A series of recent events in India have intensified concerns for the Christian Church in India. Please take these concerns to the Lord as you pray for the India.
(a) Police joined with local Hindu activists to drive a Christian evangelist from a village in northern India. According to a report from Christian Aid on February 27, Hindu militants threatened him if he didn’t leave and then took him to a local police station, saying he was trying to convert Hindus. The police sided with the militants and he was forced to leave the village.
(b) In the days leading up to elections in four Indian states, the ruling BJP party used Hindu nationalism in an effort to sway the vote, disregarding the concerns of religious minorities. Four measures in particular have raised concerns of Christians in India:
(1) The BJP has struck a deal renewing its relationship with the RSS, an organization dedicated to spreading the Hindu culture and the establishment of India as a Hindu nation and who have often used violence as a means to that end.
(2) A commitment by the BJP to building a Hindu temple on disputed land in Ayodhya. The 16th-century Babri Mosque stood on the site until RSS militants destroyed it in 1992. According to an article in today's Hindustan Times, the Allahabad High Court has ordered excavation to verify if a Ram temple formerly stood on the site in order to determine the rightful owner of the land. The BJP has asked the Muslims to 'gift' the disputed piece of land in the interest of national integration and brotherhood in order that a Hindu temple could be built.
(3) A nationwide ban on the slaughter of cattle, which are considered holy by Hindus.
(4) A national ban on religious conversions, similar to that in Tamil Nadu and other Indian states.
(c) On February 25, Gujarat state government leader Sunder Singh Bhandari introduced the Freedom of Religion Bill to the legislature with a final form of the bill to be decided imminently at a government meeting. Similar bills banning conversions introduced in other states have brought protests by many religious and human rights organizations.
Pray for the Church in India during this time of uncertainty and pressure by governments. Pray that Christians will be free to worship and practice their religion in this country where Christianity has been active for 2000 years.
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