Persecution of Christians in India: In India, as in so many other nations, the persecution of Christians continues to become more commonplace and aggressive by the day. Hindu extremist mobs continue to target Christians, and the Christians of India today are being called upon to have the courage and perseverance of the Holy Martyrs. They are in urgent need of protection from government and law enforcement authorities. Pastor Samuel states below: “Let’s wait for the investigation. We have full faith in the administration and hope the after the investigation peace may prevail among all communities.” We share that hope. This case differs from many in other countries for the fact that the assailants have been arrested. All too often in such cases, officials side with the attackers.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in India, see here.
“Hindu fanatics attack Christian pastor in southern India,” by Bijay Kumar Minj, UCA News, February 2, 2021:
Police in the southern Indian state of Telangana have arrested two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers for assaulting a pastor accused of carrying out religious conversions.
Pastor Chandra Mouli of the Jerusalem Church in Hasthinapuram, Vanasthalipuram, was attacked when he visited the house of church member Jayamma on Jan. 28, police official K. Murali Mohan said.
One of Jayamma’s family members was sick, so the pastor had gone there to lead prayers.
“Lately we have been witnessing regular attacks against Christians in the state, which is very dangerous for a secular society like India. We have to address this issue or else we may face big problems in the future,” Pastor Samuel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Ministries told UCA News.
“We have to be careful about fanatic groups who are trying to create hatred among different faiths by dividing people in the name of caste, creed and religion and trying to push their propaganda.
“Let’s wait for the investigation. We have full faith in the administration and hope the after the investigation peace may prevail among all communities. The confusion over religious conversion must be cleared up.”
Police said BJP workers Lalith Kumar Reddy and P. Srinivas heard of the pastor’s presence in Vanasthalipuram and visited Jayamma’s house and accused him of performing religious conversions….
Police said that the arrested were part of a group called Hindu Dharma Protectors.
Hindu nationalists often accuse Christians of using force and surreptitious tactics in pursuing conversions, often storming into villages and leading reconversion ceremonies in which Christians are compelled to perform Hindu rituals.
In 2018, Uttarakhand became the ninth state to enact a religious conversion law. The other states are Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu.
