A Mob Nearly 40 Members claiming as the member of Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh of Jeypore town near Lalguda Area beside B.S.N.L Office reached at the Newly under Construction Site of the Community Hall belongs to Christian Community alleging that the Christian are going to Build the Church , We will not allow the Church to be Constructed and assaulted the Working Labourers and the Members Present in the Spot and breaking down the under constructed Community Hall in Jeypore Town of Koraput District. One of the members presented in the Spot reported the information anonymously . The Members have dialed 100 Police Protection Officers however the officials have not yet reached while the report was written. Christian in the state of Odisha are living the state of Fear where they are losing the freedom to Worship and Construct the Community Hall because most of the time they are being beaten and their houses are being burnt down or broken the state of Odisha have witnessed these kind of incidents repeatedly. The leaders of Christian Community seek immediate intervention of the Koraput Police Officials for the Safety of Lives and Community Centre . This article is originally published on https://globaltvlive24x7.com/christians-believers-were-beaten-and-community-hall-broken-by-members-of-radical-hindutva-r-s-s-groups/

Kalanaur (Rohtak). Late Thursday night, Harpreet alias Harry, 16-year-old son of a church priest, was attacked with a knife by some youths in Ward 2 of the city. The body was stabbed at 9-10 places. He was admitted to PGI Rohtak in a bleeding condition, where his condition remained critical. Pastor Jasbir told that he had gone to Delhi on Thursday for some work. At around 7:30 in the evening, a call came from the daughter that some youths attacked brother Harpreet alias Harry with a knife on the railway road. He was taken to the civil hospital, where he was referred to PGI. The family members allege that the attack was carried out by the son of the former councilor of the municipality and his associates. The police were investigating till late night. Complainant Jasbir has lodged a complaint with the police against the accused and demanded appropriate action. At present, the police has met the injured in PGI, but due to his critical condition, his statement could not be recorded. At the same time, police station in-charge Deshraj says that the matter is not in his notice. This article is originally published on https://www.amarujala.com/haryana/rohtak/deadly-attack-on-pastors-son-in-kalanaur-10-stabs-with-knife-rohtak-news-c-17-roh1019-346420-2024-01-26?shareonApp

New Delhi: Several Christians in Chattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s Kunkuri constituency have alleged that members of a Hindutva group beat them up with sticks and harassed women members of the community on January 21. Based on a first information report lodged by one Shiv Prasad Mehto, the local pastor, Mahananda, and a few others had gone to Shiv’s house in Basudopur village under the jurisdiction of the Duldula Police Station for lunch on the day. On the way back, they were attacked by members of a Hindutva group. The Christian group was also purportedly questioned and asked not to visit the village again. Kishore, who was part of the Christian group told The Wire, “As we left Shiv’s house, they stopped us with sticks in hand. They were the same people who had been participating in Ram temple rallies regularly,” said Kishore. In various parts of north India, rallies have been taken out to celebrate the Ram temple which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day ago. Kishore further added, “They beat us and then dragged the women who tried to stop them onto the road.” Pastor Mahananda fell unconscious, and his family took him to a local Samudayik Swasthya Kendra, from where he was

KARNATAKA, India (BP) – A mob of 300 people beat and threatened to kill a Christian couple at a police station in Karnataka State, India, after the wife was falsely accused of forced conversion, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said Jan. 23. Beaten were Uppaladinni village residents Vijayalakshmi Chavhan and her husband Ashok. Police feigned an inability to stop the attack, sources told CSW. “This is part of a growing trend of social hostility towards religious minorities across India which the authorities must address as a matter of utmost urgency,” CSW founding president Mervyn Thomas said. “CSW is concerned for the Christians in Uppaladinni who have been singled out, harassed and attacked on account of their beliefs.” Religious conversions are criminalized in Karnataka and 11 other states in the majority Hindu country, punishable by yearslong prison sentences and monetary fines. Spiking persecution of Christians in India has led the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and other groups to urge the U.S. State Department to designate India a County of Particular Concern (CPC) for systematic, ongoing and egregious religious liberty violations. “The ERLC is deeply grieved to hear about the systematic mistreatment of our brothers and sisters in Christ in India,” Palmer Williams, ERLC general counsel

The persecution of minority Christians is going unchecked in Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian state where 17 members of the community, including pastors, have been jailed this month, Christian leaders say. Many Christians are fearful of practicing their faith as police terrorize the community with fabricated charges of religious conversion to appease hardline Hindu groups in the state, one Christian leader said on Jan. 25. In the latest case, police arrested two Christians including a pastor on Jan. 24 and a court remanded them to police custody on Jan.25. “We are trying to seek their bail, but it is unlikely that they will get bail as lower courts often remand those accused in religious conversion charges into judicial custody,” the Christian leader said on condition of anonymity. “Their only crime was conducting a routine prayer service and now they are in a police station,” he told UCA News. Those in jail also were charged with the same offense and were unable to get bail from the lower courts, he added. The situation is very alarming, said Father Anand Mathew, a priest of the Indian Missionary Society based in Varanasi, a city in the state that is home to hundreds of Hindu temples and shrines. “Holding a prayer meeting has become

