Wed, 17/03/2010 - 8:32pm Bishop and Christian believers seek bail in alleged conversion case

Satna(Madhya Pradesh)17th March-2010

Church people, including a bishop, yesterday sought anticipatory bail after police booked them for violating a central Indian state’s law on religious conversion.Global council of Indian Christians(GCIC) urges all sections of society to persuade Madhy Pradesh government to roll back the reprehensible anti conversion law, successfully used to blunt the social engineering by the church for the poor

Bishop Mathew Vaniakizhakkel of Satna, a diocese in Madhya Pradesh state, has dismissed the case against him, two priests, a nun and two laypeople as “totally fabricated.”

The bishop said today that the case is “part of a motivated campaign against the Church for its role in helping the weaker sections of society.”

Police registered the case under non-bailable sections of the state’s stringent anti-conversion law after one Christopher Pavy, a Christian, complained that a woman converted to Catholicism before her marriage in May 2009.

Pavy also sought action against the bishop and others under the state law that forbids conversion through force or allurement.

However, the woman’s brother, Nand Kishore, says the charge is false as “ours is a strong Catholic family.” Kishore, who is a lawyer, informed that his family attends Church services regularly. “My sister’s marriage was done according to our Christian tradition,” he added.

The bishop said the Church baptizes only the children of Catholics, “hence, the question of conversion does not arise at all.”

Father Jolly Konnukodan, assistant parish priest of Satna’s St. Vincent Cathedral, told UCA News that the Church applied for anticipatory bail since it took the case seriously.

The priest said the police had already investigated the case after they received a similar complaint soon after the woman’s marriage.

This was corroborated by police officer Shashank Garg, who probed the case earlier. “There was no merit in the case,” he told UCA News.

Father Konnudkodan regretted that “vested interests use the case to harass us regularly.”

On March 11, two days after Pavy filed the case, some Hindu radicals tried to vandalize the cathedral but police foiled that attempt.

Sacred Heart Sister Pauly, who is among the accused, expressed shock over the case. “I am engaged in educating children and not in any conversion activities as alleged,” the principal of Christ Jyoti Senior Secondary School informed.

Tue, 16/03/2010 - 11:34am Deliberate Attempts by RSS to Stop Christian Meeting in Madhya Pradesh

Badhwani District, Madhya Pradesh: Pastor Tara Chand along with his fellow pastors conducted a peaceful Christian meeting on the12th march 2010. More than 2000 believers assembled for the meeting. The meeting was interrupted by a mob of more than 150 led by Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva outfits. They raided the Christian meeting held at Babdad Tehsil village, Badhwani District and stopped the meeting by shouting slogans of Jai Shri Ram and accused the pastors of forced conversion. The RSS leaders threatened the Pastor’s to stop the meeting. The accusation went for more than an hour before they dispersed from the premises.
The next day, the RSS men returned with more accusations and demanded for a Panchayat meeting to be held at the village. Pastors were threatened and forbidden to conduct any more Christian meetings in the future. They are making life miserable for all the Christians residing in that village.
Please pray for the Pastors and the believers in Badhwani District. Pray that God will protect these believers and grant them peace and courage as they face these challenges.

Tue, 02/03/2010 - 5:35pm Pastor and believers arrested in Chattisgarh

Pastor and believers arrested in Chattisgarh
Kawarda, Chattisgarh: On 28th February 2010, Pastor Jose Thomas organized a felicitous meeting in the Holy Kingdom School premises in kawarda. Around 40 persons gathered for the meeting. The formal meeting started at 10:30 am and ended at 1:00 in the afternoon.
At around 2:00 -2:30 pm, a mob of 50 RSS men barged into the school, insulting all Christian and falsely accusing the Pastors of forcefully converting the parents into Christianity.
False complaints were filed against the Pastors at the Kawarda Police Station. Later, the police arrived and arrested Pastor Jose Thomas, Brother Alexander, Pastor Moses, Khalku, Pashtu and Siyaram based on the false complaints filed by the RSS. Khalku, Pashtu and Siyaram were ill-treated and beaten at police station.
All the above men including the all pastors are detained at the Kawarda Jail.

Latest Update

Pastor Jose Thomas and the other believers who were detained at the Kawarda Jail based on the false charges were released on the 9th march 2010.

Mon, 18/01/2010 - 2:57pm Pastor and Believers Brutally Attacked in Udaipur, Rajasthan

Udaipur, Rajasthan: On 17th January 2010, Pastor Surajith Bhagari (55) and believers were viciously attacked by an RSS mob.

Pastor Surajith Bhagari was conducting a pray fellowship at the Faith Calvary Church, Tidi Village which is 60 kms from Udaipur. 30 believers gathered at the Church that Sunday .During the fellowship at around 11:00pm, a mob of 20 RSS men barged into the house church and violently beat up pastor and the believers with lathies.

