India: Congregation attacked, church vandalized
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A church in India’s Chhattisgarh state was attacked by Hindu nationalists during the March 6 Sunday service.
According to International Christian Concern, a mob of 25 Hindus attacked a Pentecostal church in Kachana colony in the state capital of Raipur. The mob burst into the church and began beating the congregation; the mob also destroyed musical instruments, chairs and Bibles.
Reportedly the Hindus had justified their attack by claiming that the church was the site of forced conversions.
“The vandalizing of the church [in Chhattisgarh] comes as the entire nation of India is debating the role of [radical Hindu nationalism] and the government in exacerbating an environment of hate and intolerance against civil society, the intelligentsia, and above all, religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians,” John Dayal, Spokesman for the United Christian Forum, told ICC.
ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, William Stark, said: “The attack on the church in Raipur is just one more sign of the growing religious intolerance in India. Hindu radicals, who continue to go unchecked by the government, are dividing India along religious lines and labeling religious minorities, including Christians, as inferior and anti-India….”