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ANTI-CHRISTIAN SENTIMENTS BOIL OVER IN NEW DELHI
HINDU EXTREMISTS ASSAULT NEW CHRISTIAN LEADER
NEWS BRIEFS
ANTI-CHRISTIAN SENTIMENTS BOIL OVER IN NEW DELHI
Two violent incidents in East Delhi mark tensions ahead of elections this year.
India’s national capital witnessed two incidents of anti-Christian violence this week, including an attack last night on a relief organization official by a large mob of Hindu extremists.
At about 9:30 p.m. yesterday – February 28 – in New Delhi’s Kalyanpuri area, a worker from Gospel Mission of India (GMI), which is linked to Samaritan’s Purse, was helping to unload a truck carrying gift packets for poor children when a crowd of the Hindu nationalists led by a female councilor from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) approached.
“Around 100 people, along with BJP Councilor Satyeshwari Jyoti, alleged that GMI workers were using gifts to allure poor children to Christianity,” Roshan Lal, the station house officer of the Kalyanpuri police station, told our correspondent.
Peter Banerjee, state coordinator of GMI, told us that the GMI office assistant who was distributing the gifts, Samuel Masih, managed to run away from the mob to inform him about the threatening accusations. Meantime, the crowd took the gift packets to a police station to file a complaint against GMI.
“When I reached the police station,” Banerjee said, “some people in the mob started using the filthiest possible languagee against me and Christians, accusing me of indulging in conversion by allurement.”
The BJP’s Jyoti and members of the crowd she was leading overpowered policemen, entered the station and beat Banerjee. Jyoti slapped Banerjee twice, after which he slapped her back.
“I felt sorry,” Banerjee said. “I should not have hit her, as a Christian.”
Police, however, managed to protect Banerjee and sent him to a room on the first floor. Soon the crowd swelled to over 500, Banerjee said. Although he did not need medical attention, his arm was swollen and he said the left side of his body was in pain.
Officers did not register the complaint of conversion by allurement against the Christians. Banerjee gave a written complaint requesting protection against any future attack but did not press charges against the assailants.
He was forced to spend the night in the police station, returning home at around 10 a.m. this morning. A mob of BJP supporters today protested at the police station, demanding action against the Christians.
Political Motives
On Sunday (February 24), around 30 extremists suspected to be from the Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), pelted the Catholic St. Sebastian Church with stones and vandalized vehicles of church members in New Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area.
Bajrang Dal leaders denied members of their group took part in the attack.
The BJP is gearing up for legislative elections later this year, and a representative of the Christian Legal Association (CLA), which assisted GMI, said that the recent attacks can be linked to the forthcoming polls.
“In some areas in Delhi,” said the CLA representative, “especially where the crime rate is high, the BJP finds it easier to create tensions and thereby polarize voters along religious lines.”
Political parties are in election mode throughout the country as state legislative elections are expected to take place this year not only in Delhi but in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In addition, the next general elections are due next year.
Christians fear the incidence of persecution will increase this year. Last December 5, a mob of at least 150 unidentified people damaged a Catholic church under construction in Pitampura area of the national capital. The attackers threatened to break the bones of the site foreman and laborers, and said they feared people would convert to Christianity if the church were built. There are about 130,000 Christians in Delhi, which has a population of more than 13.8 million.
HINDU EXTREMISTS ASSAULT NEW CHRISTIAN LEADER
Doctor had given legal help to believers beaten in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh.
Following a Hindu extremist attack on five Christians meeting in a home on February 22, the Madhya Pradesh town of Balaghat witnessed another assault last Wednesday. February 27, when the newly elected president of the Balaghat Christian Association was beaten for providing legal help to the previous victims.
Members of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal allegedly targeted Dr. Robin Singh, a medical doctor and Christian leader, because he had provided legal and administrative help to Tom George, Sunil Lal and others who had been dragged from a Lent meeting and beaten with bamboo poles, sticks, rods and other weapons.
The attack on Dr. Singh appeared to be calculated to give him nonvisible internal injuries so that a stronger police case may not be formed against them, as the 10 to 12 Hindu extremists did not use any sharp weapons. They struck him with their fists and wooden sticks, as well as kicked him, to deftly give him internal injuries.
“They did not use any weapons this time for if injuries were visible, an attempt to murder case could have been registered against them,” Dr. Singh said. “I was startled and did not know what was going on. It was so sudden and I was so in shock that I could not even register the faces of the attackers properly.”
As president of the Balaghat Christian Association, Dr. Singh is active in representing Christian concerns before the local administration.
