WORLD NEWS

Violent persecution incidents are taking place on an almost daily basis in India.

Numerous churches have been vandalised, attacked or burnt. Sujit a 34-year-old pastor from North India, suffered one of these attacks and was forced to leave his village by Hindu extremists.

“When I first accepted Jesus, my family was forced, by the local villagers, to expel me from the house because of my faith,” said Sujit. “I went to another village and have been ministering there for 15 years.

I have faced much opposition, but I have never suffered persecution like the one I suffered a few months ago.”

Sujit’s congregation became too big to meet in houses, so they wanted to build a church. “We were so happy and excited that we would have a separate place to worship, but they never let it happen,” he said.

The local villagers opposed the construction work and vandalised the church three times: “When we began the construction of the church, one of the well-known people in the village, who is also a retired army officer, made a false complaint to the RSS (Hindu Nationalist group) leaders that we were luring people to Christianity using money. After this, the RSS groups from other villages made many visits to our village, conducted meetings with the villagers and instigated the Hindus against us. There were constant attacks on the construction sites.”

Sujit tried to fight for his rights as an Indian citizen but was unsuccessful. “The administration and police authorities are not at all helpful for Christians,” he said.

“I made a complaint to the Village Chief and the police, and they assured me of complete support from their side and protection. But then, there was another attack. Again I questioned the authorities, and again they assured me that the criminals would be punished and that I should continue the work.”

The church building was destroyed three times as Sujit and his church members tried to construct it. The first time it was attacked as the foundations were being laid. The second time it was attacked while the church walls were being constructed.

The third time the roof had just been put on: “One church member informed me that vandalism was taking place at the construction site,” said Sujit. “I ran to the spot and confronted them. Two of the extremists caught me from the sides and the third one bashed my head with a brick.”

(Open Doors UK)