ICC Note:
Around 600 Christians in India were attacked by a huge mob of Hindu radicals while they were attending a prayer and fasting gathering in Chhattisgarh. According to reports, the radicals damaged cares, bicycles, and other properties belonging to the victimized Christians. Attacks on Christians and their places of worship have been skyrocketing over the past couple of years. In just the first six months of 2017, Christians in India have already reported over 400 separate attacks on their community across India.
12/11/2017 India (Asia News) – A mob of more than a thousand Hindu nationalists attacked a fasting and prayer gathering attended by around 600 Christians.
The attack occurred yesterday in Tarra, a village near Ranjim (Gariaband district) in the Indian State of Chhattisgarh.
The incident is the latest in a series of episodes of violence against India’s Christian community, which has had to endure discrimination on the part of radical Hindutva supporters.
Witnesses report that the radicals attacked dozens of cars, bicycles and private property with damages estimated at 400,000 rupees (US$ 6,200)
The attackers appear to be members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (a Hindu ultra-nationalist paramilitary group) and the Bajrang Dal (the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad), this according to Shibu Thomas, an activist with Persecution Relief, a watchdog group that monitors and documents attacks on Christians in India.
The “Christians had completed 200 days of prayer under the leadership of Rev Lakhchan Sahu. At around noon, more than a thousand people from the RSS and Bajrang Dal stormed the prayer venue,” Thomas said quoting Rev Sahu.
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For interviews with William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
