In one of the latest incidents, monitored by Christian news agency Compass Direct News, followers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party groups attacked a Christian prayer meeting in Dehra Dun city in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
They beat up several believers and Pastor Jonathan Singh, who was allegedly dragged to his rented home near the site. His landlord was reportedly ordered to throw out his belongings during the June 22 attack.
Elsewhere in the state of Andhra Pradesh, in the Rangadam Palli are of Medak district, militants of the Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on June 22 attacked a pastor, his wife and another Christian woman and poured alcohol on them, said advocacy group All India Chris tian Council of India (AICC). Pastor Kinnere Kanankaiah and the two other women were reportedly on their way home from a birthday celebration when the allegedly drunken extremists began harassing them.
"They beat the pastor, knocking him to the ground and stomping on him. They hit Laxmi on the head with the edge of a broken bottle and afterwards poured alcohol on all three," AICC said, adding that the pastor was admitted to a hospital with internal injuries, and the two women also received treatment. No arrests reported.
MORE VIOLENCE
The AICC also reported earlier anti-Christian violence in the state of Karnataka, where some 100 Hindu of the Bajrang Dal group and police apparently disrupted a seminar of some 70 pastors and seized their property on June 17 in Varna village. They accused those attending the meeting at Well Water Garden Institute “of forcible conversions. Pastors apparently went to the district police but were later were told by police officials barging in the chapel that they will face "dire consequences if they continued meeting," AICC said. Police officers reportedly also took Bibles, books and vehicles belonging to the pastors, although the seized materials were apparently later returned.
There have been similar incidents in the state of Chhattisgarh, where Hindu militants of the Bajrang Dal group allegedly attacked Christians on June 16 in Rewadahi village of Rajnandgaon district. The president of rights group Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), Sajan K. George, said that just before midnight about 55 “Hindu extremists” stormed the house of two Christian converts, identified as Karthik Sahu and Ramesh, where one of them was preparing to oversee a marriage ceremony of a fellow believer two days later.
The militants allegedly beat and kicked both men for some 15 minutes for marrying according to Christian, before disrupting a weekly prayer meetings at a neighbors house. The extremists then left with 30,000 rupees (US$700) the Christian couple organizing the gathering had earned with selling their rice crop, GCIC said. Police reportedly refused to investigate the robbery and instead detained the complaining couple for about 10 hours on June 17.
CHURCH BURNED
Churches were also attacked last month, including in the state of Andhra Pradesh where GCIC said a church building in a slum area was set on fire on June 15 in the Amberpet area of the capital Hyderabad The church was reportedly burned at around midnight along with five huts in the area. "A pulpit, tables, sound system, fans, light and other furniture were reduced to ashes, with damages estimated to be around 50,000 rupees (US$1,171)," Compass Direct News quoted GCIC as saying. Pastor Majji Yeshurathnam established the small church in the slum area nine years ago with permission from local authorities. Christian intolerance has reportedly increased in the region.
Also on June 15 in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Hindu militants of the Bajrang Dal reportedly beat and filed a false complaint of forcing Hindus to become Christians against a pastor in district. GCIC said Pastor Rampal Masih of Believers Church was preaching to a congregation of 70 believers when 25 "intolerant Hindus" surrounded the rented church hall shouting Hindu chants. Several militants apparently walked up to the pulpit, dragged Masih outside, and punched and kicking him for his alleged involvement in "forcible conversions," charges Christians strongly deny. Police reportedly warned the pastor against conducting Christian worship in his village and threatened to arrest him if he did so again.
Elsewhere in Andhra Pradesh, one June 12, police deteined some 40 pastors on charges of "fraudulent conversion and for conducting prayer services in a Hindu temple area of Bhadrachalam" in the state’s Khamman district. The GCIC said however that the pastors had been renting six rooms in cottages belonging to the temple.
The pastors were released on bail with the aid of pressure from politicians, according to the GCIC. Rights groups and churches have linked the attacks to concern among Hindu groups about the spread of Christianity in India. Although the country has seen economic reforms, rights groups say religious tensions remain in the country, which is still dominated by ancient Hindu traditions.
