rajesh Chaudhary, district convener of the Bajrang Dal in Mathura, "it helps spread the word that we have extreme views and that we use violence. This strengthens our movement."
He claimed Christians were involved in the murder of Brother George. "The padre was a bad man and he must have had enemies. Chaudhary said,"the Christians want to take over the country. What is the point of us targeting one or two? Our aim is to drive them all away."
"The day we start chasing them away, they won't be able to save themselves. Even the administration won't be able to help them." Sharma, on his part, freely recounted incidents where he and his associates have attacked Christian preachers around Agra for trying to convert Dalits. Both leaders lamented the fact that the Sangh Parivar had not reacted earlier to the "dangers" posed by Christians. But at a national convention of the Bajrang Dal in Brindavan in March this year, the matter was discussed and a decision taken to launch a campaign against church institutions, Sharma revealed.
Another Dal activist narrated how Hindus in Orissa worship Staines' killer, Dara Singh, as a hero. Asked whether that was a good or bad thing, the activist laughed, "Very good, "he replied
Hindu-Indians Continue To Murder Christians Hindu Fundos Kill Catholic Priest, Bomb Churches
NEW DELHI, India, June 9, 2000 (VOA): Roman Catholic leaders in India say they have asked for an urgent meeting with the country's Prime Minister following the murder of a Catholic priest on Wednesday -- and a series of explosions at four churches on Thursday. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from New Delhi that church leaders in India say the government should do more to protect the rights of the minority Christian community.
Archbishop Alan de Lastic, who heads the Roman Catholic Church in India, says the recent attacks are just the latest in a series of escalating violence against Christians in India over the past six months. Bishop de Lastic says there is a campaign underway in India to intimidate his church and other Christian denominations.
DE LASTIC: "Well my conclusion is that there is a definite strategy and a plan on a national basis. That is proved by these incidents all over. How is it that they happened all at the same time? Why, for example, did they not happen after one or two months in a sporadic fashion? They are all planned. And I think these forces at work want to intimidate the Christians and stop their work of trying to uplift the masses."
On Wednesday, Franciscan Brother George Kuzhikandan was beaten to death by unidentified assailants in the northern Indian City of Mathura, about 150 kilometers southeast of New Delhi. On Thursday, a series of explosions took place at four churches in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa, causing minor damage and slightly injuring several people.
Wednesday's killing of Brother Kuzhikandan was the first of a Christian missionary in India since early 1999, when Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burned alive by a mob led by a Hindu extremist known as Dara Singh in India's eastern Orissa state.
Christians make up just over two percent of India's population, which is overwhelmingly Hindu. In recent years, tensions have escalated between the two communities as some Hindu nationalists have charged that some Christian missionaries are trying to convert illiterate tribal or Hindu villagers by offering them promises of free medical care and free education -- a charge denied by the missionaries.
Christian groups charge that many of the attacks are carried out by members of Hindu extremist groups with ties to the governing Bharatiya Janata Party. Party officials deny they have any links to the attacks and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has condemned the violence.
At his news conference on Friday, Archbishop De Lastic says a recent government commission that looked into the matter in the state of Gujarat found no evidence that Catholic priests were carrying out what he describes as "forced conversions."
DE LASTIC: "On that very delicate issue of conversion - if some people think conversion is wrong and it is forced -- that is false. The last minority which went to Gujarat found and put into writing that there was no evidence at all of any instance of "forced conversion."
Archbishop De Lastic says attacks against India's Christians have increased since Pope John Paul's historic trip to India last year. He says this year alone there have 35 such attacks and he describes the violence as the most serious threat to freedom in India since the country's independence more than 50-years ago.
Christians attacked in south India
Monday, 22 May, 2000
By Omer Farooq in Hyderabad
At least 30 people have been injured in a bomb explosion during a Christian religious meeting in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The incident comes amid reports of renewed attacks on Christians in different parts of the country. The explosion took place at a religious meeting in Machlipatnam town, 330km east of Hyderabad. Nearly 15,000 Christians had gathered as part of a four-day festival.
Police officials who rushed to the scene of the blast said that despite being a crude device, the explosion was so powerful that it had left a large crater. The district superintendent of police, CV Anand, said several people were injured in a stampede that followed the blast. Police sources said that five suspects had been detained for questioning.