India's prime minister opened a controversial temple Monday, dedicated to a Hindu deity, built on the ruins of a historic mosque. It's a big political statement for the populist leader who's seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state. It comes as a surge in violence against Christians has flared up in India, where millions believe the country belongs to Hindus. Many think all other religions must be eliminated from society, and several states have already enacted laws to punish non-Hindus. It's all part of a troubling trend emerging in the world's largest democracy. Millions of Indians believe the country belongs only to Hindus and that all other religions, including Christianity and Islam, must be wiped out. Human rights groups have accused India's Prime Minister and his government of supporting the extremist view. In recent years, it has led to a surge in violence against Christians often with tacit approval from the central government. At 16 years old, "Paul" was instructed to target Christians by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or R.S.S., a radical Hindu paramilitary organization. "Since I was a Hindu and part of the R.S.S., I became a staunch follower of their Hindu principles, and because of that, killing Christians and pastors

Christians in a central Indian state have demanded action against Hindu activists who climbed on the top of crosses in four churches and placed their flags as thousands joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open a contentious temple. Right-wing Hindu activists climbed on top of churches and placed their saffron flags on Jan. 21 in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district, inhabited predominantly by tribal communities. The state, a hotbed of anti-Christian violence, is run by Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Hindu activists shouted Jai Shree Ram (hail Lord Ram) as they targeted three churches of the Protestant Shalom Church and a church managed by the Church of South India. They threatened the Church people who opposed their sacrilegious act. “We informed the police, but they refused to register our complaint,” said Auxiliary Bishop Paul Muniya of the Shalom Church. “The police are forcing us to reach a compromise,” Muniya told UCA News. The flag-placing should be seen as part of the festivities linked to the Jan. 22 opening of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh state’s Ayodhya town, considered the birthplace of Ram. The controversial temple is perceived as the Hindu triumph over foreign religions as it was erected after the demolition of a 16th-century mosque built by Muslim invader Babar. Modi has asked people to decorate their houses and light oil

Saffron flags and posters of religious deities and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are dotting streets across India to mark the January 22 consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh state. However, public euphoria around the ceremony has also raised fears of violence and discrimination against India’s religious minorities, particularly Muslims. The occasion is widely seen as a culmination of Hindu majoritarian and political demands led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates. The temple was constructed around the site where the 16th century Babri Mosque stood until a Hindu mob demolished it in 1992. Many Hindus believe that the mosque had been built on the ruins of a previous temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram. Thousands died in religious clashes and riots across the country following the demolition, including deadly violence in Gujarat state in 2002. While the authorities secured the area during the ceremony, Ayodhya’s Muslim residents expressed concerns for their safety. One group wrote to the police requesting law enforcement remain vigilant as devotees from throughout India visit the city over the coming weeks. Some have sent their families away from the city. Many Indian Muslims on social media have also cautioned against impending violence and have called for community members to avoid traveling

Vijay Masih was embarrassed to welcome his guests in such uncomfortable conditions. He had borrowed his sister's cottage; his own being under construction. His wife, Preeti, prepared a chai to provide warmth in the icy atmosphere of late December. In the spring, the evangelical pastor and his family had moved to an informal village just outside Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India. There's no electricity, no sanitation, no asphalt. He sleeps on a makeshift mattress outside on the dirt. But at least he feels safe in this all-Christian community of over 300 people. For 12 years, Masih served the Evangelical Church of India 100 kilometers away in Fatehpur, a large rural town. He had a salary and a house, and his two children attended a private school. But an event suddenly interrupted the thread of this tranquil life: On April 14, 2022, the eve of Good Friday, as he and 70 other Christians were preparing for Easter celebrations in the village church, hostile chants were heard. This article is originally published on https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/01/06/hindu-extremists-ruthlessly-hunt-down-christians-in-india_6406265_4.html#

Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have discovered the charred body of an Evangelical pastor who had been missing for about 10 days. The family identified the body by recognizing his belt, shoes and glasses. Pastor Abraham Parambil Thekkethil, of Vayalar Nagar Manthippara St. Thomas Evangelical Church, was found deceased near the Idukki-Tamil Nadu border, local media outlet Onmanorama reported, adding that his identity was confirmed by his son.Forensic experts have claimed the death might have been a suicide. The pastor is believed to have self-immolated using petrol. This theory is supported by the presence of an unburned arm, likely used to pour the inflammable liquid, and a nearby lighter. Tamil Nadu fingerprint experts also investigated the scene, according to the report. A missing person report for Abraham was filed last Monday by the church’s head priest, identified only as Jijo. Abraham had been missing since the previous Monday morning. Abraham, who leaves behind a wife and two sons, aged 27 and 24, had ventured into a business producing candles and frankincense, among other items, before the COVID-19 lockdowns. The pandemic severely impacted his business, leading to debts of nearly 2 million Indian rupees (roughly $24,000). Although he received some financial