The desecrated church was the meeting place of the 60 new believers in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh who were threatened with death if they failed to convert back to Hinduism.
The Hindu extremists have now taken over the church by force and turned it into a Hindu temple, the first time in the 26-year history of Gospel for Asia that a place of worship has been taken over and defiled as a temple, reports Yohannan.
“This is a very serious matter and one for which Christians all around the world need to be praying and fasting,” said Yohannan.
According to Assist News, the local authorities appear to be cooperating with the Hindu extremists by forcing Pastor Ramesh Masih Bhatti and his family from their home, which also served as a Believers Church.
GFA Regional Leader Simon John refuted claims by local authorities that the building was government property.
"In Himachal Pradesh, if a family occupies government property for 20 years, they are not required to vacate it, and the government recognizes it as their own," he said. "In this case, the pastor's family had lived in this house for 25 years, so it was clearly theirs. But the officials were not treating the Christians the same way they treat others under the law."Pastor Bhatti’s church and home was desecrated on the 3 December when a group of more than 20 Hindu extremists, including members of the VHP or World Hindu Council and its violent youth wing, Bajrang Dal, entered the property and began conducting Hindu worship rituals.
The group shouted threats against the believers and brandished large bamboos throughout the day and into the following morning, when they continued to shout and dance outside the church forcing the pastor and his family to leave, reports Assist News.
The group entered the building on their departure and declared it a Hindu temple, writing phrases praising their gods on the church wall before erecting the statue of a Hindu god in the courtyard.
According to Assist News, a Hindu ceremony was held later in the week attended by at least one state official, the heads of several villages, and leaders of various radical Hindu organisations.