Under attack
This is the first time that a religious congregation has come under attack in Andhra Pradesh. The President of the Baptist Churches Association of India, Vijay Kumar, said the incident was similar to other attacks on Christians in different parts of the country. Various Christian groups have alleged that the community has been targeted by Hindu hardliners, who have been encouraged by the presence of the Hindu nationalist BJP-led government in Delhi. Such attacks began when the party took power in its previous term and continue unabated, they say. In one of the worst attacks, an Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt to death by a mob in Orissa more than a year ago.
Christian leaders attack BJP
BBC News Online
Monday, 1 May, 2000
Church leaders in India have accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of undermining Christianity by proposing changes to marriage laws to discourage inter-faith weddings. The head of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India, Alan de Lastic, also criticised the BJP-led government for fanning anti-Christian sentiment by raising fears of forced conversions by missionaries. "We have been in the limelight for the past two years for these supposed mass conversions," Mr de Lastic said. "I find it strange - when the percentage of Christians in India has gone down to 2.4% from 2.8% - how that can happen." Mr de Lastic also complained that the government had given church leaders only 10 days to examine the bill. Under the proposed bill, church weddings would no longer be allowed unless both parties were Christians. He said the bill's "punitive provisions" should be revised.
HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE in the House of Representatives TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1999
Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, James Madison, the primary author of the U.S. Constitution, warned about `the tyranny of the majority.' The modern state of India is an example of what Madison warned us about. Between Christmas and New Year, several Christian churches, prayer halls, and missionary schools were attacked by extremist Hindu mobs affiliated with the parent organization of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Washington Post reported on January 1 that ten such attacks occurred the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Six people were injured in one of these attacks. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, appears to be responsible for the attacks. The BJP is the political wing of the VHP.
The Hindu militants are apparently upset that Christians are converting low-caste Hindus. Their frustration does not justify acts of violence. Christian activists report that there were more than 60 recorded cases of church and Bible-burning, rape, and other attacks in 1998 alone, including the recent rape of four nuns. The VHP called the rapists `patriotic youth.'
In 1997 and 1998, four priests were murdered. In the fall of 1997, a Christian festival was stopped when the police opened fire. Clearly, there is a pattern here. However, Christians are not the only victims of India's tyrannical `democracy.'
Muslims have seen their most revered mosques destroyed; Sikhs have seen their most sacred shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, attacked and remain under occupation by plainclothes police. Their spiritual leader, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gurdev Singh Kaunke, was tortured and killed in police custody. Although there is a witness to this murder, no action has been taken against those responsible. Is this the secular democracy that India is so proud of?
The United States is the beacon of freedom to the world. As such, we cannot sit idly by and watch India trample on the religious freedom of its minorities. We should put this Congress on record in support of peaceful, democratic freedom movements in South Asia and throughout the world.
The United States recently allowed Puerto Rico to vote on its status; our Canadian neighbors held a similar referendum in Quebec. When do the Sikhs of Khalistan , the Muslims of Kashmir, and the other peoples living under Indian rule get their chance to exercise this basic democratic right? Will we support democratic freedom for the people of South Asia, or will we look away while the tyranny of the majority continues to suppress fundamental rights like freedom of religion?
India under fire over Christian rights
Thursday, September 30, 1999
By Religious Affairs correspondent Jane Little
The US-based Human Rights Watch has accused the Indian Government of failing to prevent violence against Christians, and of exploiting sectarian tensions for political ends. In a 37-page report, the organisation says that attacks against Christians have increased "significantly" since the Hindu Nationalist BPJ party came to power in 1998. It accuses right-wing Hindu extremist groups close to the BJP of being responsible for most of the attacks. The uncompromising report will be welcomed by Christians in India who have consistently accused hardline Hindus of creating a climate of religious hatred in which attacks against minorities go unpunished.
Killings and rapes
Christians are the new scapegoats in India's political battles according to the report's author, Smita Narula, with over a 100 cases of anti-Christian violence according to India's parliament. They include the killing of priests, the raping of nuns, and the destruction of churches, schools and cemeteries.
While much of the tension has been generated by accusations of forceful conversions to Christianity, the report notes that thousands of Christians have been forced to convert to Hinduism. It concludes by stating that - as with attacks against Muslims in the early 90s - attacks against Christians are part of a campaign by right-wing Hindu groups to exploit communal clashes for political ends.
