India: 10 Christian families denied essential rations for their faith, “we did not worry, we are ready to pay any cost”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Ten Christian families in India’s Madhya Pradesh state have been barred on account of their faith from receiving essential provisions the government gives to the needy, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

The ten families are residents of Bara Chomri village in Madhya Pradesh, ICC reports. They converted from Hinduism to Christianity four years ago and have suffered intense persecution, including physical attacks and harassment, since then.

On January 26, the families were summoned by the radicalized Hindu leaders of their village and were told they must renounce their faith in Christ or they would not receive their rations of products such as rice, dal, and oil, ICC said.

A local pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons, told ICC the environment in the village is hostile toward Christians. “The harassment continues to increase against Christians in Bara Chomri village,” the pastor told ICC. “However, we Christians did not worry. We don’t need incentives. [We are] ready to pay any cost and lay down our lives.”

In a website statement about the situation of Christians in India, the Open Doors international aid mission and persecution watchdog said: “In recent years, there has been a big increase in Hindutva, an ideology that believes only Hindus are true Indians, and that Christians, Muslims, and other religious minorities have ‘foreign’ roots and must be expelled. Hindu extremists seem able to attack others with impunity, even using extreme violence in some parts of the country.”

Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party since 2014, India ranks 11 thon the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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