A string of separate militant Hindu attacks against Christians in Madhya Pradesh, India over the past week demonstrate the continuing persecution in the area that often goes unpunished by police and local authorities.
(a) On September 12, police in the Jabalpur district detained Assemblies of God pastor Venkatesh Kumar Sadhu after members of the Hindu militant organization, Bajrang Dal, accused him of attempted forced conversion. According to a September 15 report from Compass Direct, Sadhu had been visiting a home in the village of Ghama Thana and praying for a sick family member when the militants arrived. They attacked Sadhu and damaged his scooter. They then filed a complaint against him and had him taken to a local police station for questioning. The police admitted afterwards that Hindu militants were pressuring them to prosecute Christians such as Sadhu.
(b) In a separate incident on September 10, VOMC sources report that members of Bajrang Dal also attacked a church in Mangwan for the second time in three weeks. The attack occurred at 10:00 a.m., while the thirty congregation members were engaged in a prayer and worship service. The Hindu militants told the Christians that there would be a bloodbath if they did not stop, but the congregation continued to worship Christ.
A local Christian reported the incident to higher officials and police but the local authorities claimed that Christians are not legitimate citizens. Hence, even if persecution incidents such as these are reported, police authorities would not likely to come to their aid.
(c) Also on September 10, police arrested Pastor Haroon Jonathan and several other Christian family members in the village of Bhargat after seventy militants interrupted a house church meeting and attacked the congregation. According to the September 15 report from Compass Direct, the attackers dragged Jonathan, his wife, and his in-laws out of the house and had them detained by police under accusations of "hurting religious sentiments, prompting religious animosity and 'forced conversion'" under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act.
The police claim to have a tape recording of Jonathan urging people to get rid of idols and pictures of Hindi deities. A local person claimed that the Christians had encouraged villagers to eat beef (which is forbidden for Hindus) and told people that those who worship Hindu gods and goddesses would die. The four accused Christians have been released on bail.
(d) In another incident on September 10, a mob of about forty Hindu militants attacked approximately fifteen Christians in Balaghat City who were worshipping in the house of a Christian convert, Rekha Bai Kawde. The mob accused the Christians of forcibly converting Hindus and took Kawde and two evangelists - Durga Prasad Vanshpal and a man identified only as Niware - to the police station where they were detained.
Compass Direct reported on September 15 that Kawde was pressured by police to give a statement claiming that the Christians had forcibly converted her and broken Hindu idols. The police apparently threatened to burn her house down and kill her son if she did not do as they asked. At last report, the three arrested Christians are still in jail.
Ask God to give believers throughout Madhya Pradesh the patience to entrust true justice into the hands of God and respond to persecution with kindness, love and prayer (Romans 12:17-21). Thank God for giving the congregation in Mangwan the strength to remain faithful. Pray that they will continue to encourage each other to keep their eyes on their eternal reward (Hebrews 12:1-3). Ask God to give the words that they need to those who are being detained (Matthew 10:19). Pray that God will deliver them from their accusers.
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in India, click here. Various video reports from India are available on VOMC's multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com.
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