Hindu nationalists from the Sangh Parivar movement have destroyed a church in Karnataka. This was reported by the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) to AsiaNews. The GCIC is providing legal assistance to the affected Christians. The incident took place late in the evening of November 20. The church destroyed was the 15-year-old Blessing Youth Mission in Chippagiri Gowtow village in Karwar district. Subsequently, Pastor Suresh Kithan Siddle complained to the police station and the police have promised that the perpetrators will be found and punished.
At around 22:30 (local time), a group of Hindu nationalists locked 30 members of the Pentecostal church in their homes and threatened them with death if they tried to escape. At around 23:00, the perpetrators began demolishing the church. To completely destroy it, they set it on fire.
According to the pastor's testimony, the perpetrators are members of the local chapter of Sangh Parivar, a Hindu nationalist movement that serves as an umbrella organization for many radical groups, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Prishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.
A month ago, some of these Hindu activists accused Pastor Suresh of carrying out forced conversions and threatened him with "dire consequences" if he didn't stop.
"The believers in the church," says Sajan George, President of GCIC, "are mostly day laborers. The Indian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. But with the connivance of the government, the Sangh Parivar can harass and beat up Christians and make false accusations of forced conversions. And sometimes they go so far as to destroy churches."
