Chhattisgarh, February 9 (Compass Direct News)
– A small group of people
allegedly belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) on February 8 beat an evangelist
of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band and forced
him to the police station in Devasari village
in Chhattisgarh's Sarguja district. Anil Khakkar
had gone to Devasari to conduct a meeting in
a house church when a jeep full of Hindu extremists
arrived; they beat him and took him away. The
extremists took him to the Kusmi police station
and filed a complaint against
him for forcibly converting Hindus. Police said
Khakkar had been remanded in custody. No complaint
was filed against the extremists for attacking
the evangelist. The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum
today held a rally along with the local Communist
Party of India-Marxist in Raipur, the state
capital, to protest the increasing number of
anti- Christian attacks in the state. They also
submitted a memorandum to the state governor,
requesting him to ensure protection of the Christian
community. – VA
Maharashtra – Unidentified
people attacked three Christian workers of the
Church of Nazarene and damaged their film projector
and sound equipment the night of February 8
in Maharashtra state's Nagpur city.
The victims – the Rev. Ravi
Shambhakar, Ramprakash Sahu and one identified
only as Satpute – were attacked
as they showed the "Jesus Film" in
the Gulmohar area, under the Kalamna police
station. Satpute was immediately rushed to the
hospital, where four of his teeth were extracted
due to mouth injuries. The others received minor
injuries. A church leader told Compass that
Hindu extremists in another area in the city
had threatened the three Christians. The leader
said the incident had been reported to the police,
but that he was not sure if they had registered
the complaint. On the contrary, he said, the
extremists were threatening to lodge a counter
complaint against the victims. –
VA
Assam – Hindu villagers beat
and vandalized the thatched house of a Christian
convert, Rahbindra Narzaree, for refusing to
"reconvert" to Hinduism on February
6 in Bashbari village, under the Beshmuri police
sub-station in Kokrajhar district in Assam state.
The Christian Legal Association of India quoted
police as saying that Narzaree had converted
to Christianity after marrying a Christian woman
from the Bodo tribe two years ago. The family
has since faced social ostracism, and Narzaree
reconverted to Hinduism under pressure from
the villagers – but later
declared that he remained a Christian. As a
result the villagers called him to a village
council meeting on February 6 and pressured
him to return to Hinduism. When he refused,
they denounced him and attacked the couple with
sticks. To save their lives, Narzaree and his
wife took refuge in the police sub-station and
then moved to Narzaree's brother's house. The
culprits have thus far evaded police. –
VA
Karnataka – RSS and Bajrang
Dal Hindu extremists stopped four Christians
as they returned home from a prayer meeting
on February 4 and assaulted them with wooden
clubs. Pastor T. Surendra and three members
of his congregation, identified only as Ananda,
Raghwa and Harish, were on an isolated stretch
of road after meeting in a house in Uppalli
Village, in Chikmangalore district of Karnataka.
The Hindu extremists questioned them about their
prayer and singing in the house, cursed and
beat them, and forced them to a police station
where they were arrested for forcible conversion.
On February 6 four pastors went to the jail
to secure their release, but a large number
of extremists attacked them with sticks in plain
view of a police officer who did nothing to
stop them, sources said. Pastor Santosh George
and Pastor Sunder Baby managed to escape, but
Pastor V.P. Ranga and P.A. Johnson were detained.
At press time, pastors Ranga, Johnson and Surendra
were still in jail, as were the other three
Christians originally arrested. –
NC
Haryana – On February 4,
a mob of Hindu extremists and local police inspector
Virendra Singh manhandled four woman Christian
workers, identified only as Sarita, Geeta, Rosha
and Meera, and beat two pastors, identified
as Vijaya K.P. and Raj Kumar, in the Thosam
area of Bhiwani district, Haryana state. According
to the Christian Legal Association of India,
all the victims work with Gospel for Asia. Pastor
Vijaya sustained a head injury while the others
received minor injuries. The extremists, allegedly
from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World
Hindu Council) and similar organizations, launched
the attack after the Christian women refused
to move out of the area. The two pastors were
visiting the women to give them prayer and moral
support, as they had faced opposition to their
work in the area for at least a year. The police
had not registered a complaint against the extremists
at press time. – VA
Karnataka – A retired sub-inspector
and eight other men on February 1 entered the
compound of Compassionate Mission, in Belamanahallil-
Kolar district of Karnataka state, locked missionary
Phillip Abraham in the bathroom and took the
manager of the mission, Santosh KJ (he has no
surname), 25 kilometers (15 miles) away and
beat him. The men tortured the manager as they
interrogated him about the mission's social
ministry, leaving him semi-conscious and bleeding
on the Old Madras Road in the early hours of
February 2. Santosh KJ and the Rev. Alexander
Tharakan filed a First Information Report (FIR)
at the Vemekal police station. The sub-inspector
later claimed that he was searching for his
young daughter who had not returned home. He
and his men barged into every room of the mission
residence as women and children were sleeping,
Rev. Thakaran told Compass. –
NC
Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists
reportedly belonging to the RSS and the Bajrang
Dal, youth wing of the VHP, ransacked the shop
of a Christian convert, Mukesh Badehi, on February
5 in Neelganga area of Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain
district. The Christian Legal Association of
India confirmed the attack, but police told
the organization that the Christian was attacked
only because he had not closed his shop despite
a strike called by the Bajrang Dal to protest
the killing of cows, considered holy by Hindus.
According to reports, the extremists, including
other shopkeepers of the area, accused the Christian
of killing the cows and assaulting Hindu shop
owners. According to the Global Council of Indian
Christians, extremist organizations plan to
hold a rally against the killing on cows on
February 11, which could lead to tensions. –
VA
Karnataka – Hindu extremists
in the town of Bhadravathy, in Shimoga district
in Karnataka, have erected a temple on a site
where Church of South India leaders were planning
to run a center for humanitarian work next to
their church compound. Dr. Sajan K. George,
national president of the Global Council of
Indian Christians, said the extremists on January
6 erected an idol of a Hindu god on land beside
the church compound. The land had earlier been
used as a garbage dump, but the church cleaned
up the area and was about to start work on the
social center when extremists erected the idol.
The police did not take any action against the
intruders, George said, adding that Christians
were concerned over growing tensions in the
area. Church authorities could not be contacted
to ascertain if the land belonged to the government
or the church. – VA
