A pastor in India and his family were held hostage for several hours by Hindu radicals who accused him of carrying out forced conversions and defacing Hindu idols, police blaming and arresting the pastor afterwards.
At least 328 incidents of persecution against Christians occurred in India in 2019, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) India, though Christian leaders there are expecting more to come in 2020.
Christian children in southern India were beaten by Hindu extremists and the congregation of which their families are a part framed for forced conversions on Jan. 19, as radical groups continue to pressure police to prosecute believers.
A mob of Hindu nationalists attacked a church prayer meeting in West Bengal, India on Dec. 27, destroying the pastor’s car, smashing church windows and sound equipment, and forcing believers to flee the scene.
Hindu extremists attacked a house church pastor at the beginning of January who had been working as a day-laborer to provide for his wife and small children, but now he can barely walk, sustaining not only crippling injuries from the beatings, but also false accusations of bribing people to convert.
A church was virtually demolished and three cars destroyed in India’s Tamil Nadu state on New Year’s eve, leaving a pastor uncertain of his flock’s future but determined to continue his ministry.
Christians in central India accused of illegally practicing medicine spent Christmas Eve and Christmas in jail, later discovering that the charges against them applied to prayers for healing in which they had engaged.
Three Bharatiya Janata Party-affiliated people led an attack on a new prayer hall dedicated to Jesus in India’s West Bengal state Saturday, as a mob of 800 people, mostly non-Christians, surrounded the building’s inauguration ceremony.
A Christian community in Karnataka state, India was prevented from building a church on December 4 and later deprived of drinking water when they went to police, with members now fearing to celebrate Christmas in their town.
In the past 7 days, 8 Christians were attacked in India and charged with forced religious conversions, radicals landing them in prison under an oft-misused law against religious coercion.
New legislation passed in India’s parliament grants citizenship to beleaguered Christian foreigners, among others, but the US Commission on International Religious Freedom says it is a dangerous move.
A Christian pastor in India called to minister to one of the country’s unreached people groups was beaten along with his congregation in November by a Hindu mob.
A group of Indian Christians who suffered in prison for 11 years under false charges were finally released on bail, as advocates claimed they had been scapegoated by Hindu nationalists.
A house church pastor in eastern India was accosted in his home by Hindu extremists while praying, leading to severe injuries for his whole family and accusations of witchcraft.
India’s Jammu and Kashmir state is now shrouded in a 105 day-long internet and communications blackout that has prevented Christians from assembling together without extreme harassment.
Human rights groups and groups that monitor persecution worldwide presented statistics to congress Wednesday testifying to the deterioration of the situation for Christians in India.
A pastor in Nepal is facing a social media firestorm that has caused him to flee his home.
Christians in eastern India marched in protest last month against what leaders are calling retaliatory government harassment for their attempt to protect tribal lands.
Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is reportedly crafting a sweeping national anti-conversion law that would place a ban not only on forced conversions but also on conversions made in good faith.
One of India’s nine states to have passed an anti-conversion law in recent years tightened restrictions last month on the choice Indians have to turn from one religion to another.