Hindu extremists in Chhattisgarh state kept hundreds of Christians from a prayer service on 6 December and attacked those who managed to attend.
At the prayer service where 2,000 people were expected in Tarra Kopra village, Raipur District, only 300 Christians made it past Hindu extremist check-points, said Pastor Lachhan Ram Sahu of Blessing Prayer Hall.
On a day where a Hindu event known as a Ram Kathan was also scheduled in the area, Hindu nationalists positioned men at village entry points and asked them where they were headed, Pastor Sahu said. ‘If they said they were going to the church service, they were shooed away, and if they tried to reason with them, they were threatened and manhandled. Those who came to attend the Ram Kathan were allowed to enter the village and proceed straight to the Ram Kathan venue.’
