India: Radical Hindus attack, hospitalize Christians in Chhattisgarh state
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Radical Hindu nationalists attacked a group of newly Christian believers in India’s Chhattisgarh state recently, causing a number of victims to be rushed to hospital, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, India ranks 11 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
ICC reports that 30 Chhattisgarh Christians were summoned by their Hindu village leaders and ordered to renounce their newfound faith in Christian and return to Hinduism. “When they refused, the Hindu nationalists attacked and beat them with rods and clubs,” ICC said. An ambulance was called and five of the wounded were taken to hospital.
Despite facing prior and ongoing harassment by Hindus threatening violence and demanding they cease praying to Jesus, Christians in this community have stood firm in Christ and have refused to deny Him, ICC reports.
A Christian leader in the community whose name is withheld for security reasons told ICC: “The attacks against Christians have increased sharply in the last several weeks, as the state will soon hold regional elections. It is saddening that Christians must suffer violence in the name of religion simply because a politician wants to gain power.”
Chhattisgarh is one of the 11 Indian states that has implemented harsh anti-conversion laws which are frequently abused to persecute Christians by Hindus falsely accusing them of forcibly converting people to Christianity.
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