In a brutal attack, a pastor and his family were hunted down with swords and butcher’s knives by a gang of religious goons. This incident took place on the 17th of September 2020 in TaranTaran, a district in the Indian state of Punjab. “We were on our way back from a prayer meeting at around 10 pm, late in the[Read More…]
Loud screams woke up a Pastor and his family from a deep sleep at the dead of night on the 9th of September 2020. Religious fanatics had set his car and the church on fire in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. “At approximately 12:45 am, my father and sister ran outside after hearing the locals yelling and shouting outside[Read More…]
A Christian family was chased away after their home was demolished by local religious fanatics in Chhattisgarh. The fanatics made this move although the family holds all legal documents of ownership of the said property. “*Bhushan, *Bani, and their three children used to live in a 7×9 sq. ft room which belonged to *Bhushan’s parents. When the family accepted Christianity[Read More…]
‘We will shoot you’, ‘Stop religious conversion’ & ‘This is a Hindu Rashtra’. These were the slogans yelled out by a mob of religious fanatics, who stood outside a Church in Rajasthan, India. This incident took place on the 11th of September 2020 at roughly 5:30 pm. “Around 50 men stood outside our gate, creating a huge commotion and threatening[Read More…]
On the 6th of September 2020, a news channel by the name of Pahad TV made a short video about how Christian missionaries from the south have ‘deviously’ come to the north and are ‘in the business’ of converting people there. A group of fanatics, led by a man identified as Gyan Singh Rana is seen threatening a group of[Read More…]
Numerous videos of Christians being persecuted by religious radicals are being widely circulated on social media, with Facebook alone having a network of 33 million users in India. These videos are especially uploaded on groups run by the fanatics themselves and then spread to other social media platforms like twitter and WhatsApp. These videos aim at inciting hatred and defaming[Read More…]
Pr. Sangeeta and her husband Chandra Shekhar Upadhyay were unjustly arrested and imprisoned in Indore a district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, by the Police after the complainant wrongly accused them of forcing her to convert to Christianity. “This is a dishonest accusation. My Mother has been a devout Christian and a faithful Pastor. My parents would never[Read More…]
‘The Grace Prayer House’ was demolished at the dead of night by religious fanatics on the 2nd of September 2020, in Khammam, a district in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The attack is the aftermath of a Police complaint made against the fanatics who have been harassing the Church since 2019. “At around 2:00am, my wife woke up with[Read More…]
A gate was deliberately installed to prevent Christians from visiting a prayer house at a residential and commercial colony in the Indian state of Telangana. Persecution Relief was alerted about the incident on the 31st of August 2020, by *Andrew, a Christian resident of the colony. “Over the past year, the colony members have been purposely creating one issue after[Read More…]
“You Christian’s will never change” said *Inspector Kumar, as he lashed his belt on *Pastor Rupesh’s back. “I am fed up of trying to stop you Christians” he exclaimed. For the next couple of hours, Pr. Rupesh and a fellow believer endured the fury of the Inspector as he mercilessly beat them with a (lathi) wooden rod and his belt.[Read More…]
“What’s all this nonsense going on here?” Two angry religious fanatics yelled at a Pastor’s family, after they forcefully entered their home at around 4pm in the evening and began creating a commotion. The family was shocked and taken aback by the unexpected visit as there was no prayer meeting going on then. “They immediately started accusing us of religious[Read More…]
A Church at a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was completely demolished by religious fanatics at midnight on the 25th of August 2020. The tin roof and fortifications made of bamboo cane were broken down and ruined during the incident. *Pr. Purohit who leads the Church in this village told Persecution Relief that he received the startling[Read More…]
Fabricated Charges leading to the imprisonment of innocent Christians has become increasingly common and is on a steep upsurge. Since 2018, Persecution Relief recorded 194 cases of false charges and arrests made against Christians of which 57 cases were documented in the first half of 2020 alone. Arrests based on ‘forced conversion’ is the most widely used allegation by religious[Read More…]
