Religious Freedom for all
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On 4 August in Maneswar block, Sambalpur district, Odisha, Hindutva radicals disrupted worship service and brutally beat up Evangelist Dickson Ranjan causing him major injuries. The attack took place at about 10 am when Ranjan was leading the worship service at the ‘Jesus Mission’. Suddenly a mob of around 50 Hindutva radicals stormed into the venue shouting slogans. They pulled Ranjan outside and beat him up badly and pressured him to sign a declaration that he was involved in conversion activities. Then they called the police who took him to the Dhanupali Police Station. The mob pressurized the police to file a case against Evangelist Dickson Ranjan. In the late evening, after he was released from the police station at the intervention of local leaders, Ranjan came home only to have his landlord ask him to move out the of the rental accommodation because the landlord was afraid of the mob.
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On 5 August in Kushal Gaon village of Phulpur block in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, Christians were violently attacked which led to many being injured. The incident took place at Pastor Ledar's church. The pastor was arrested last year, and off late had been receiving increased threats to his life. He had been warned by religious fanatics in the village to stop all Christian prayers. Since the pastor and his church members did not heed to the warnings, the fanatics attacked them on the fateful day. Several Christians including Kiran, Amarnath, Sachin, Madanlal and Pravin were grievously injured.
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Some of the Christians injured in the incident in Azamgarh
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Update: In the Satyamoorthy Nagar case, in Tamil Nadu, which we reported in the previous issue of Persecution Watch, the Christians who were facing excommunication and hardship for many years owing to their beliefs, decided to approach the Madurai bench of the Chennai High Court. Approximately 100 Christian converts are living in the village and have been facing the ire of other villagers since 2004. Allegedly, Hindu Munnani, a radical religious outfit has imposed sanctions against the Christians which prevents them from purchasing food, attending public ceremonies and accessing community road and water supply. The complaint filed by the Christians in the High Court implicates members of the Hindu Munnai group, the District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, the Revenue Divisional Officer and the Police Inspector.
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On 9 August in Bhopura, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Pastor Mohan Masih was arrested by the police after false charges of conversion were levied against him by Narayan and Gayatri, a couple. Pastor Masih leads a house prayer group that gathers at the house local Christians Sagar and Maya. According to reports the couple who have complained against the pastor are under influence of Hindu right-wing groups. They had earlier complained against the pastor as well, but the police had investigated and had no substance in their complaint. In the complaint registered recently they alleged that the pastor had come to their house and had desecrated the idols kept there. The police at the Tulsi Niketan post called the pastor for questioning at 11 am and arrested and sent him to Sahibabad police station in the evening. FIR was also registered against two women Maya and Suman. The pastor remains in prison till the writing of this report.
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On 11 August in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva activists created a ruckus at the Church led by Pastor Himanshu. The Church has been meeting in the location for the past 10 years. On the day of the incident, a mob of around 50 people came to the Church venue after the service was over and started interrogating the worshippers and kept asking for the pastor. The mob created a lot of commotion and the pastor called the police. The police when they arrived, arrested the pastor and detained him at the police station. He was later bailed out, but he and his family are now receiving threats of dire consequences if worship services continue.
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On 12 August in Harpur village, Goriakothi block, Siwan District, Bihar, a man identified as Bablu attacked Pastor Chandra Shekhar Singh, 60 years, with a knife injuring him on his abdomen. The attack took place when pastor Singh was leading a prayer service on Monday morning. Bablu, 22 years old, is a neighbor of Pastor Singh and is in the habit of disrupting worship services at Pastor Singh’s Church by playing loud Bollywood music and Hindu hymns whenever the worship is on. On the day of the attack pastor Singh and the congregants were disturbed by very loud music so the pastor requested Bablu to turn down the volume a bit. Infuriated by this, Bablu took out a knife and attacked pastor Singh injuring him in the process. Fortunately, pastor Singh caught his hand in time otherwise the injury could have been fatal. Pastor Singh filed a FIR against Bablu at the Goriakothi Police Station following which some right-wing organizations have been instigating a movement against the pastor claiming that he is involved in conversions. The Church has been meeting at the place for the last 13 years and had around 75 members.
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An Appeal to the Authorities
As concerned people, kindly call and write to the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu along with the Prime Minister, appealing them to safeguard the rights of the minority communities and to provide protection to churches against attacks and to take immediate action against the perpetrators of violence.
Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister's Office
(Office address)
152, South Block,
Raisina Hill, New Delhi 110011
(O) Tel: +91 11 23012312 ; 23018939
(O) Fax:+91 11 23016857
(Residence Address)
7, Race Course Road, New Delhi 110001
(R) Tel: +91 11 23011156 ; 23016060
(R) Fax: +91 11 23018939
Shri Yogi Adityanath
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
(O) Tel: +91 522 2239296; 2236167
(O)Fax: +91 522 2239234
(R) Tel: +91 522 2236838
Shri Naveen Patnaik
Chief Minister of Odisha
(O) Tel: +91 674 2531100; 2531500
(R) Tel: +91 674 2591099; 2590299
Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
(O) Tel: +91 44 25672345; 24991222
(O)Fax: +91 44 25670930
Shri Nitish Kumar
Chief Minister of Bihar
(O) Tel: +91 612 2223886; 2224784
(R) Tel: +91 612 2222079
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Issued by:
Rev. Vijayesh Lal
National Director - Religious Liberty Commission of EFI
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