Just days after reports that 20 Christians were tortured by police in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Hindu extremists attacked two churches in four days.
In central India’s Madhya Pradesh, the extremists forced their way into a private home and beat the Christians inside the home. The town’s police were backing up the extremists during their assault.
The group accused pastor Lal Singh of converting poor Hindus to Christianity in violation of law. After the beatings, the police arrested two of the Christians.
The police also confiscated all the Bibles and other Christian materials in the home as “evidence.”
Then about 45 miles away in Alirajpur District, a dozen extremists shouting anti-Christian slogans tried to break into a church service at Rampura village. About 300 people were in a service as the extremists tried to storm the building.
“They were shouting slogans against Christianity and using abusive language,” said Pastor Kanhaiya Lal, whose church worship site moved from Jobat to the village three years ago. “I had not seen most of them before and think they are from nearby villages, because I do not recognize them as residents from Jobat city.”
Church members stayed in the building and continued to worship until police showed up to remove the extremists.
A city in western India has banned public gatherings after swine flu has killed almost 1,000 people in the last 11 weeks.
Officials in Ahmedabad have banned gatherings of more than 5 people. The city, the capital of Gujarat state, is going to allow funerals and weddings but all participants and attendees must wear protective masks throughout the gathering.
The law used is usually to stop rioting or social disorder.
Gujarat state has the second highest number of deaths in the country from the H1N1 virus. The ban went into place after the assembly speaker and the state health minister both were found to have the virus.
Doctors say the death toll is likely climbing because people are delaying going to hospitals believing it’s just a regular cold and not swine flu.
Federal Health Minister J.P. Nadda said the country has enough medicine to treat cases and the public should not panic.
President Obama spoke to a group in New Delhi and said that it would be perfectly fine for the United States to not have a Christian President.
“In our lives, Michelle and I have been strengthened by our Christian faith. Still, as you may know, my faith has at times been questioned — by people who don’t know me — or they’ve said that I adhere to a different religion, as if that were somehow a bad thing,” Obama said, according to ABC News. “Every person has the right to practice their faith how they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do so free from persecution and fear.”
The President was speaking to the group about the religious divisions in India that have been causing an increase in violence. Christians in India have been demanding the government take action against Hindu extremists that torched or vandalized churches and committed personal attacks on Christians.
Obama also addressed the country’s current struggles with gender equality.
“I’m surrounded by smart women,” Obama said. “Every woman should be able to go about her day — to walk the street, or ride the bus — and be safe and be treated with the respect and dignity.”
International persecution watchdog Open Doors ranks India 21st in countries where Christians face the most severe persecution for their faith.
A Christian man has been jailed in India because of “reasons of public order” despite the fact he has committed no crime.
Police arrested Arvind D’Souza on January 2nd after a group of radical Hindus in Uttar Pradesh began to riot, claiming that D’Souza had been “spreading Christianity.”
The group also said that D’Souza was committing the “forced conversion of women and children through the gift of Bibles.”
Superintendent of Police Amethi Hira Lal told Asia News that he had “found no evidence that D’Souza used force in converting anyone. However, since the fact could undermine public order, they took him into custody in accordance with Article 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and placed him under preventive detention for 14 days.”
The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians called the action a serious violation of human rights.
“This is a trend that is spreading more and more in India,” Sajan George said.
Police in Pilibhit, India say a 10-year-old was tortured and killed as part of a witchcraft ceremony.
Police say that an Indian worker whose goal was to get spirits to allow his wife to get pregnant killed the boy, called Pranshu, in a sugarcane field.
The boy had been missing for two days before his body was found by his father in the field. The family believed at first the child had been attacked and killed by animals until further investigation found the witchcraft connection.
After police had proof from the autopsy of the murder, they questioned the family’s neighbor who was taken into custody for the killing. The man’s wife has also been taken into custody by authorities and is being questioned regarding her role in the murder.
Local officials are teaming with Hindu extremists to attack Christians in India.