Sanjeet and Siddharth of PEACE 1 Zone were brutally beaten by Bajrang Dal members near Chatra, when they were invited by a believer to pray for his unwell relative. Mr. Lakhan is a believer of GEMS Church at Garhwa and he took Bro. Sanjeet and Bro. Siddharth on 22nd August 2020, to a village Kharik (which is 7 kms away[Read More…]
An unwarranted attack on a 72-year-old Christian man influenced by a hate speech made on Facebook was reported to Persecution Relief by a source who wishes to stay anonymous. The following is the information we received. *Anand is a faithful leader at our church and conducts weekly cell group meetings at different homes. He is 72 years old and also[Read More…]
Villagers influenced by fanatics have ganged up against a local Church opposing the construction of a Church building at a village in the Indian state of Odisha. They are threatening to demolish the Church building, claiming that it has angered the gods of their village. “The Sarpanch and the villagers were completely aware of the construction work ever since it[Read More…]
A 72-year-old woman, her son and daughter-in-law were mercilessly beaten to a state of unconsciousness by religious fanatics in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The elderly mother was left with a broken hand while the head injuries that her son sustained required stitches. “Early in the morning, on the 14th of August, my mother and wife were busy with[Read More…]
More than 60 Christians including women and children were locked up inside their Church building by a mob of over 50 religious fanatics in Davangere, Karnataka. 2 policemen dressed in civil dress were also present during this mob attack that took place on the 16th of August 2020 at 10:30 am. “Our Church gathered together for the Sunday Worship service[Read More…]
Four Christian women including a minor girl were dragged out on the street and mercilessly beaten up by religious fanatics in the Indian state of Haryana. The severity of the attack was such that it left one woman with a broken leg, one with stitches to her forehead and two others unconscious with severe head and body injuries. “I was[Read More…]
Religious Radicals prevented a bereaved Christian family from burying their dead at a village in Jharkhand. They told the family that they could perform the last rites of 52-year-old *Vilas Singh, if it was done recognizing the religious beliefs of the village. Persecution Relief spoke to the nephew of the deceased, *Ramu Singh. He explained that his late uncle was[Read More…]
In yet another horrific case of Christian persecution, a Christian family was mercilessly beaten up by a mob of raging religious fanatics in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The mob of over 40 fanatics led by the village headman not only assaulted the family but savagely vandalized their home and belongings, falsely accusing the family of converting villagers to Christianity.[Read More…]
In a shocking series of unfortunate events, yet another Pastor was found dead in the Zira Tehsil of Ferozepur, a district that is situated in the Indian state of Punjab. The body of Balwinder Bagicha Bhatti was discovered by a few people by the roadside on the 27th of July 2020. Joseph and Alisha, both Persecution Relief Coordinators of Punjab,[Read More…]
Hate Crimes against Christians in India have risen by an alarming 40.87%, in Spite of the Nation-Wide Lockdown, announces Persecution Relief in its Half Yearly Report of 2020 which was released today. The Report records 293 cases of hate crimes against Christians including 5 rapes and 6 murders. Persecution Relief aims to sound an alarm about the intensifying hostility against[Read More…]
A group of Christians were brutally attacked by a gang of raging religious goons at midnight on the 21st of July 2020. This attack took place in the Indian state of Odisha in a village named Badaguda which features in the district of Koraput. Speaking to Persecution Relief, Pr. Ayuba Khora, the local Pastor said, “The goons broke into the[Read More…]
The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown does not appear to have brought much relief to Indian citizens following the Christian faith. The first half of this year has so far witnessed 121 incidents of violence against Christians in 15 states of India as per the recorded data of New Delhi based United Christian Forum (UCF). The 121 incidents of[Read More…]
