NEWS BRIEFS

China Aid Association
Recent Incidents of Persecution Karnataka, April 30 (Compass Direct News) — A mob of around 50 Hindu extremists allegedly belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) surrounded a house church the night of April 22 and began shouting derogatory statements at worshippers. Dr. Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said terrified believers at the church in Rajanukunte village, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Bangalore in Karnataka state, shut the doors and phoned local police. Two policemen arrived and took two pastors identified only as Jayaseelan and Daniel of Holy Assembly Church to the police station. En route, a few activists began beating and insulting the pastors and four other believers who had accompanied them, as the police officers looked on. “At the station, the police shouted at the pastors, and the RSS activists who were present made accusations that the pastors were forcibly converting people and inciting the people to stop doing poojas (Hindu rituals) and to remove pictures of Hindu deities from their houses,” George said. The tirade continued until 3 a.m., when the pastors were jailed, not being released on bail until April 25. Inspector Kishore Kumar told Compass the pastors were charged with “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion” and “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.”
Orissa — A mob of 300 Hindu extremists belonging to the Hindu extremist Sangh Parivar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh demolished a Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC) church building in front of the Orissa police and district administration and ransacked a pastor’s house on April 4 in Gunthaput village, Koraput district, in Orissa state. The hired attackers protested construction of a boundary wall around the building, claiming the land didn’t belong to the church.
“The Hindu extremist groups had called for a bandh [strike] in the Koraput District,” said Dr. Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians.
“Around 3 p.m., the JELC building as well as the residential quarters of the Rev. Labi Chetty were ransacked and demolished. Rev. Chetty had to flee to save his life.” While wrecking the church, the extremists raised banners warning Christians that they would not allow any Christian worship center in their village,” George said. Nine persons were later arrested for ransacking the pastor’s house and damaging the church building.
Orissa — Some 10 to 12 Hindu extremists on alleged orders from the Hindu extremist Sangh Parivar assaulted independent pastor Basanta Nayak, 21, of Sujeli village, Phulbani district, in Orissa state on March 27. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said Nayak had organized a prayer and healing service in Sujeli with some 175 people in attendance. Around 9 p.m., the Hindu extremists entered the service, walked up to Nayak and requested him to go with them to pray over a sick man who was too ill to attend, said the GCIC’s Sajan K. George. They took Nayak to a Hindu temple, where 10 more extremists were waiting with wooden clubs. One slapped Nayak and cursed Christianity, making false accusations of forcible conversions at the service, while others struck him with the clubs and denigrated him in foul language. “The Hindu extremists then took Nayak inside the Hindu temple and forced his head to the ground, to apparently bow down before the Hindu idol,” Asit Mohanty, Orissa state coordinator of the GCIC, told Compass. “They told him to say that he denied and rejected Christ and to take an oath not to preach Christ. Nayak, however, insisted that he would only serve the only living God.” The incensed extremists dragged him into a jungle and thrashed him till he was unconscious. The next morning, March 28, he regained consciousness and returned home. He was treated at the Berhampur Medical College hospital. A First Information Report has been filed in the G. Udayagiri Police Station.