India: Hindu Nationalists Attack Local Christians
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News)– Hundreds of Christians were brutally attacked by Hindu nationalists during a Sunday church service last month in India’s Kerala state.
According to International Christian Concern, more than 400 believers — mostly converts to Christianity — gather every Sunday for worship at a community hall in Attingal, Kerala. But on June 14 more than 200 Hindu nationalists interrupted the service by shouting slogans such as “Hail mother India”.
Some Hindus eventually forced their way into the hall and started beating the pastor and his congregation; then they desecrated the communion elements and also damaged the pulpit and the sound system.
Worshippers who fled the hall were assaulted outside where the rest of the Hindus were waiting to ambush them.
Although the police station was only yards away from the community hall, police took 30 minutes to arrive on the scene.
The day after the attack, 500 Christians organized a peaceful protest march in Attingal, but members of a local Hindu nationalist group led a counter protest with placards carrying anti-Christian slogans.
The Hindus further threatened to wipe out any worshippers left in Attingal and burn their pastor alive if they continued to hold Christian worship services.