Fearing violence, many Christians in India’s volatile state of Orissa will for the first time in their history not celebrate Christmas but instead mourn victims of recent anti-Christian attacks, which killed dozens, and those who died in shootings in Mumbai, a priest told BosNewsLife, Saturday, December 13.
Christians in Orissa state are anticipating Christmas with fear as Hindu extremists have called for a state-wide bandh, or forced shut-down on all sectors of society, on Dec. 25 – a move that could provide Hindu extremists the pretext for attacking anyone publicly celebrating the birth of Christ.
Terrified Christians already ravaged by more than two months of violence in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district braced for more carnage as suspected Maoists today gunned down a local worker of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
A dozen bomb blasts rocked the Indian state of Assam Thursday, October 30, killing at least 50 people and injuring 300 others, including Christians, a main alliance of churches and mission groups told BosNewsLife.
Attacks against native Christian missionaries in India’s eastern state of Orissa have spread to other areas, a mission organization confirmed in statements seen by BosNewsLife Tuesday, October 21.
A paramilitary soldier assigned to protect Christians from Hindu violence in Kandhamal district, Orissa was mutilated and killed by a mob in Sisapanga village on Oct. 13.
Gospel for Asia missionary Sursen and his wife, Nirmala–along with two Bible college students, Jolen and Kushal–were beaten by a mob of religious extremists on October 5 in Uttar Pradesh, India. The attacks came as the group was praying before their regular Sunday morning worship service.
The Christian community of Chhattisgarh state is rattled after a gruesome mob attack and torture in Surguja district.
After police in the eastern state of Orissa confirmed this week that Maoists killed Hindu nationalist leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu extremist group circulated allegedly forged documents in an attempt to implicate a local church in the Aug. 23 murder.
At least two more Christians were killed today in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district after Hindu extremists this week set fire to nearly 400 homes there and in Boudh district. A third man succumbed to axe injuries on Wednesday (Oct. 1).
New clashes between Hindus and Christians in India’s eastern state of Orissa has left at least one woman dead and more than a dozen people injured, some critically, police said Tuesday, September 30.
The unprecedented wave of anti-Christian attacks that began a month ago continued in the past week with more incidents of murder, rape and arson, mostly in the eastern state of Orissa and southern state of Karnataka. Two Christians were also found murdered in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
After three weeks of widespread attacks on Christians and their property in Orissa state and other parts of the country, the federal government finally warned two states that their failure to prevent violence could lead to the imposition of “President’s Rule.”
Suspected Hindu militants attacked nine churches in parts of India’s southern state of Karnataka Sunday, September 14, as part of ongoing violent protests against the alleged conversion of Hindus into Christianity by missionaries, police said.
Attacks on Christians continue to increase in Karnataka State.
Mexican authorities have detained a group of men for their alleged involvement in killing three native Indian Christians and seriously injuring six children of the same evangelical family in the country’s Chiapas state, BosNewsLife established Wednesday, September 10.
As tensions continued in the eastern state of Orissa, Hindu nationalist groups intensified attacks on churches and Christian institutions in the southern state of Karnataka.
When the 11-year-old daughter of Antonio Gomez became ill of a stomach ailment, her father decided that it was due to witchcraft committed by his evangelical neighbor.
Suspected Hindu militants set fire to several houses in India’s eastern state of Orissa Monday, September 1, where church groups said recent attacks against Christians left at least 36 people dead.
Native Christian missionaries were among victims in India’s Bihar State Tuesday, September 2, amid reports that hundreds of churches and homes were under water because of devastating floods, which have displaced some three million people and claimed at least 90 lives.