By ICC’s India Correspondent

06/01/2017 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Religious intolerance has grown significantly in India following the election of Prime Minister Narenda Modi and his BJP-led government. The BJP’s nationalist rhetoric has encouraged Hindu radicals to take the law into their own hands and “purify” their country to become a Hindu nation. Recently, ICC interviewed Pastor Raorukala Samuel of the Carmel Prayer House in Mustabad about his experience with radical Hindu nationalists.

“It was around twelve in the afternoon and the third village to be covered on that day,” Pastor Samuel recalled. “We were still unfolding the literature boxes and organizing ourselves with the megaphone to preach the Gospel on the roadside in Gudem village. All of a sudden, we were surrounded by five people who started to beat us. They [took] our megaphone and threatened to kill us if we continued.”

Like many other pastors in India have experienced, Pastor Raorukala Samuel and his team were brutally attacked by Hindu radicals for preaching the Gospel on February 16, 2017.

“We were in the midst of a chaotic situation,” Pastor Samuel continued. “The literature was snatched from our hands, torn to pieces, and thrown on the road where vehicles could run over them. The Hindu radicals went into our vehicle and pulled all of the remaining literature stacked in the vehicle and threw it on the road.”

“Mr. Srinivas Rao, the MPTC (Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies) a local elected official, was leading the group of attackers and got so furious that he attacked Mr. Stephen, one of [our] preachers, with his sandals and beat him on his face,” Pastor Samuel explained. “The attackers brought red powder that they forcibly applied in the form of dots on the fore heads of the Christian preachers.” The red dot on the forehead is a religious symbol of Hinduism. Applying the powder is the mark of acceptance of the Hindu religion.

“Soon the mob started growing in numbers and the situation seemed out of control,” Pastor Samuel said. “I tried to let Mr. Srinivas Rao know about the police permission we acquired from the Deputy Superintendent of Police for the outreach program, but he refused to listen to me. He told me that police permissions and the so called constitutional rights don’t work here and that I could not preach nor distribute Christian literature in the entire region.”

“I managed to sneak through the crowd along with the women in the team, so I could call for the police help,” Pastor Samuel continued. “Immediately, I dialed 100 and gave them the details of the attack. I emphasized the emergency situation, that Christians were being beaten up and needed to be rescued from the hands of the Hindu radicals. Though the helpline said that they would immediately contact the nearest police station, for more than 45 minutes no police came to our rescue.”

While the harassment continued, the few who had managed to sneak away from their abusers went to the police station in search of further help. Upon reaching the police station, they gave their statements to the Station House Officer. However, instead filing their complaint the officer refused to consider their case.

“After the inquiring about the incident, the [officer] took us into custody and we were threatened by the police as if we were the accused,” Pastor Samuel said. “[The officer] refused to file an FIR with the information given to him. Instead, the [officer] threatened to book cases against us, leveling false charges that could result in paying huge fines.”

“When the attackers arrived later, they were given guest status by [officer],” Pastor Samuel explained. “All our phones were taken away, we were interrogated and treated as criminals, leaving those who attacked us even though they had abused us with their language and had destroyed our literature. It was so painful, but I felt that there was no use of even approaching a higher ranked police officers. I asked myself, am I living in a democratic country or autocratic country?”

Pastor Samuel was denied the basic right to protection under the law. Additionally, India’s Constitution guarantees religious freedom for all. For the past three years, the BJP-led government has done little to enforce this right among the minority populations of the region. The government’s silence on this issue and others like it has allowed radical Hindu nationalists to continue their reign of terror that has eroded the religious liberties minorities have long enjoyed as citizens of India.

“In the three weeks [following] the incident, my movements were tracked by the attackers and my son was threatened into withdrawing the complaint we gave to the police,” Pastor Samuel said. “The basic first information report has still not been filed by the police, which is supposed to be the first step to justice. There seems to be no meaning to Article 25 [of the constitution] when it comes to the rights of minorities in this country.”

Having the proper laws in place is not enough to protect religious minorities if these laws are not followed or enforced. In the absence of the rule of law to protect them, Christians, like Pastor Samuel, will continue to experience religious persecution on an increasing basis. Let’s hope pastors like Samuel will find justice and that those whose duty it is to enforce the law do so to protect the fundamental rights of every citizen, regardless of their religious identity.