The attack contrasted sharply with the February 22 assault on George, Lal, Vijay Patle, Aman Sri Nag and a woman named Leela Patle. Lal and George sustained severe internal injuries but we also left bruised and bleeding, with Lal suffering wounds on his head, ears, cheeks, shoulders, hands, stomach, knees and left leg.
The Hindu extremists reportedly arrived in cars at 9:30 p.m. at the clinic, which they vandalized.
“The Bajrang Dal people completely broke the front portion of his clinic, destroying the glass, the reception area and all the medicines that were inside,” pastor Jagjit Singh from Creative Growth Ministries, Balaghat, told us.
Pastor Singh added that local police had done nothing so far, though a case has been filed against the assailants.
“No arrests have been made by the police even in the previous case,” he said. “The attackers are roaming free, and the Christian community is intimidated by all this.”
Dr. Singh appeared weak from the manner in which he spoke to us, and he reportedly has offered to resign from his post as president of the Balaghat Christian Association as the incident has left him fearful. Local Christian leaders are urging him to continue as the president.
Christian leaders of Balaghat, along with state and national leaders, are considering expressing their concerns over the growing violence on the Christian community in Madhya Pradesh to the state’s chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Gov. Balram Jakhar.
NEWS BRIEFS
Recent Incidents of Persecution
A group of around 30 Hindu extremists suspected to be from the Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), pelted a Catholic church with stones and vandalized vehicles of church members on February 24 in New Delhi.
According to a statement by the Christian Legal Association (CLA), the cars of at least two church members were damaged at St. Sebastian Church in Dilshad Garden area in northeast Delhi. The attackers also shouted slogans ordering the Christians to leave the country. The CLA quoted parish priest Anthony William as saying that the church had prior information about the attack and that the Sunday worship service was held with police protection.
The extremists, however, hid in a nearby temple and waited for police to leave before they attacked. Police registered a case against unidentified attackers under Section 427 of the Indian Penal Code for causing mischief and damage, but at press time no one had been arrested.
Madhya Pradesh
Hinduvta (Hindu nationalist) extremists on February 14 attacked a Catholic priest and staff members of Sachidanand Ashram, a Catholic center promoting inter-religious dialogue in Narsinghpur district, Madhya Pradesh. Father Anand Muttungal, spokesman of the Catholic Council of Bishops, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, told us that nearly 60 Hindu extremists belonging to the Bajrang Dal and other right-wing groups led by Neelesh Sony forcibly entered the center shouting slogans charging that it allowed unmarried young people to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
“The extremists kicked open every door in the center, broke chairs and tables in the rooms, and later they entered the church and desecrated it,” Fr. Muttungal said. The Ashram’s Father Anto Mundanmany had requested police security a few days earlier, but only one officer was on the scene. The extremists hit and kicked Fr. Mundanmany and beat workers. “Arjun Kumar Uike was abused and beaten, they snatched his cross and threw away his rosary,” Fr. Muttungal said.
“Richard Daniel was beaten with a bamboo stick and abused very badly.” It was not an isolated incident, he added. “It’s all a well-planned strategy to polarize the society in view of the forthcoming elections,” Fr. Muttungal said. The police filed charges against about 40 people for assaulting the priest and others at the center.
Karnataka
Three Christians of Shalom Full Gospel Church in Kumbara Halli village, Karnataka, were hospitalized on February 3 after a mob of 25 to 30 Hindu extremists belonging to the Bajrang Dal attacked them during Sunday worship. Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said that at about 11 a.m., as pastor Priya Darshan was preaching, the extremists led by a local villager identified only as Guruswamy surrounded the church on motorbikes that had saffron triangular flags on the handlebars. Shouting “Jai Bajrang Bali [Hail god Hanuman],” the extremists armed with swords, sticks and knives “stormed the church, slapped and repeatedly punched Darshan, and began hitting the believers,” George said.
They destroyed the sound system and musical instruments, he added. The extremists took Darshan to the Hosdurga police station and made false allegations of forcibly converting the villagers, George said, but through GCIC intervention Darshan was released at 6:30 p.m. without any charges. Regional Coordinator Laxmi Narayan Gowda told us, “A believer identified only as Kallesh received a deep gash above his right eyebrow, while another identified only as Kripakaran had a fractured right arm, and a believer identified only as Anjenappa had swollen arms, and legs, and bruises all over his back and stomach.” They were treated at the Hosadurga Government Hospital.
