India Christian Couple Attacked Over Rituals Refusal
A Christian couple and their three children are reportedly homeless in India’s western Jharkhand state for refusing to abandon their in Christ and accept tribal rituals.
India
India Christian persecution: Violent mob attacks prayer meeting in private home
A violent mob of around 70 people attacked a prayer meeting in a private home in India’s Chhattisgarh state Monday, destroying property, assaulting those gathered, and hospitalizing at least six believers with serious injuries, CSW reports. Chhattisgarh is one of nine states with controversial anti-conversion laws that are often used to harass and intimidate religious minorities from sharing their faith.
India Persecution: Tribal animist relatives persecute Christian mother of four
Enraged by her new faith in Christ, the tribal animist relatives of a mother of four in central India have banished her from their village and barred her from harvesting the crop she needs to feed her family, Morning Star News reports.
India: Christian leaders criticize repressive anti-conversion law
Christian leaders in India’s Uttar Pradesh state have publicly criticized a new bill that oppressively restricts and regulates conversion from one faith to another, International Christian Concern reports. Passed on February 24 by the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the new bill violates Article 25 of India’s constitution, which provides that citizens have the right to profess, practice, and propagate the religion of their choice.
India: Christian couple refuse to renounce faith in face of death threats and banishment
A husband and wife who refused to renounce their new-found faith in Christ have been banished and threatened with death if they return to their village home in India’s Odisha state, International Chrisitan Concern (ICC) reports. Jaga Padiami and his wife were driven from their home in the Malkangiri municipality after becoming Christians in December 2020.
India: Hindu nationalists attack separate church gatherings on same day; pastor arrested
Two Christian congregations in central India were attacked on the same day by around 100 radical Hindu nationalists who stormed each of their worship gatherings on February 7, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. While there are no reports of the attackers being arrested, the pastor of one of the churches attacked was arrested and detained before being released on bail.
Indian state begins arresting Christians and Muslims under new anti-conversion law
The central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh registered 23 cases against Christians and Muslims in the first 23 days of the country’s newest and most severe anti-conversion law, International Christian Concern reports. The government of Madhya Pradesh is dominated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the current ruling party in India.
India: Seven Christian families displaced for refusing to recant faith
Seven Christian families in India’s Odisha state have now been driven from their village after they built a small house in which to gather for worship last October, International Christian Concern reports.
Hindu nationalists attack Christian church in south India
Hindu nationalists carried out another attack on Christians in southern India on January 31, International Christian Concern reports. Six of the twenty-eight Christians who were injured in the attack in the Ramnagara District of Karnataka required hospital treatment.
India: Christians persecuted even during lockdown in 2020
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has reported that, even in the midst of coronavirus lockdowns affecting the whole country for months, there were over 300 incidents of religious persecution against Christians in India last year, International Christian Concern said. In its report, EFI noted that Christian persecution has more than doubled since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and his right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.
India: Hindu nationalist leader threatens violence unless local authorities shut all churches in tribal areas
A Hindu nationalist leader in India’s Madhya Pradesh state has demanded that local authorities shut down all churches in the state’s tribal areas, falsely claiming that Christians are carrying out mass conversions on “gullible indigenous peoples,” International Christian Concern reports. Head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Azad Prem Singh threatened violent action if his January 11 demand is not met within 30 days.
India: First Christians arrested and jailed under anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh state
The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has charged and jailed its first Christians under a new anti-conversion law, International Christian Concern reports. A Korean Christian and three Indian nationals in the Gautam Buddh Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh were arrested under the new Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance on December 19, 2020.
India: Christian persecution expected to intensify in 2021
A new report forecasts that Christians in India will be subject to increased persecution in 2021, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
India: Hindu extremists lock Pastor in room and leave him to die as punishment for sharing the Gospel
A pastor in northeast India has been rescued after a gang of radical Hindus locked him in a room and left him to die because he was distributing Gospel tracts, Morning Star News reports. Pastor Shelton Vishwanathan was accosted by six men who knocked him unconscious and imprisoned him in a room in Bihar state’s Sheohar District on October 5.
India: Tribal animists attack and hospitalize Christians at child-dedication gathering
Twenty-one Christians were taken to hospital after a large gang of tribal animists attacked a church hall and adjoining home in Chhattisgarh state, India last week, Morning Star News reports. The attackers accused the believers of influencing and converting people to Christianity. Several Christian families have gone into hiding since the attack.
High court in India orders safe return of Christians displaced by Hindu extremists
A high court in India has ordered the district administration of Kondagaon to facilitate the safe return of Christians who were displaced from their villages by radical Hindu nationalists in Chhattisgarh state, Assist News reports. The order was issued by Bilaspur High Court on November 8.
Tribal animists drive Christians out of their homes in India
Thousands of tribal animists invaded three villages in Chhattisgarh, India last week, driving Christians out their homes in violent assaults, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. The attacks took place on September 22-23 by agitators believed to have been incited by Hindu extremists.
Report: ‘India Sees ‘Horrific Attacks’ Against Christians’
An advocacy group reports “horrific attacks” against minority Christians in India at a time when critics claim the government is turning the country into a full-fledged Hindu nation.
India Police Denies Christian Teenager Killed For Faith
Police in India’s eastern state of Odisha denied Wednesday that a Christian teenager was killed for his faith in Christ.
Thousands Of Christians Fearful As India Faces 12th Anniversary Of Deadly Attacks
The 12th anniversary of one of India`s deadliest attacks against Christians is marked by concerns that thousands have not yet returned to their homes for fear of reprisals. Additionally, authorities are declining to investigate hundreds of cases, religious rights investigators told Worthy News.