Religious hatred
It points the finger at several groups close to the governing BJP, which it says has not only failed to protect minorities but offered tacit justification for the attacks. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has called for a national debate on conversions, recently said that reducing communal violence was one of the main achievements of his government. But Christian leaders believe religious hatred lies behind many cases, including the murder in January of an Australian missionary and his sons, and the recent murder of a priest and abduction of a nun. They are angry that the perpetrators remain at large and some strongly hinted to their congregations that they shoudn't vote for the Hindu nationalists in the current elections.
Protests at nun sex attack
Friday, September 24, 1999
An inquiry has been launched into allegations that a Catholic nun in India was abducted by two men and then stripped and humiliated. The home secretary in the eastern state of Bihar said the incident was potentially the latest in a spate of anti-Christian activity in parts of India over the past year.
Abducted
The young nun, from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, told police she hired a three-wheeler auto rickshaw taxi in the Bihar town of Chapra to travel to the post office. She said two men who were in the vehicle abducted her, took her to an orchard, tied her hands to a tree and stripped her. They then allegedly threatened to rape her, urinated in a bottle and forced her to drink it. The nun said they asked her how many people she had converted to Christianity and why she did not go back home.
Protests
The incident has angered India's Christian community and the president of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights, Archbishop Alan de Lastic, has written a letter of protest to the prime minister. "While you are busy during the parliamentary elections, the attacks on the Christian community are still continuing," the letter said. The Archbishop of Patna, the Bihar state capital, called it an ugly and inhuman act. The state police chief is heading the investigations into the complaint, lodged by the church. The nun belonged to the congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart and had recently travelled to Bihar from Pondicherry, in south India.
Election issue
The police say it is not known yet whether the incident could be linked to the Hindu extremism the church maintains has been the motivation for anti-Christian attacks elsewhere in India during the past year, or whether this was a more local law and order issue. In the most notorious of the attacks in Orissa, an Australian missionary and his two young sons were burnt to death. The man accused of being behind the January attack remains at large, an issue which has been taken up in the campaigning for the general election currently taking place in India. Earlier this month a Catholic priest was killed by unidentified assailants in the same area of Orissa.
No season of goodwill for India's Christians
Christmas in the Indian state of Gujarat has been marked by violent clashes between Hindu extremists and Christians. Tensions remain high, despite police the western state making a number of arrests following a weekend of violence. Buildings, including schools, hospitals, and churches were attacked on Christmas Day. In the village of Varki, a Pentecostal church was burned down by what the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR) said was a mob of around 70 people from a Hindu extremist organisation. The Christian community says the attacks are part of a concerted campaign against them which has worsened since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party came to power in Delhi in March.
Priest seriously injured in attack against Catholic Church
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Last Sunday night a gang of armed men attacked a Catholic parish church in the city of Kubbu in the Lohardaga district of eastern Indian State of Jharkhand. Both parish priest and vicar were injured and admitted to hospital with the latter suffering serious knife wounds.
The dozen or so attackers, age ranging from 25 to 55, struck under the cover of darkness. They entered the church building armed with hatchets, swords, and knives. They eventually made their escape but not before ransacking the parochial house and emptying the church's moneyboxes. The police did arrive at the crime scene a while later but has not so far found any clue as to the attackers' identity. It has however posted two sentries to guard the church against any further danger.
Mgr. Michael Minj, Bishop of Gumla (another district in Jharkhand State) told AsiaNews that "the attack has shaken locals. The fact that the attackers were armed means that their act was premeditated."
The pro-Hindu fundamentalism Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in Jharkhand State, a State with a large Adivasi (tribal) population. The Church has for a long time been committed to empowering the Adivasis through education and development programmes, but in doing so it has caused a backlash among Hindu fundamentalists who see the Church's action as proselytising. Organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), which are even more extremist than the BJP, are prominent in the State.
"Attacks against Christian institutions like the one that occurred on Sunday are worrying," Bishop Minj said. By contrast, local law enforcement authorities were quick to dismiss the attack as a simple case of robbery, and no further investigation seems to be planned since the attackers got away. For his part Bishop Minj is waiting for "the return of Cardinal Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi (Jharkhand's State capital), who is now in South Korea attending the Assembly of Asian Bishops, before the case is taken up with State authorities." (NC)
RSS Murders Christian Police Officer 28th Oct 2007
http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?breve2569
Fundamentalists beat 5 sisters in Madhya Pradeshby Nirmala CarvalhoThe aggressors linked to Hindu extremists, accuse the sisters of converting the local population. Indore Diocese: “A pretext to justify their brutality, we will not tolerate this violation of democracy and religious freedom”.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – The accusation of forced conversions to Christianity has once again been used as a pretext to justify Hindu fundamentalist violence against members of the Catholic community. Yesterday 5 sisters of the Poor Clare’s order were savagely beaten with sticks by a group of activists from Dharma Raksha Samiti (Committee for the protection of religion), a fundamentalist organisation in favour of sati (the ritual suicide of the widows). The incident took place yesterday afternoon in Raseli, Indore diocese, Madhya Pradesh. The police have refused the diocese’ attempts to report the incident.
