Kerala last week "have forgiven" their assailants and will not press charges, BosNewsLife monitored Tuesday, May 17. The leadership of the Beersheba Bible College of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God at Kerala’s Maraman, Chettimukku region, confirmed that eight students were attacked Thursday, May 12, while on their way to a cemetery to attend the burial of a former church member.
However Christian news agency Compass Direct quoted the college principal, Rev. Shibu Nalweli, as saying that "the Bible school community has chosen to forgive the attackers and does not wish to press charges against them."
The students were reportedly assaulted by a group of about 15 motorbike-riding supporters of the influential fundamentalist Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as they were walking from the house of the diseased to a main road to catch a bus that would take them to the cemetery.
YOUNG MILITANTS
Indian media and other sources quoted police as saying that "the Bible College students were attacked without any provocation," by young Hindu militants in their early 20’s shouting anti Christian slogans.
When the bus which was to carry the students to the cemetery arrived, RSS militants allegedly continued beating them until other Christians and bystanders arrived at the scene.
Following the attack the Beershebea students, identified as Blessen Abraham, George Abraham, Binu Babu, R. Ravindran, Rajesh, B. Rony, T.E. Varghese, and Vinod were treated at a district hospital in nearby Kozhencherry for injuries sustained in the attack, several news media said.
ALMOST BLINDED
One of them, Rajesh, narrowly escaped being blinded in one eye, "but received a serious wound just above the brow," Compass Direct quoted unidentified sources as saying. Two other students, Babu and Blessen Abrahanm were apparently so seriously injured that they were only discharged Sunday, May 15. Varghese reportedly required further hospitalization to recover from lacerations he suffered in the attack.
The incident was expected to add to fear among students, amid news of further threats against the Bible college. On Saturday, May 14, a group of "RSS extremists" gathered outside the college shouting anti-Christian slogans and issuing general warnings against the student body, Compass Direct said.
The latest violence came after Hindu and Muslim villagers burned down a prayer hall and attacked three church members in a Kerala village last month, BosNewsLife learned.
DOZENS BAPTIZED
The April 1 attack followed the baptism of 26 people in a discreet early morning ceremony. In addition Paul Ciniraj Mohammed, pastor of the church in Panamvilla village, and his assistant Shivanandan were beaten "severely", when talking to the villagers two days later, church officials said.
India’s government is under increasing political pressure to halt rapidly spreading Hindu violence against Christians in Kerala and elsewhere in India which killed at least one church leader and injured dozens of Bible students in recent months.
A Christian parliamentarian from Kerala recently raised the issue of what he called "growing Christian persecution in India" during a Parliament session in March, reported Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).
"URGENT STEPS"
Francis George urged the central government to take "urgent steps to protect the Christian community" as there had been "a spate of attacks" against believers in several parts of the country, IANS said.
Also in March a delegation of Christians from different denominations met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and submitted an " Unofficial White Paper" listing cases of violence against Christians in 2005, including a BosNewsLife report.
Representatives of the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party have strongly denied allegation made against its parent body, the RSS. Churches say there are about 24 million Christians in India, just over 2 percent of India’s total 1.1 billion population.
(With BosNewsLife Research, Compass Direct and reports from India)
