Gospel For Asia founder K.P. Yohannan reports that Hindu violence against Christians in India has spread from Orissa (state) to Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and normally serene Kerala. Indian Christians have come to expect recurring episodes of violence from Hindu extremists, but the recent attacks have been bloodier and have lasted longer than the usual spasms.
One irritant is Christian success at evangelizing and lifting the spirits of so-called Untouchables, to whose deference and slave-like service many higher-caste Hindus feel entitled. Another factor was the Maoist assassination, blamed on Christians by Hindu news media, of an extremist Hindu leader in Orissa.
Violence against Christians Rages in India
Rebel groups continue to burn and loot churches and attack Christians in Orissa and Karnataka, India, while new attacks are being reported in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. While the attacks continue, the death toll among believers continues to rise as they struggle to survive in refugee camps where access to clean water and safe food is severely limited.
New Attacks in Uttar Pradesh
The latest report of violence came September 16 in Uttar Pradesh, a state in north central India, when four GFA missionaries were attacked while handing out tracts. Hindu extremists confronted the missionaries, grabbed their cell phones and used them to make threatening phone calls to the GFA state office. They vehemently told the men to "stop converting Hindus into Christianity" and mercilessly beat the missionaries.
A missionary school in Kerala was also attacked September 15, according to a report issued by the Evangelical Fellowship of India.
Orissa in Crisis
The situation is even grimmer in Orissa, where Hindu radicals have been on a rampage since August 22. This week, a mob estimated to be 500 people attacked a police station, killing one officer and taking several others hostage. The BBC reports that the incident is thought to be in retaliation for police opening fire on a group of Hindu protestors over the weekend. Four people died, and many others were injured in the ensuing melee.
The protestors were reported to have been on a rampage burning down homes and prayer halls in the village of Kurtamgarh. When police tried to disperse the crowd, someone in the group fired a shot and injured an officer. Police say they were forced to open fire to control the situation.
Attacks against Christians in Orissa were commonplace, but they intensified into an organized ethnic cleansing in late August after a prominent, vocal anti-Christian Hindu leader was murdered. The Maoists have repeatedly claimed responsibility for his death, but a radical fringe of his followers blamed Christians as an excuse to incite a violent rampage of burning and looting churches and burning Christians.
It is estimated that more than half of the 100,000 Christians in the state's Kandhamal district are now homeless. At least 20 people have been killed in the violence. Several Gospel for Asia missionaries are missing.
Thousands of Christians are living in relief camps or hiding out in Orissa's dense jungles. Even if the violence stopped today, they would not be able to leave their temporary shelters. Their homes have been destroyed—burned to the ground in most cases—and they have been told by their fellow villagers that they are not welcome to return to the community.
The situation in the relief camps is horrifying, according to GFA leaders.
"People are dying in the relief camps because of contaminated food and water," one leader said. "The militants are trying to stop relief from getting to the Christians. They are even coming into the relief camps torturing the people and taking away the supplies."
A GFA missionary stands in front of the charred doors of his church. Hindu extremists tried to burn it down, but the fire was put out before it spread to the rest of the building.
The leader said there has been one positive ray of hope in the midst of the carnage.
"The churches are coming together in unity. And it is only when the Christians come together in unity and prayer that anything will change," he said. "Our real fight is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual things that we cannot see. But we can only deal with it through prayer and waiting upon the Lord."
Karnataka Protests
The city of Mangalore, in Karnataka on India's west coast, remains on a near shutdown as people protest the recent attacks on Christians and their places of worship. The Hindu extremists have attacked congregations three Sundays in a row. A Gospel for Asia missionary serves as pastor of one of the churches that was attacked on Sunday, September 14. The church was ransacked and set on fire, but the fire was put out before any significant damage could be done.
The rebels have also made numerous terroristic threats against churches throughout the state.
More than 50 people have been arrested in relation to the attacks, but this has not stopped the violence. Churches in Karnataka are now meeting under serious threats.
GFA missionaries in these areas shared the following prayer request:
Pray for continued unity among Christians.
Ask the Lord to send provision to the people hiding in the jungles and living in relief camps.
Pray for protection of the missionaries and their families who are being targeted by the extremists.
Pray for wisdom and discernment for GFA's state and regional leaders as they respond to the crisis.
Pray for the persecutors, that they would come to know Christ.