Christians in Madota, Bastar District, were summoned to a meeting by local officials to discuss issues related to problems with non-Hindu religions worshipping in the region. When the Christians arrived, no local officials were there, but a mob of Hindu extremists showed up to beat the Christians.
“Some of the injured Christians were admitted in a hospital in Jagdalpur, and some local Christians have also been forced to go into hiding due to the constant threats they received from the right-wing groups,” Bhupendra Kohra told Morning Star News.
The government has banned missionaries and Christians from worshipping in the region.
“The district authorities, along with some right-wing elements, are also pressuring us to withdraw the petition filed in the high court against the ban on the entry of non-Hindu missionaries in Bastar,” said Arun Pannalal, president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum. “Now our writ is pending in the high court. We see this latest attack as a pressure tactic.”
Local officials have said their goal is to stop Chrsitians from being able to discuss their faith with Hindus.
Avalanches have hampered rescue efforts after a massive storm that rocked Nepal.
Over 600 people have been rescued so far from a hiking trail on Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest mountain peak. A massive snowstorm hit the mountain because of a cyclone that struck nearby India.
Rescue workers say today will be their last day to try and save anyone trapped because of avalanches and the storm.
“After this we can only hope that those who are missing will establish contact with us or their families,” said Kesa Paned of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal. “We don’t think that any tourist is missing now. I am getting reports that some local porters and tour guides who were on the trek have not been traced so far.”
The confirmed death toll is at 40. Officials said the dead tourist was an Israeli.
The death toll includes tourists from around the world including Canada, India, Israel, Japan and Poland.
Congregations throughout the Denver, Colorado area area mourning with Grace Community Church who lost their pastor in a tragic accident while on a mission trip.
Pastor Terry Broadwater was in the Himalayas with his son and other church members conducting services. The pastor and the mission team would hike to small towns in the high peaks and minister to the villagers. The church said the pastor apparently slipped during one of the hikes and fell off a cliff.
“It is with extremely heavy hearts we share the news that, as a result of a climbing incident, Pastor Terry Broadwater went to be with the Lord today while on a mission trip to India,” Church leaders said in a statement. “Terry was on the trip with his oldest son and several members of Grace’s leadership and pastoral team. At the time of the accident Terry and the team were in a remote part of the Himalayas.”
“Due to the location, further details are taking time to be developed and efforts in country are being coordinated between Terry’s family, local Indian police, Grace leadership, and the U.S. Embassy in Delhi.”
The trip was said to be a way the pastor melded his passion for hiking and being outdoors with the gospel. He had been married to his wife Jo Ann for 32 years and leaves her behind with three children.
The partial results in India’s national election shows a major landslide victory for opposition leader Narendra Modi, making him the country’s next prime minister.
The election results are causing international observers to be concerned about the future security of the nation as the country’s 138 million Muslims see Modi as an enemy.
Modi, a Hindu nationalist, reportedly was a leader in a region of the country where a 2005 riot led to the deaths of many Muslims. Islamic leaders in the country say that Modi did not do enough to stop the violence and have sworn to do all they can to undermine Modi.
The results seem to show that the BJP party will have total control of the parliament, the first time one party will have complete control without building a coalition since 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
India is on the verge of becoming a major world power as many young India residents are taking their experience with technology and beginning their own tech corporations. The younger residents are also more westernized and then to look at Europe and the U.S. for their inspirations, which will cause disruptions in India’s traditional culture.
Indian officials are evacuating coastlines as Cyclone Helen approaches.
At least 25,000 people have been evacuated and thousands more are expected to leave before the storm makes landfall on Friday.
Cyclone Helen is tracking to hit four districts of India Friday with winds up to 68 miles an hour. The slow moving storm is producing surges of 5 feet already and heavy rainfall is expected to cause flooding in low-lying areas.
Helen is reporting maximum wind gusts of 80 miles per hour.
India’s eastern coast was hit last month by Cyclone Phailin that killed 25 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. Officials say the evacuation of a million people ahead of the storm kept the death toll low.
