Date:                March 21, 2007

by Vishal Arora and Nirmala Carvalho

Jammu and Kashmir, March 21 (Compass Direct News) – A group of masked, suspected Islamist militants on March 6 beat a Christian pastor with steel rods and wooden sticks in Kupwara district of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. Pastor Ashir Uddin of Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) was returning home after attending a prayer meeting in Rikwaza village, SVM’s Paul Ciniraj Mohammad told Compass. The militants beat Uddin until he fell unconscious; one of his legs was broken. Local villagers who found him on the street rushed him to a hospital. Police registered a case against “unidentified people.” Ciniraj Mohammad said Uddin has been working there for three years and enjoyed good relations with locals but would be moved from the area as he and his family were no longer safe in Kupwara. – VA

Karnataka – One of three unidentified men on March 11 hit a pastor with a cricket stump – the three, 28-inch high wooden posts stuck into the ground at each end of a cricket pitch – in Bangalore, the capital of the southern state of Karnataka. Massek Matthew, pastor of an independent church, was attacked at about 10:15 p.m. on March 11 as he was returning from a Christian meeting in Chokkasandra, in the Peenya Dasarahalli area of northern Bangalore, said Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians. Three men in a motorized rickshaw chased Matthew down after he had stopped to fill his scooter with fuel. On a dark stretch of road, one of the men got down from the rickshaw and hit Matthew on the head with the cricket stump, which did him little harm as he was wearing a helmet. As he fled, though, the attackers hit and injured his back. Pastor Matthew drove to a nearby restaurant for safety and later went to a relative’s house for the night. He could not identify any of the attackers and did not report the incident to police, but George said Pastor Matthew’s work of planting a church in Cholanayakanahalli village in Bangalore, Bethesda Prayer Hall, had aroused hostilities. – VA

Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists allegedly belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal beat Pastor Binoy Kuriakose, 30, of Indian Gospel Church and two other believers on March 6 as they were distributing Christian literature in Sailana village, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Ratlan, in Madhya Pradesh state. Dr. Sajan K George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said 17 to 20 Hindu extremists were severely beating two of nine Christians distributing literature when Pastor Kuriakose called police – making him the next target of the extremists’ fury. “The RSS and Bajrang Dal activists slapped and abused me in foulest language and struck me repeatedly on my head,” Pastor Kuriakose told Compass. Police arrived soon after, stopped the thrashing and took Pastor Kuriakose and the other Christians to the police station – where nearly 65 RSS and Bajrang Dal extremists had gathered. “The police advised me not to register a complaint, as this would anger the RSS and Bajrang Dal activists,” Pastor Kuriakose said. – NC

Rajasthan – Three armed villagers struck one pastor with an iron rod and another with a brick on March 7 in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan state. Pastors Reginald Howell and Sat Nam from the Good Shepherd Community Church in PunjabNam on the head with a brick, and he too started bleeding. Police arrived later but did not register a complaint. The Evangelical Fellowship of India, the All India Christian Council and the Global Council of Indian Christians expressed concerns over the attack. Rajasthan, which is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has long been hostile to Christians. – VA state had gone to Hanumangarh for a healing prayer meeting hosted by local Christians. “The three men, one of whom was carrying a revolver, first came in the morning and tried to attack me with an iron rod, but I managed to escape,” Pastor Howell told Compass. The attackers left but returned in the evening and hit Pastor Howell with an iron rod in his back, sending him tumbling to the ground with his back injured and his nose starting to bleed. The attackers then hit Pastor

Madhya Pradesh – Police in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state on March 16 arrested two young pastors after local people filed a complaint charging the pastors had hurt their religious feelings. Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told Compass that the police of Chenapur police station arrested the independent pastors, Juan Singh Sesobia, 24, and another identified only as 25-year-old Thogabai, for “outraging religious sentiments.” Superintendent of Police Rakesh Gupta told Compass that the two had insulted the Hindu religion. The Christians were later released on bail. A local sub-inspector told George that a higher police official had ordered the arrest. According to a 2006 India Report on Human Rights Practices released by the U.S. State Department, at least 28 people were arrested under the state anti-conversion law between July 2005 and June 2006. “The government machinery (ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party) in Madhya Pradesh is orchestrated by radical Hindu groups, which intimidate the tiny Christian population on a regular basis,” George said. – VA

Karnataka – Unidentified Hindu extremists launched an attack on a pastor and his brother on March 16 in Bhelahalli village in Bangalore, the capital of the southern state of Karnataka. John Selvan, a 29-year-old independent pastor, and his 24 year-old brother, Vijay Selvan, were attacked at about 9:15 p.m. while they were returning from a prayer meeting in Bhelahalli, Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told Compass. A group of about 40 men, armed with sticks and axes, stopped their motorcycle and started beating them. They first released the pastor, saying they would not let his brother go until he brought the senior pastor of his church to them. After some time, however, they released the pastor’s brother too, after warning him against holding church services in the area. The victims did not suffer serious injuries. Christians say the incidence of anti-Christian attacks has increased in the state since the Janata Dal-Secular party, in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party, took power from the Congress Party in February 2006. – VA