The religious sisters currently hospitalised in grave conditions in Bhandari Hospital, are all very young: Sr. Jincy, 40, Sr. Sayujia, 27, Sr. Pavitra, 26, Sr. Sweta, 26 and Sr. Anna Maria, 27. “We had gone to attend the Rosary Prayer at Mr. Anil‘s house. He is a catholic by birth and the driver of our convent, when they attacked us with sticks”, says Sr. Jincy. Dharma Raksha Samiti convenor Kamal Waghela accused the sisters of converting people in the area to the Christian faith, and said that “after the prayer, picked a quarrel on this issue which lead to clash between the sisters and our workers”.
The spokesman for the Indore diocese immediately responded to these accusations: “It is nothing but finding an easy way to justify the brutality done to women religious, we will fight with tooth and nail”. Archbishop Leo Cornelio, Chairman, Catholic Bishops Council of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh too used strong words to condemn the episode: “We have been suffering silently but it looks that the fundamental organizations take it as a weakness from our part, it is n attack on women and human freedom.”
On learning of the event the diocese launched a hunger strike in protest. Local police has refused to launch an investigation into the episode until the Catholic authorities agree to end the strike set for October 28th. In fact today in Indore a meeting of Madhya Pradesh Industries is due to take place and the Catholic’s protest against police inaction and government disinterest could seriously harm the image of the event. Msgr Cornelio confides his worries to AsiaNews: “What is alarming is that these fanatical outfits are so powerful politically, that the authorities cannot take care of Law and Order and fail in their duty to protect the citizens and hence these fanatics get encouraged to intensity their hate propaganda and anti-minority sentiments to carry out act of violence towards the monitory and get away scot free. India is a democratic country and this cannot be tolerated, our religious freedom is non-negotiable.”
Fr Anand Muttungal, Regional Public Relations Officer & Spokesperson, said, “We welcome the support extended by left parties, secular organizations, various inter-religious forums and NGOs.” He warned,” the fundamental organizations are preparing the ground for the assembly election to be held in 2008”.
Meet Santosh from India
- Beaten and threatened by Hindu extremists who attacked an evangelistic meeting he was leading
Along with six other evangelists, Brother Santosh had travelled to Tasra in Gujarat state to show the Jesus film to a large group of villagers. Suddenly, in the middle of the film, a mob of Hindu extremists descended on the gathering.
They smashed the film projector and then turned their wrath on Santosh and his friends. When Santosh refused to pledge allegiance to the Hindu deity Ram, the assailants began to boil water to pour over him. Santosh was thankfully released without serious injury.
"I thought I was going to die," admits Santosh. "I was terrified. But I am glad to suffer for the Lord."
Meet Pastor S K Daniel from India
- A convert from Hinduism
- Runs an orphanage for 20 Dalit ('untouchable') children
- Threatened, assaulted, arrested and his house was stoned by a violent mob
Pastor SK Daniel and his wife run a home for orphans in India. Along with their own four children, they care for 20 Dalit ("untouchable") children, their ministry motivated by the love of Christ.
A converted Hindu, he has experienced severe persecution from fundamentalist groups opposed to his Christian activities.
Since 1995, he has been severely beaten and left for dead, and his house stoned by violent mobs who once beseiged his home for 15 days.
To date, the police have failed to arrest those responsible and in fact arrested Pastor Daniel once, on trumped-up charges.
Hindu extremists have ordered him to leave the region or "We will burn you alive!"
Kerala, a Christian leader and his wife are bloodily beatenA group of Hindu fanatics who are trying to eliminate the Christian presence in the State, cut all power to the New Bible Church under the cover of dark and forced entry lynching the pastor and his wife. Both have been hospitalised, the police are investigating.
Mahe (AsiaNews/Cbci) – Rev. T. C. Joseph and his wife Ammini, of New India Bible Church, Mannanthavady, in the western state of Kerala, were cruelly attacked by a group of more than ten Hindu extremists at their church. Both have been hospitalised in serious conditions.
