Recent Incidents of Persecution
ICC Note
Christians in India continue facing systematic persecution at the hands of radical Hindus. It is ironic that the world's largest democracy is also one of the top Christian persecuting countries.
05/20/2011 India (CDN)-On May 8 in Baskeria, Sonbhadra district, Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh threatened to beat a pastor if he conducts future worship meetings in the area. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that Hindu extremists stopped Pastor B. Vijaya Kumar, his wife and daughter as they were going back home after leading a prayer meeting in a Christian’s home. The extremists rushed them and started questioning the pastor about his visit and activities, according to EFI. Pastor Kumar told them that he was doing social work and teaching about the gospel to the Christians. During the questioning, some of the extremists told each other they would beat the pastor when they found him alone. After the extremists had detained the Christians for three hours, police arrived and questioned him. Officers told him to leave the area immediately, and that if anything happened to him and his family, they would not be responsible. Local dailies have published false reports alleging Pastor Kumar converted people to Christianity by offering monetary benefits, according to EFI.
Madhya Pradesh – Police arrested Shivraj Maravi on May 4 after Hindu extremists filed a complaint against him of forceful conversion in Khirpani, Dindori district. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that the extremists stopped Maravi, of Kalyan Nandas Church, from renovating his small house because they opposed his faith in Christ; Christians sometimes hold Sunday services in his home. On April 14, area Hindu extremists had stopped Maravi as he began the renovations. The Christian submitted a police complaint, but no First Information Report was registered. On May 4, as Maravi again tried to work on the house, the extremists stopped him and filed a complaint against him. Police initially arrested him under Section 151 of India’s penal code, a preventative section officers can use if they suspect someone is about to commit a crime, but later he was charged with forcible conversion under the state’s “anti-conversion” act, ironically called the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, and jailed. Maravi was released on bail on May 6. He submitted a letter of complaint to the district collector, but at press time the office had begun no inquiry. Meantime, Maravi told EFI he has also stopped construction work due to fear of an extremist attack.
Maharashtra – Hindu extremists in Manglidhar on May 2 stopped construction of a church building in Manglidhar district and imposed a boycott on Christians. A source who requested anonymity reported that C. Venganna made his plot of land available for a worship place, but when Christians began building, the Hindu extremists forcibly halted them and told them to construct their church building in a jungle far from the village. The Christians submitted a police complaint in Abhona Thana, but police told them to get permission from the village head. The village head refused to help them. In the ensuing boycott, the Hindu extremists prohibited the Christians’ vehicles from carrying vegetables to market, the means of livelihood for most of them. The extremists ordered the Christians to leave the village and warned them that they would not allow their children to attend the local school. At press time the Christians were seeking help from Christian leaders.
Kerala – Muslim radicals attacked two Christians as they showed Christian films outdoors on April 30 in Kakkunadu. The All India Christian Council reported that the extremists beat Pastor Prakash and Josh Prakash, and then police took both Christians into custody and questioned them until 3:30 a.m. Neither party filed a police complaint. The Muslim extremists threatened the Christians with violence if they showed more films. Last year on July 4 in Muvattupuzha, Kottayam district, Muslim radicals cut off the hand of a Christian professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha, whom they accused of blasphemy.