Karnataka
bout 20 Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists on February 3 attacked the pastor and believers of an independent church in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state. The extremists, believed to be from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps, the chief Hindutva organization in the country), barged into a house church in Hegganhalli in Bangalore’s Peenya area at around 10:30 a.m. and forced the Christians to pray to Hindu gods, Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said.
The attackers snatched Bibles from the Christians and burned the books. They then beat the pastor, T.K. Benny, and other believers. Three Christians identified only as Vijay, Brijesh and Shyam sustained minor injuries. Before fleeing, the attackers locked up the house church and warned the Christians against holding any worship service in the future.
Karnataka
Hindu extremists on January 28 beat an independent pastor, cursed at his wife and later filed a false police complaint against them in Arugere village, Belgaum district, Karnataka. Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said pastor Yeshwant Krishnappa Myagadi and his wife Bharati were invited to a fellowship prayer and lunch meeting at the house of Appasab Naganoor, also a Christian.
Later they were waiting at the Arugere bus stand to return home when 15 to 20 Hindu extremists belonging to the Bajrang Dal, began questioning them about the purpose of their visit, said George. Pastor Myagadi told this correspondent that some of the extremists grabbed his satchel and, finding a Bible inside, tore pages from it. “They began slapping and punching me on my head and stomach, and abused Bharati in filthy curses,” he said.
“The extremists then shoved us into a Jeep and took us to the Kodachi police station, and en route the extremists kept cursing the Christian faith and repeatedly punched me on the head and back.” The extremists filed a complaint against the pastor and his wife charging they were converting Hindu villagers by force, but through GCIC intervention Myagadi and his wife were released on January 29 without charges, said George.
Andhra Pradesh
Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists on January 20 beat an independent pastor, Erra Prakash, and co-pastors Kiran Kumar and Jaya Raj in Kondaram Palli, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh. Lion Francis, local coordinator of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told us that a three-day “Gospel Festival” was taking place in Kondaram Palli when on the last day, January 19, some villagers complained to village headman Meka Kankayya that forced conversions were taking place at the event.
Kankayya summoned Pastor Prakash and a new convert, Srinivasa Reddy, to a public meeting in which Srinivasa firmly stated that he of his own free will had received Jesus for his salvation. “No sooner did he confess his faith publicly than local Hindutva extremists hurled filthy, blasphemous abuses at Srinivasa and the Christian faith,” Francis told us. The next day at about 8 a.m., as Pastor Prakash was leaving the village, 20 to 25 Hindu extremists stopped his auto-rickshaw, pulled out the pastor and his co-pastors and began hitting them with sticks. “They also spat on them,” Francis said.
“Soon a large crowd gathered, and they too joined in hurling stones and shoes at the pastors. Later they dragged the three pastors around the village and locked them up in the local community hall.” Around 2 p.m. the extremists released the pastors, but only after making them sign a document stating that they would never evangelize in the village again. Prakash, Kumar and Raj underwent treatment in a private medical facility. “The pastors have refused to file charges, as they have forgiven the extremists,” explained Francis.
Tamil Nadu
Local residents believed to be Hindu extremists launched an attack on the house church of an independent Dalit pastor, identified only as 70-year-old Abraham, on January 18 in Tamil Nadu state’s Salem district. Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said a pastor’s neighbor, identified only as Govindhan, along with a few other residents, stormed the house church in Tharamangalam area in Salem and assaulted the Dalit pastor as he was preparing for a Friday fasting prayer meeting. The attackers also assaulted the pastor’s wife and five children, four of whom are minors.
While Pastor Abraham went to police to report the attack, members of his church, who were not aware of the attack, arrived at his house for the meeting and the same group of extremists attacked them. At least three of the Christians, identified only as Ravi, Anaal, and the pastor’s son Prakash, were injured. Ravi’s hand was fractured and Anaal and Prakash sustained head injuries. Ravi and Anaal were treated at the Mettur Dam Government Hospital. Police registered a case against Pastor Abraham’s neighbor and arrested four people.
Pastor Edwin Chi Asongwe ( Bishop Elect) 8:46 am on Friday, March 21, 2008 Permalink |
Dear Man of God,
You are a minister endowed with charisma for our time such as i can see. The holy ghost is still at work and uses people who make themselves available. I am very familiar with happening miracles like the one God used you to perform in India and dip in me i know that he has used you to perform bigger miracles than this before. What i will say is that it did not happen by chance but rather it is the product of dedication and so continue for God will take you to the next dimension in the spirit realm. To be frank i will tell you that i have some special admiration for you.