The NON-SECULAR FACE OF THE SECULAR INDIA Christian Percecutions: SOME INCIDENTS: March 26, 2003 - The Gujurat Freedom of Religion Bill was passed in the State Assembly. The bill bans religious conversions by coercion and stipulates a prison sentence of up to three years and a fine of 50,000 rupees for being involved in a forcible conversion. The law further states that all conversions must be registered and accepted by the District Magistrate. Failure to register a conversion is liable to a fine or up to one year in prison. (ANS) March 12, 2003 - Hindus attacked and damaged a Protestant Church in Maharashtra after church members refused to re-convert to Hinduism. At least one member of the congregation has received death threats. (VOM) March 2003 - Gospel for Asia reported that the men who beat Titus for showing the Jesus film are now eager to see the film themselves (see February 18, 2003 below). Titus equipment was returned to him undamaged. (GFA/ANS) February 2003 - A. Anthony, a Roman Catholic priest, was robbed at gunpoint in Chintalapudi. The culprits are believed to have been Hindu extremists. (Compass Direct) February 2003 - The Criminal Investigation Department of Gujarat state has been conducting surveys among the Christian community in preparation for an anti-conversion bill scheduled to be considered by the state legislature in late March. Christians have complained that the surveys have been conducted in a very intimidating way. The surveys demanded information on the number of conversions, the reason for these conversions, as well as information on funding from overseas. The All-India Christian Council filed a complaint with the Gujarat High Court over the use of the surveys, which have currently been halted. Last year similar surveys were conducted in the Muslim community just prior to brutal attacks on the Muslim community by Hindu fundamentalists. (Compass Direct) February 18, 2003 - An Indian evangelist and several of his team members were beaten while showing the Jesus film in Jharkhand. Twenty-six-year-old Titus was strangled, punched, and beaten with sticks until he passed out. Christian friends carried him to their house where an angry crowd later gathered to demand that Titus renounce his faith. He was beaten again when he refused to deny Christ. Currently the village leaders are refusing to return Tituss video equipment without a ransom and have demanded that he and two Christian families from the village provide food for 2,000 village people for two days. Village leaders may be plotting a way to force the two Christian families to return to an animist faith. (Gospel for Asia) February 2003 - The BJP government is beginning to align itself more closely with the RSS and VHP (see extremist groups above) to advance the Hindutva agenda. It is feared that a national anti-conversion law similar to the one currently in place in Tamil Nadu may not be far off. Some new cabinet members are aggressively anti-missionary. (WEA) February 2003 - Compass Direct reported that a list of at least 50 missionaries has been given to Indian authorities by the VHP, in hopes that they will be deported on visa violations such as the one used against Joseph Cooper. This could create difficulties for missionaries teaching in seminaries and Bible colleges. January 20, 2002 - Missionary Joseph Cooper (see January 13, 2002 below) was ordered to leave the country within a week after being released from the hospital in Trivandrum. Police Superintendent Vinod Kumar said Mr. Cooper had violated the terms of his vistors visa by preaching. (Washington Times) January 13, 2002 - Joseph Cooper, a 67-year-old missionary from Pennsylvania was attacked by Hindu fanatics outside of Trivandrum in Kerala. Cooper was beaten with sticks and cut with a machete as he was returning from a church meeting. Indian pastor Benson Sam and his wife also sustained injuries in the attack. Cooper was taken to a Trivandrum hospital where he is being treated for a deep wound to his right palm and other cuts and bruises. RSS activists are believed to have been responsible. December 25, 2002 - A Catholic church in Malipota, near the India-Bangladesh border was attacked during midnight mass. A priest and several others were injured as the attackers threw bombs at the church, forcing at least 1200 worshippers from the building. The Catholics were then robbed of their personal possessions, including wristwatches. (ANS) December 6, 2002 - More than 9,500 Dalits wishing to convert to Christianity and be baptized were turned back by police in Chennai. Several people were beaten and 11 people who helped organize the mass conversion ceremony were arrested in connection with Tamil Nadus new law against forcible conversions. Chairs set up for the event were also destroyed and various human rights violations were reported (ANS/AICC). December 3, 2002 - A Christian worker and four Bible school students were eating dinner in Sauncer Taluka, Madhya Pradesh, when they were attacked by a group of 50-60 people armed with sticks. Some members of the crowd shouted, We will burn you alive, and whichever village you will go, you will be beaten up there also. When the Christians reported the attack to local police they were accused of converting people. (EFI News) December 2002 - Compass Direct reported that Mr. G. David, the Chief Superintendent of Prisons in Pondicherry was accused of forcibly converting prisoners by the Munanni Hindu fundamentalist group. However, the Inspector General of prisons said there were no reports of forced conversions, though 3 inmates had been recently