The assault took place during the early hours on Sunday the 14th October. The extremists, wearing masks, first cut off power to the church building and parsonage breaking open into the pastor‘s residence. In the melee which followed, Joseph was repeatedly beaten with steel rods and stamped upon by boot wearing assailants. When wife, Ammini ran to her husband‘s rescue, she was assaulted on the head leaving her with a multiple bleeding wounds from scalp injuries.
According to initial enquiries, the group are fanatics who aim to wipe out the Christian presence in the State, which is generally calm and has a good record of inter religious harmony. A police case has been registered and the blood bathed parsonage has been sealed for further investigation. The local Superintendent of Police has visited the victims in the hospital and assured them of assistance and protection.
Rape of nuns stirs new outrage 
Christians march to demand justice
Follow Up story
Dec. 21, 2001
Indian Catholics, already reeling from reports of attacks on missionaries in rural areas, have been stunned and outraged by the gang-rape of four nuns and the looting of their convent. The crimes occurred on September 22 in the Jhabua region of the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
A gang of 10-15 hoodlums knocked on the door of the convent at 2 in the morning, and asked the nuns (who provide medical services to members of the tribes living in the region) to come with them to see a patient, according to Father Lucas Izidore, the secretary of the Indore diocese where the events took place. Izidore said that the nuns, suspicious of the request, refused to open the door and instead bolted themselves into the convent chapel and started praying.
The hoodlums then broke open the iron doors of the convent, and looted the convent. Later, they shouted at the nuns to open the chapel doors, promising that they would not harm them. "On coming out, all the four nuns in the convent were forcibly taken to the nearby fields and gang-raped," said Father Izidore. He requested that the names of the nuns, and the congregation to which they belonged, be withheld.
"We are shocked at this. I met the nuns at the police station [where they had been taken to lodge complaint]. They are terrified," said Bishop George Anathil of Indore.
Eleven of the twelve Catholic bishops of the Madhya Pradesh state held an "emergency meeting" on the morning after the crime, Bishop Anathil said, and decided to close all Catholic institutions for a day in order to organize a massive protest march from St. Francis Cathedral in Indore to protest this "barbaric act" and to demand immediate action against the guilty parties.
While several senior government officials of the state visited the convent to express their sympathy after the attack--including the Home Minister, who is responsible for the police-- Bishop Anathil insisted that Church leaders want more. "We want the government to act tough, to stop such attacks on us ," he said.
Describing the incident as "inhuman" and "a national shame," the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) said release that "this is not isolated incident, as is clear from incidents of attacks on minorities in the past few months, and appears to be part of a game plan of vested interest groups that are now operating in the country against the minorities." In a veiled criticism of the Hindu nationalists who now leading the federal coalition government, who have been accused of "Christian-bashing" in recent months, the statement-- signed by CBCI president Archbishop Alan de Lastic of Delhi--said that the Indian Church "would not be surprised to find that [the hoodlums] are working with the approval of higher-ups in the government and some rightist political parties." The statement further pointed out that there has been "increasing incidents of selective attacks" on Christians especially in the northern and western states where the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds sway. The Western Gujrath state, under BJP rule, has recorded over 30 attacks on Christians since March, which had prompted the National Minority Commission to send an investigative team into the state.
"I am not sure whether the nuns were victims of an anti-Christian conspiracy. We have no evidence," said the local bishop. However, Bishop Anathil said that there have been instances of harassment of nuns in the recent past, including threats and stone-throwing at the convents in remote areas where the nuns work.
Bishop Anathil himself had presided three years ago at the funeral of Clarist Sister Rani Maria, who was murdered in a macabre manner. The nun--who was popular with the members of impoverished tribal groups--was stabbed over 40 times in February 1995 before a crowd of 50 onlookers, including the local BJP leader. When her killers were released on bail, the culprits were even audacious to pull down the "shrine" local people had built in memory of the beloved nun.
John Dayal of the All India Catholic Union (AICU)--a group that is in the forefront of campaigning for Christians' fundamental rights--believes that "Christians have every reason to suspect a larger anti-Christian conspiracy" behind the latest incident. Several Catholic leaders contacted by this correspondent seemed to share the same concern that the gang-rape of the nuns in Madhya Pradesh is the handiwork of Hindu fundamentalists.