10 men were seriously injured and are admitted at the hospital. 3 of them have been reported to have severe head injuries including pastor Surajith Bhagari. While the rest of the believers have fled and are reported missing.

A case is filed at the Govardhan villa Police Station against the perpetrators.

Pastor Surajith Bhagari (55) has been in the ministry for the past 20 years and is currently the pastor of Faith Calvary Church. He is married to Laxhmi and is blessed with two children of age 10 and 17.

Please pray for Pastor Surajith Bhagari and for all the believers.

Fri, 01/01/2010 - 8:50am Persecution Attacks From January to December 2009

Persecution attacks From January to December 2009

1 Karnataka 72
2 Andhra Pradesh 24
3 Orissa 18
4 Madhya Pradesh 18
5 Chattisgarh 8
6 Maharashtra 8
7 Kerala 6
8 Tamil Nadu 7
9 Kashmir 3
10 Uttar Pradesh 3
11 Delhi 2
12 Haryana 2
13 Bihar 1
14 Punjab 1
15 Goa 1
16 Gujarat 1
17 Assam 1
18 Manipur 1

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Total attack in India 177
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Thu, 19/11/2009 - 12:57pm Pastor and believers assaulted in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh, 19th November 2009: Pastor Anjal Kumar Netam (35) his wife Sonam (30) and Church Believer Mr. Dhanshu (34) were assaulted on 1st November 2009, at around 9:30 am during the service conducted in the church at Fuka Girola village, Chattisgarh, which is 30 kilometers away from Konda town and 250 kilometers from Raipur. A mob of 50 Hindu radicals from various extremist’s groups like the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena disrupted the church service by shouting slogan of Jai Shri Ram. They criticized the Christian believers of their beliefs and falsely accused them of forced conversion.

Christian believer, Mr. Dhanshu was selected at random by the mob and beaten viciously thus causing his left ear to bleed. Pastor Anjal Kumar seeing this came forward to resolve the matters with the Hindu fanatics by peacefully talking to them. This aggravated the extremist and they beat up pastor and threatened to kill him. Terrified pastor’s wife Sonam came to rescue pastor but she was not spared, they slapped her, they snatched away her son (1) from her arms and threw him aside. Pastor Anjal Kumar was beaten for more than an hour. They tore his shirt, snatched the gold chain he was wearing and robbed 3000 Rs from his purse. Pastor Anjal Kumar was seriously injured and suffers from serious internal injuries.

Ashutosh Pandey (37), head of Bajrang Dal group filed a complaint against the believers to the Konda police station .The police arrived and took pastor, his Wife Sonam and his son to the station.

Pastors from Jagdalpur got the permission from the police to take Pastor Anjal Kumar to the RNT Hospital in DNK colony in Konda Town. Pastor was in the hospital for a week and 5 days later the police took Anjal report.

Please pray for Pastor Anjal Kumar and his family.

Tue, 17/11/2009 - 4:17pm Pastor brutally attacked, left ear cut off, Madhya Pradesh

Jhabua District, Madhya Pradesh : On 5th Oct 2009, six Bajrang Dal extremists viciously brutally attacked Pastor Paul Ninama and cut his left ear off after thrashing him with sticks in Pipal Khota Choti village Kajali Dugari P.O Meghnagar, Jhabua Dist, Madhya Pradesh.

At around 4:00 p.m. on 5th October 2009 Pastor Paul Ninama (45) who works for Zion Ministeries went to a village called Mal Falia near his village where 30 people were attending a prayer meeting. On his way back home when he was about 500 mts away, six Bajrang Dal men were waiting for the pastor. They called out to him in Hindi saying, “Servant of the Lord, come here!” They asked him to sit down.

As soon as the Pastor sat down, they started hitting him with a stick and with their fists injuring his left hand greviously. They kicked him and didn’t let him get up off the ground. Then, one of the men took a sharp knife, while the others held the pastor down, and he slashed Pastor Paul’s ear and stabbed him near his ear. Pastor Paul screamed in excruciating pain and called for help. A lady who happened to witness the incident joined with the pastor and screamed for help. Soon a couple of villagers came and managed to nab one of the attackers, Ramesh Khumcha (35).

Pastor Paul made his way back home and then went to the Meghnagar Police Station. He was later taken to a private hospital where he was treated for two days. After this, he was transferred to Baroda, Gujrat to a pivate hospital called Naik Hospital where he stayed for 12 days.

Meanwhile, the attacker Ramesh was released two days later on bail. Right wing extremist groups, RSS and VHP have appointed many people in the Jhabua area to investigate Christian ministries and attack them.

Pastor Paul continues to suffer from great pain in his ear and the area that was stabbed near the ear. The cut was deep and there is a lot of puss in the area.

Please pray for Pastor Paul’s full recovery and for the safety of his wife Bondi (32) and their 7 children.