Posted by on March 13, 19102 at 10:43:01:
The central government remains silent
During his youth, India’s Premier Vajpayee often met with Hindu militants. To this day, he has failed to take strong action against rampant Hindu extremism. During one of his speeches to leading Hindus, Vajpayee questioned the motives of Christian missionaries. According to the premier, the Christians’ only purpose in lending social aid is to gain converts. He has singled out some Hindu fanatics as good examples to the public. This has given religious extremists an incentive to persecute Christians further.
Destruction of churches, forced conversion, desecration of sacred hosts …
On August 27, 2001, a Pentecostal church community gathered for prayer in the village of Mehndikheda in the federal state of Madhya Pradesh. The meeting was broken up when Hindu extremists ordered the Christians to leave and destroyed their meeting place. On September 11, extremists in Howrah, in the vicinity of Calcutta, burned Christian books after seizing them from schoolchildren. The same day, Hindu fanatics threatened 113 Christians in the federal state of Orissa, demanding their conversion back to Hinduism. On September 18, the Methodist Pastor Paul Christian and four of his church members were severely beaten after they had show a film about Jesus in the federal state of Gujarat. The same day, Hindu fanatics desecrated a Catholic pilgrim church in the federal state of Kerala, desecrating sacred hosts. Finally, on November 4, due to intense pressure from extremists in the Indian capital of New Delhi, authorities reversed their decision to allow a scheduled Christian Evangelistic gathering. Thousands were expected to attend the event.