Pray for our brethren who are oppressed for their faith!
INDIA ranks No. 31 on the 2013 World Watch List, a ranking of the 50 countries where living as a Christian is most difficult. The list is created annually by Open Doors International, a worldwide ministry to Christians who live under pressure because of their faith.
Most Christians live openly without pressure in India, but anti-conversion laws are on the books of five states, and in pockets of the country nationalist Hindus routinely confront Christians with accusations that they are attempting to forcibly convert Hindus to Christianity. Here is a sampling of incidents during January and February.
Madhya Pradesh
CHANTS of ‘stop this conversion’ greeted a seminar conducted by Pastor Jiyalal Maravi, 35, in Dumartola, Bajag village, in Dindori district. Maravi and four other pastors — Mannulal Rajdiwar, 68; Ebenezar, 41; Tirath Patta, 35; and Vimlendra Jhariya, 25 — had been invited with their teams from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. As people finished lunch, Rajdiwar noticed that about 15 men standing outside the house with sticks in their hands.
“They had blocked the way to the road from the house from both the sides and were shouting slogans ‘stop this conversion’,” Rajdiwar told World Watch Monitor. When police were summoned, they took the pastors in for questioning. They were released in the evening, and no charges were filed.
Andhra Pradesh
ABOUT 10 women returning from a visit to a sick friend were assaulted by a group that accused them of “luring people to Christianity.” The women, members of Nissi church, had visited the Secunderabad home of their friend and were returning when they were confronted by a group of about 15 people, who punched and slapped the women.
Two of the women, Laxmi Amma, 70, and Rahel Amma, 60, suffered minor bruises on their faces. Their pastor, identified as Purshottam, took them to the police station to file a complaint, but the attackers, along with some Hindu fundamentalist political leaders, were already there. The police asked the women to reach a compromise with the attackers and not press charges, but Puroshottam registered a formal complaint.
Orissa
A 4-year-old boy suffered a fractured hand in the tumult stirred up by a police raid in Patachanda village, Balarampur panchayat of Dharakot block.
Adhunik Dalabehera suffered the injury after the Central Reserve Police Force arrived after midnight in search of five tribal Christians: Jatho Mandal; Junas Mandal; Daud Gomango; Simanto Dalabehera, 42; and Kornail Raita, 50. They said they were carried to the nearby jungle on the pretext of having being associated with the Maoist chief, Sabyasachi Panda. The five men denied any involvement, and were beaten with guns and sticks.
The following morning, about 400 tribal villagers blocked roads with trees, and brandished axes and iron rods protesting the arrests. Jatho Mandal, Junas Mandal and Gomango were released later. As the protest continued, the police initiated a peace committee meeting with the villagers, and released the other two men also.
Chhattisgarh
CHURCH leaders cut short a three-day meeting in Deori, Surguja district when Hindu protesters stormed the proceedings and accused the organizers and the guest speakers, pastors Sukhchain Masih and Lalsa Tirkey, of forceful conversion. Lalsai Khakha, a pastor of Believers Church, host of the three-day conference, told World Watch Monitor the church had police permission to conduct the meeting, which attracted about 1,000 Christians. “But we decided to stop the meeting to avoid further trouble,” Khakha said.
Elsewhere in Chhattisgarh, three pastors were arrested in Aara, Surguja district of that State, during a three-day revival meeting. During dinner of the second day, about 12 Hindus arrived with some police officers. The intruders started arguing with the Christians, and police arrested three men: Akshya Kumar Vishyakarma, 32, of Uttar Pradesh; Angad Singh, 35, and a man identified only as Harendra, both of whom are from Bihar. The organizer of the event, pastor Albis Bara, 35, was arrested the next day.
The four are free on bail, facing charges of disruption of public peace.
Maharastra
HINDU protesters disrupted the prayer meeting of New Life Grace Ministry in Sawantwadi taluka, Sindhudurg district, and beat up participants, including women, children and the elderly. Christians sought help from the police, who took no action, said Joseph Dias of the Catholic Christian Secular Forum. The forum says any prayer meeting in the district needs police protection. The areas around Sawantwadi and Malvan have become highly sensitive.
Tamil Nadu
A traveling Pentecostal pastor was recently robbed of his Gospel tracts and money in Kottur, Coimbatore, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India. A group of fundamentalists robbed the pastor, identified as M. Emmanuel of the Indian Pentecostal Church, and “told the pastor not to come back in the area again to distribute tracts,” said Sam Abraham, a church leader in the area. The victim filed a complaint with police, but later withdrew it. The fundamentalist group pledged not to disturb Emmanuel again.
