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‘I have set your Jesus ablaze’: 2 pastors beaten by radical Hindus who set fire to Bible in attack
A dozen Hindu nationalists harassed and beat up two pastors and set fire to a Bible one was carrying after accusing them of converting people to Christianity by offering money, according to a report.
The pastors, identified as Sanjay Kumar and Inderjit, were in the northern Indian state of Haryana returning home after visiting a Christian family for prayers on the roof of their home in the Anand Nagar area of Ambala Cantonment when the mob, which included women, attacked them, Morning Star News reported about the Jan. 28 attack.
The pastors were accused of receiving foreign funds and offering money to people in an attempt to get them to convert.
Visibly hostile, some people in the mob filmed the pastors while questioning them in coarse language without letting them answer, Pastor Kumar was quoted as saying.
Sanjay Rana, a neighbor and member of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal, was leading the mob, he said.
Rana seized Pastor Inderjit’s driver’s license and Pastor Kumar’s ID card, and then the mob began punching and slapping them. They also snatched the Bible from Kumar’s hand.
“Their beating did not pain me as much as the snatching of my Bible did,” Pastor Kumar said. “I began to weep. I said, ‘This is my Bible … this is my Jesus. Please give my Bible back to me. A woman and a man from the crowd using a matchbox burned my Bible, and she sarcastically exclaimed, ‘See, I have set your Jesus ablaze.’”
The mob then tried to force the pastors to recite a devotional hymn in praise of the Hindu god Hanuman and attempted to abduct the pastors and take them to a Hindu temple to force them to bow before idols, Pastor Kumar said. “They began to force us to enter their car. When we resisted firmly, they said, ‘Let’s call the police.”
Pastor Inderjit said he was glad at the possibility of police arriving and ending the 90 minutes of physical and mental abuse. As Pastor Kumar was dizzy due to the beating, one of the assailants said they should let them go, and the two pastors fled.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, attacks on Christians have increased and intensified.
While Christians make up only 2.3% of India’s population and Hindus comprise about 80%, there has been an uptick in radical Hindu nationalist attacks on religious minorities.
With 486 incidents of violence against the Christian community in India, 2021 was the “most violent year” for Christians in the country’s history, according to the United Christian Front.
In its report, the United Christian Front noted that in nearly all cases reported nationwide, “vigilante mobs composed of religious extremists have been seen to either barge into a prayer gathering or round up individuals that they believe are involved in forcible religious conversions.”
The watchdog group Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, reports that “Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences.”
“Hindu extremists believe that all Indians should be Hindus and that the country should be rid of Christianity and Islam,” an Open Doors fact sheet on India explains. “They use extensive violence to achieve this goal, particularly targeting Christians from a Hindu background. Christians are accused of following a ‘foreign faith’ and blamed for bad luck in their communities.”
Sources:Christian Post
ഫെയ്ത്ത് ഗോസ്പൽ മിഷന്റെ ആഭിമുഖ്യത്തിൽ നടത്തപ്പെടുന്ന ഹൈറേഞ്ചിന്റെ സുവിശേഷ സംഘമമായ 24-ാത് മുനിയറ ബൈബിൾ കൺവൻഷന് അനുഗ്രഹ സമാപ്തി. 2025 ഫെബ്രുവരി 18 ന് വൈകിട്ട് 5.30 മുതൽ 9.30 വരെ മുനിയറ അങ്കണവാടിയ്ക്ക് സമീപം വച്ച് നടന്ന മുനിയറ കൺവൻഷൻ പാസ്റ്റർ ഷാജി ഇടുക്കി ഉത്ഘാടനം നിർവഹിച്ചു. ഫെയ്ത്ത് ഗോസ്പൽ മിഷൻ പ്രസിഡൻ്റ് പാസ്റ്റർ ജയ്മോൻ അദ്ധ്യക്ഷത വഹിച്ചു. സമീപ പ്രദേശങ്ങളിലുമുള്ള സഭകളുടെയും ദൈവദാസൻമാരുടെയും ആത്മീയ പ്രവർത്തനമാണ് ഫെയ്ത്ത് ഗോസ്പൽ മിഷൻ. പാസ്റ്റർമാരായ പ്രിൻസ് തോമസ് റാന്നി, സജു ചാത്തന്നൂർ , അനീഷ് കാവാലം എന്നീവർ പ്രസംഗിച്ചു. ഫെയ്ത്ത് ഗോസ്പൽ സിoഗേഴ്സ് മുനിയറ ഗാനശുശൂഷയ്ക്ക് നേതൃത്വം നൽകി. പാസ്റ്റർ ബെന്നി മത്തായി (സെക്രട്ടറി ) പാസ്റ്റർ റ്റിജി സി.സി (ഖജാൻജി) ബ്രദർ ജോർജ് ഇ.സി (വൈസ് – പ്രസിഡന്റ്) ബ്രദർ അനീഷ് എൻ.എ (ജോ.സെക്രട്ടറി) കമ്മിറ്റി അംഗങ്ങ’ൾ ബ്രദർ സണ്ണി റ്റി.ഒ, ബ്രദർ ജോൺ സി.സി, ബ്രദർ പത്രോസ്, ബ്രദർ ഷിജു കുര്യൻ. എന്നിവർ നേതൃത്വം നൽകി.
Sources:gospelmirror
India — As of this week, a newly enacted anti-conversion law requires people in India’s Rajasthan state to give two months’ notice to the government if they plan to change their religion voluntarily.
Further, the “converter,” or the person performing the conversion ceremony, must also give the government a month’s notice of his intention to perform the ceremony.
The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, has made the procedures for conversions exhaustive and lengthy to stop unlawful conversions. Failure to involve government authorities in voluntary religious conversions could lead to up to three years in jail and a minimum fine of 10,000 rupees ($115).
The new law states that a prescribed declaration form should be submitted to the District Magistrate (DM) or the relevant authority 60 days before the person wants to convert voluntarily.
If the converter violates the law, it could lead to up to five years imprisonment and a minimum fine of 25,000 rupees ($289).
An officer not below the rank of Additional DM will “get an inquiry conducted through police with regard to real intention, purpose, and cause of the proposed religious conversion.”
Then, within 60 days of conversion, the converted person must send a declaration in a prescribed form to the DM. A copy of this declaration must be displayed on the notice board of the DM’s office until the date of confirmation.
Finally, the convert must appear before the DM within 21 days of filing the declaration to establish their identity and confirm the declaration’s contents.
According to lawmakers, unlawful religious conversions through coercion, force, allurement, or fraud, with allurement including cash, material benefits, employment, free education, and even inter-religious marriages, are taking place. This law aims to curb these so-called malpractices.
The anti-conversion law states that the burden of proof lies on the person who has “caused” the conversion. This is a reversal of the principle of assumption of innocence, which normally applies to the accused person in a criminal case.
Rajasthan joins 11 other Indian states that have passed anti-conversion laws. These include Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
Various offenses under the law are cognizable and non-bailable, which could result in harassment of innocent individuals, says Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), which has long acted as a safeguarding organization for the human rights of Indian citizens.
Sources:persecution
Bangalore – All Peoples Church (APC) is excited to announce the Chrysalis: Preparing for Marriage Workshop, scheduled for February 22, 2025. This workshop is designed to help couples build a strong foundation for their future together.
The workshop will cover various aspects of marriage, including communication, conflict resolution, financial planning, and spiritual growth. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from experienced speakers and engage in interactive sessions that provide practical tools and insights for a successful marriage.
Sources:christiansworldnews
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