Church leaders urged India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate action against violent extremists after a series of attacks against Christians left a pastor and two of his congregation badly beaten.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) called on the government and district authorities to take steps to safeguard the rights of religious minority communities and to provide protection for churches against attack.
Persecution in Uttar Pradesh
On 29 July, a mob of extremists attacked two Christian men and verbally abused Christian women as they made their way to a prayer meeting at a home in Kanshiram Colony, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The mob then dragged the pastor from the prayer meeting and brutally beat him.
The extremists launched another violent assault on the pastor at the local police station where all three Christian men were detained for five hours. No action was taken against the attackers, but the Christians were warned by the police not to gather to pray again.
In addition, on 29 July in Uttar Pradesh, extremists threatened a pastor in Maharajganj district. While on 4 August, two Christians were confronted in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu and taken to the local police station on allegations that they were involved in forced conversion. These two Christians were later released.
In another incident, two police officers ordered a church service to be stopped in Bhiwani district, Haryana on 28 July. They took the pastor and two members of the congregation to the police station before releasing them without charge.
EFI said that targeted violence and hate crime directed against Christians in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, almost tripled in 2018 compared to the previous year. Its annual report, published in February 2019, stated that there were 132 persecution incidents in the state in 2018, compared to 50 in 2017.
A modern day Joseph
Meanwhile in another part of India, Bijaya Kumar Sanaseth became the second Christian to be released on bail after being wrongly convicted of killing a Hindu extremist leader in 2008. Sanaseth went to jail more than ten years ago. At the time of his incarceration, his faith was nominal, knowing about Jesus, but not knowing Jesus.
The years he spent in several different prisons meant his mother died as there was no-one earning money to take care of her, and he missed seeing his children grow up.
‘I faced a lot of hardships in jail – I thank God for this freedom,’ Sanaseth said. ‘I trusted God would bring me out one day.’
Wrongful conviction
After 30 to 40 assailants with automatic weapons and locally-made revolvers attacked a Hindu leader, Sanaseth became a suspect after helping to protect Christian institutions from the resulting backlash.
Due to his good standing in the area, he had been asked to intervene. He consequently protected a convent, helped save many people from attack, and was also part of the peace committee that restored order after much violence in the area.
Hindu extremists later retaliated by listing his name among the suspected murderers. As the trial began to go against the extremists, the judge was replaced by one who did not allow Christians to defend themselves in court. Sanaseth was then given a life sentence.
‘But God meant it for good’
However, Sanaseth was able to study in prison. He started with a seventh-grade education, but managed to complete the tenth grade. As a result he was able to read the Bible for himself.
Sanaseth said: ‘The biggest gain was in my faith … in the jail, I got to know the Lord closely. I read the complete Bible five times and started to understand the importance of the word of God.’
Furthermore, in the four jails in which he was incarcerated, he spoke about Christ, and eight people put their faith in Him as Lord and Saviour.
‘I had the privilege of leading church in prison as well and thank God for it,’ he said. ‘I appeal to readers of my story to pray for the [other] innocents in prison, that they too would acquire bail and be reunited with their families.’
