Sira- Tumkur (Karnataka): Pastor Teekya Naik (33) has been doing the work of his ministry in Sira, Tumkur District in Karnataka, during the last 12 years, ever since 1999. Originally, he belongs to Huvinahadagaly in Bellary District. He had been working as an insurance agent in a private company, and during the last 3 years he has been serving the Lord as a full-timer. He is ably assisted in his work by his wife, Mrs. Bhagyamma (30), an M.A. B.Ed., working as a teacher in a private school. They have two children, Supritha (6), and Sandesh (4). They are living in a rented house which they are also using as their House Church. They have a total membership of about 125 believers, and they have been functioning without any trouble so far. Their house is situated in an area where most of the residents belong to the Lambani community, a community that comes under the SC & ST category in the state.

However, troubles started for the pastor when the pastor purchased a small piece of land and began constructing a house of his own in Ranganathanagar in the outskirts of Sira town, after obtaining the clearance from the Sira Municipality, with some of the funds he had received from his parents who had sold some lands in their native place in Bellary. This, apparent prosperity of the pastor, began causing irritation among his Hindu neighbours among whom quite a number also belong to the sangh parivar outfits. This jealousy, unfortunately, took a different shape subsequently, and they hit upon a plan of chasing the pastor out of the place, if possible. Using this golden opportunity, the sangh parivarists grouped together and planned to mobilize the innocent Lambanis in the area to organize a Protest Rally against the alleged conversions by the Christians. The Rally was organized under the auspices of the Dalitha Samrakshana Samithi, a Committee for the Protection of the Dalits, on Monday, 22-08-2011 in front of Tahsildar’s Office at Sira.
The procession from Shri. Kambada Ranganathswamy Temple, was to culminate in front of Tahsidar’s office. The entire thing seems to have been organized under the overall leadership of the religious head of that community, with the specific purpose of driving terror into the hearts of the Christian believers in the place. The false allegations leveled against the pastor are that he has been getting aid from all sides for his conversion work, and that he is involved in forcible conversions of innocent and backward Hindus to Christianity by offering them all sorts of help.
The resultant effect of the whole exercise was to make the police threaten the Christians in the place, and unfortunately, the Sangh Parivarists seem to have succeeded in their subtle design. The police have, accordingly, threatened the pastor and the believers in Sira, with dire consequences if they did not stop their ministry work in Sira. Also, that except in their own houses, the believers should not gather anywhere else in groups and have their prayer services, and if they fail to follow their instructions strictly, they would be simply arrested and put in the jail. Unfortunately, the sad fact is that the police too seem to have conveniently forgotten under pressure from the saffron brigade that these poor Christians too have their fundamental rights to practice and preach the religion of their choice. Please pray for them.