baptized. November 18, 2002 - A local pastor and three Operation Mobilization workers were beaten in Goa after showing the Jesus film in a family home. The men were attacked by a mob of about 30 people as they were sitting down to eat with the family, who had been very receptive to the film. The mob also damaged a vehicle used by the Christian workers. Police eventually dispersed the mob and the Christians were able to file a formal complaint. (ANS) November 16, 2002 - Hindu militants punctured the tires of Pastor VM Samuels vehicle while he was visiting another Christians home in Udupi, Karnataka. When the pastor attempted to change the tires, an angry mob of RSS activists beat him and four other men. The mob also damaged a vehicle belonging to one of the Christians. Local police refused to register the case. All four men were hospitalized. (ANS) November 2, 2002 - An armed gang attacked the convent of St. Mary of the Angels in Parthibanoor, Tamil Nadu state. The gang knocked a security guard unconscious, cut telephone lines, and stole $450. The nuns were able to keep safe by locking themselves in a room. (Compass Direct) October 6, 2002 - The governor of Tamil Nadu, P S Ramamohan Rao, issued an ordinance banning religious conversions by fraudulent means or forcible allurement. The punishment for violating the ordinance is up to 3 years imprisonment and/or a fine up to Rs. 50,000. All religious conversions must also be reported to district authorities according to the ordinance. The new ordinance does not bode well for Christians, who are commonly accused of using coercion to produce converts because they offer food and medical care to the poor. Hindu fundamentalist groups are happy with the new ordinance and hope other states will adopt similar legislation. September 22, 2002 - Eight Korean missionaries in Bihar State were beaten during worship services by members of the Bajrang Dal, a militant youth organization. August 2002 - A group opposed to the construction of a church building in Maharashtra state burned church materials, including corrugated sheets of metal, during the middle of the night. The building materials had just been purchased with a special fund raised by church members. (Intercessors Network) July 29, 2002 - The Bharatiya Janata Party, Indias major political party, has gone public with their anti-Christian agenda. BJP vice president, Kailashpati Mishra, accused Christian missionaries of provoking large scale violence in the North Indian state of Jharkhand. In a separate incident, a BJP member presided at a mass conversion ceremony where 400 tribal Christians were reconverted to Hinduism. (Compass Direct) July 23, 2002 - A secret 4 page circular is being circulated among extremist Hindus. It calls for a terror campaign to be waged against tribals, backward castes, Muslims, and Christians. The circular gives detailed instructions on how to terrorize and ethnically cleanse India from these people groups. It calls for rape, riots, assassinations, infecting of infants to create handicap, and the poisoning of food and liquor. Propaganda is strategically being spread through the media. The instructions at the end of the circular say, this paper is to be burned and destroyed after passing the instructions along. (Compass Direct) July 18, 2002 - Sister Vrishi Ekka, a Catholic Ursuline nun 56 years of age, was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for converting Hindus to Christianity. Christian Schools closed in protest and Hindu fundamentalists groups retaliated staging protest marches outside the schools. The court deemed the schools actions as provocative and said the Christian organizations have no business protesting the verdict. (Compass Direct) June 16, 2002 - 143 Christians from the Oram, Munda, and Khadia tribes were reconverted to Hinduism in a ceremony in Tainser village organized by the VHP. Church leaders have protested these reconversions, noting that the tribals followed indigenous beliefs before becoming Christians; they were never Hindus. This is only one of many reconversion drives being carried out by the VHP, which is known to use violence and intimidation. (Compass) June 12, 2002 - Gladys Staines husband, Australian missionary Graham Staines, and her two sons were burned to death by a mob of Hindu fundamentalists. On June 12, Gladys made her first appearance at the district court of Orissa and told her testimony. She faced hostile questioning on her role in using the Leprosy Mission to convert people to Christianity. Disturbed by the testimonies, Hindu fundamentalists are working to save prime suspect Dara Singh, hero in the Hindu belt of Orissa. (Compass) June 7, 2002 - Gospel for Asia (GFA) reported that a GFA Bible school student was murdered in Indian controlled Kashmir. IT is believed that local Muslim extremists were responsible for his death. (ANS) May 26, 2002 - The family of a Christian pastor was attacked and beaten up by a gang of 10-12 Hindus in Jharkhand. April 2002 - A Christian pastor in Orissa State is being taken to court for allegedly producing forced conversions. Rev. Niranjan Bardham is being accused by a Hindu fundamentalist group, which claims he gives food and education to poor children to lure them into the Christian faith. Twenty-two children benefiting from Bardhams ministry have become Christians in R. Sitapur and Katalakaitha villages. (Compass Direct) There are many more incidents. Kindly visit the page below. danielpipes.org/comments/40154
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 15:07:31 +0000
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