Pastor Munsi Deo Tando was abducted and murdered in cold blood near his village named Bhatpar, situated in the Bhamaragad Taluka of the Gadchiroli District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Pastor was conducting a prayer and fasting meeting on Friday, the 10th of July 2020 at 4 pm. He concluded the meeting at around 5:30 pm. “After the[Read More…]
A mob of over 100 religious fanatics attacked a Church at 3pm on the 4th of July 2020 in a village at Dasmada in Azamgarh, a district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The mob broke into the house that belongs to Senior Pastor Sunita Mourya and beat up the church members that were present there, vandalizing the entire[Read More…]
Two young Christian missionaries were abused and assaulted by a mob and taken to the police station in a village named Belgarisin Dhanbad, a district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The attack which took place on the 22nd of June happened at the new coal mine colony in Baliapur CD Block. Speaking to Persecution Relief, Br. Arul Jothi- Founder[Read More…]
Christian women and children were dragged through a village by a raging mob of over 40 religious fanatics on the 19th of June 2020. This act of religious racism took place in Charabari, a village in the district of North 24 Paraganas in West Bengal, India. Pr.T. A.Paul, the President of Berachah Faith Mission told Persecution Relief that the mob[Read More…]
The house of a Christian family was found ransacked in Hadgadwa, a village in the district of Latehar, which features in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Chhatru Munda and ChintamaniDevi returned home to their village, only to find the asbestos sheets which served as a roof, taken off their house and used by a family that lived nearby. With the[Read More…]
A mob of religious extremists severely assaulted a Christian Pastor and his wife in a village named Pinjore in the Panchkula district in Haryana, India. On the 14th of June, a Christian family living in Pinjore requested Pastor Tomy Joseph and his wife, Veena to visit them. Within 5 minutes after reaching the home of the believer, a mob of[Read More…]
A Church building was set ablaze by unknown miscreants in the dead of the night on the 13th of June 2020 in Chengalpattu,district in Tamil Nadu. Pastor Ramesh Jebrajwho who is blind from birth leads the ‘Church of True Peace’ in Chengalpattu said that the Church was burnt to such an extent that the acoustic drum kit, 40 new mats[Read More…]
A 14-year-old Christian boy ,Samaru Madkami, was murdered in cold blood by a group of religious fanatics in the east-Indian state of Odisha. On the night of 4th June, 2020, a few villagers ganged up with a handful of religious fanatics who are not a part of their village and attempted to kidnap 3 Christians explained Pastor Bijay, who serves[Read More…]
A brutal attack by unidentified religious fanatics on May 27, in Mau district in the state of Uttar Pradesh in the Madhuban police station area has confined Pastor Dinesh to the ICU with severe injuries, including 16 stitches on his head and 7 stitches on his arm. After praying at a church member’s home, it had only been a few[Read More…]
On the night of the 20th of May 2020, a group of religious fanatics broke into the homes of 2 Christian families who live in Kokkar Pal Panchayat in Sukma District, Chhattisgarh. The group wielded lathis (wooden clubs) and bows and arrows. At roughly 9pm, the families woke up to a nightmare. A total of 10 people including 5 children[Read More…]
An Interview with Shibu Thomas, Founder, Persecution Relief by K.P Sasi In December 2019, the UK-US based monitoring group Open Doors that publishes an annual World Watch List of 50 countries, ranked India 10th in the world where it is most dangerous to live as a Christian. The report states that political rhetoric and ambiguous interpretations of the[Read More…]
The home of a Christian was mysteriously set on fire, endangering the lives of the entire family. On the fateful night of the 15th of May, *Nandu and his family woke up to the smoke and loud screams of “fire”! They had only fallen off to sleep a couple of hours ago not expecting to wake up to a nightmare.[Read More…]
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This article is based on the 25th Chandrashekar Memorial Lecture delivered on 20 September 2020. The original lecture was delivered in Hindi and the event was organized by Punashcha, the Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA) and Koshish. Friends, comrades gathered here; I am very honoured to be invited to deliver the Chandrashekhar Memorial Lecture this year but I cannot say[Read More…]