Hindu nationalist groups like Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad have been increasingly aggressive and more vocal about driving away Christian "missionaries" (a category which in practice includes Christian social workers who the oppressed tribal people to resist exploitation) ever since the BJP-led coalition government took office in March. Meanwhile CBCI and AICU have appealed to the federal President K. R. Narayanan to direct the BJP-led federal government and the state government to ensure the safety of Christians.
Over 10,000 Catholics--including seven bishops and hundreds of priests and nuns--marched in New Delhi on the Saturday after the killing, bearing black badges to commemorate the victims of anti-Christian violence and chanting slogans such as: "Stop Atrocities on Christians!" and "We want justice!" The protest marchers were led down the 1.8-mile route from Sacred Heart Cathedral to by Archbishop Alan de Lastic.
The march, which took place just after the conclusion of a National Youth Convention organized by Indian Catholics, had originally been organized to rally support for a call to end discrimination against Christians of low-caste origins. The purpose of the protest was "broadened" to encompass complaints about anti-Christian violence.
"We Christians, one of the most peaceful communities of India, are utterly dismayed and alarmed at the sharp increase in incidents of violence and atrocities perpetrated on us," lamented Indian Church leaders in a memorandum submitted to federal officials. The memorandum cited dozens of cases of recent attacks against Christian individuals and institutions.
Almost all political major political parties in India--with the notable exception of the BJP--urged the government to ensure the lives and properties of Christians. A four-member investigation team of the opposition Congress party, after visiting the Jhabua site of the most recent and most outrageous assault, public announced their conclusion that Hindu fundamentalists were probably involved in the rape of the four nuns.
Hindu nationalists, on the other hand, made no move to back away from the controversy. B.L. Sharma, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Council of Hindus) and a former BJP parliamentarian, announced that the gang-rape of the nuns had been provoked by the "anger of patriotic Hindus against anti-national forces." He added that "anti-national" Christian missionaries should "pack up and leave the country."
Archbishop Lastic told this correspondent that the series of attacks on Christians and the provocative statements emanate from the "diabolical jealousy" of Hindu fundamentalists "who cannot do what our nuns are doing for the poor, so they are jealous." The archbishop even recalled that Mother Teresa, revered by one and all, was also the "target of their anger." Sharma and his followers had demonstrated in New Delhi three years ago calling Mother Teresa "a wolf in sheep's clothes" and demanded revocation of the "Bharat Ratna" (Jewel of India) award the Indian government had conferred upon the renowned nun for her dedication to the poor.
Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi, a member of Indian bishops conference's justice and peace commission, sees the roots of the Hindu fundamentalists' antagonism in the Catholic "commitment to equality and justice." He reasons: "As we stand for social justice, vested interests feel threatened. That is why we are attacked." - Anto Akkara
BBC World: South Asia
Christian nuns raped in India
The attack caused fear and outrage among India's Christians
The authorities in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have increased security around religious buildings and homes of the Christian community in two districts, following attacks and sexual assaults on a group of nuns on Wednesday.
The incident happened in the village of Nawapada, at the convent of the Foreign Missionary Sisters, who provide medical help in rural areas.
The attack
In the early hours of the morning a group of armed men, brandishing swords and canes, broke open the grilled gates of the convent, after pleading with the sisters to accompany them to a patient in the area.
The sisters had refused to go, asking the men to bring a letter from the local priest.
The men then dragged four nuns to a farm field, and raped two of them.
The identities of the nuns were not revealed, but they were all under 35, and came from the southern coastal state of Tamil Nadu, the All India Catholic Union said.
The motive
Habans Singh, the state's home minister said 18 people were being sought by police in connection with the attack, and a judicial inquiry had also been announced.
A reward of 50,000 rupees (US$1,190) was offered for information about the attackers, who also ransacked the convent, the minister said.
Mr Singh said the motive for the attack had apparently been robbery, and the rape of the nuns was not premeditated. A local official said the suspects were members of a local criminal gang.
But our correspondent says that the Christian community thinks otherwise.
Christian fears
Christians believe that they are being targeted by Hindu militant groups in remote and rural parts of the country, where Christians are generally poor and powerless.
Other attacks on Christians have taken place earlier in neighbouring districts, but Christian suspicions that they were connected have not been proved.
Institutions run by Christian missionary groups in the state of Madhya Pradesh are reported to have remained closed on Thursday in protest.
Madhya Pradesh is currently in the midst of an assembly election. The opposition Hindu nationalist BJP has condemned the attack, and blamed it on what it described as the breakdown of law and order in the state.
A party spokesman said the authorities were trying to play down the seriousness of the incident.
