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

----------------------------------------------------------
Total attack in India 177
----------------------------------------------------------

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.

Tue, 17/11/2009 - 8:48am The Uttar Pradesh State Minority Commission sought a police report over Church attack

PTI Monday, November 16

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh State Minority Commission today sought a police report over attack on a church in Pratapgarh district.

Commission chairman SMA Kazmi asked the superintendent of police, Pratapgarh, to submit a report within three weeks in this connection, official sources said.

According to a complaint lodged with the Commission by Reverend Joju Mathew of the church at Bhavbachch Patti village, about 180 kms from here, anti-social elements had attacked the place of worship recently.

The 'cross' was destroyed and inflammatory slogans were written on the doors and walls of the church. They also dug up the land purchased by it, the source said. Though the incident was taken up with the Devsara police station, no action was taken in this connection, the complaint said.

Wed, 11/11/2009 - 5:34pm Believers beaten up in Chattisgarh

Chattisgarh : During a prayer session conducted in Mr. Telchands residence a believer who lives in Beedi colony at Yadunandan Nagar, Chattisgarh, 8 km away from the Bilaspur railway station, a mob of 150 Hindu fundamentalists from various extremist groups like the Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and Dharam Sena barged into the house and attacked Christian believers on 8th November 2009, at around 8:30 pm. They dragged Kesboram Bhagel (33) a believer out of the house, brutally attacked and humiliated him by kicking him repeatedly with their shoes and sandals.

On 8 November 2009 believer Kesboram Bhagel and his sister-in-law Sangeetha Daniel (24) went to visit Mr. Telchands and his family. Telchands had personally invited Kesboram to come and pray for his son, who was seriously ill. During the prayer session about 150 Hindu fundamentalists barged into the house and started shouting slogans of “Jai Shree Ram” and abusing the believers. As a result of the beatings Kesboram received, he has suffered serious internal injuries, according to medical reports.

Local people staying in Beedi colony witnessed the incident and informed the nearby police station. However the police were helpless for hours, as the Hindu fanatics stood guard. At 10:10 pm they were able to rescue the believers from the mob and take them to the Civil Lines Police Station. A complaint was filed against the believers. The believers were released at 3:30 am that same night.

Kesboram Bhagel is a believer of the Indian Pentecostal Church (IPC) and works in the High Court as a clerk. Kesboram is married to Tabitha Bhagel (31) and has three children, a daughter (12) and two sons (10 and 7).

Please pray for the full recovery of Kesboram and for the safety of his family.