The two new incidents happened just a day apart in the state of Karnataka. In both cases, the victims were attacked in their own homes by ultra-nationalist Hindus who tried to force them to renounce their Christian faith.
The president of GCIC, Sajan K. George believes that it is becoming increasingly clear that the attacks are "organized" because "in Karnataka and other states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, religion and politics go hand in hand and are used to win as many votes as possible," he says.
The latest case was reported on September 23 in Gudadahalli Hearaghatta, north of Bangalore. Two activists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh group infiltrated a prayer meeting led by Pastor Muniraju. After the meeting began, eight more activists broke into the building. Once inside the church, they burned or destroyed all the Bibles and other literature they could find and beat up the pastor.
To deter the congregation, they dragged him and five others to a Hindu temple about a kilometer away. Here they forced them to participate in a so-called 'pooja', a Hindu ritual. Before releasing them, they warned them not to hold any more prayer meetings.
The day before, on Friday, the Bethel Prathanalaya church in Shimoga district was similarly attacked. The 25-member congregation is led by Fr. Kumar Hanumanthappa. The congregation had gone to the neighboring village of Voddarahalli Thanda on this day as guests of five families from the village.
Around 20 activists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bajrang Dal stormed the prayer meeting, telling participants that there would be "terrible consequences" if they continued to practice their Christian faith.
After beating some of the participants in the meeting and burning some of the Bibles, the Hindus forced the entire gathering to go to the nearest Hindu temple and participate in a 'purification ceremony'. When they were allowed to leave, a few of the Christians went to the local police station and filed a formal complaint. However, no arrests have been made in the case yet.
Sajan George from GCIC says, "Article 14 of the Indian Constitution states that everyone is equal before the law. And yet in these attacks on Christians and Christian church buildings, we see the perpetrators go free while the innocent victims are arrested."
