Anti-Christian Attacks Continue in India over New Year

More anti-Christian attacks took place in India recently, dampening New Year celebrations.

After launching several attacks in the final days of the 2006, the extremists have continued with more attacks on Christians, including pastors, vandalising vehicles and holding a protest rally against a church.

Around two hundred members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) attacked four pastors from the Brethren Assembly Church in Uttar Pradesh, according to the Compass Direct News.

The pastors, Samuel John, George Thomas, Abraham George and V.P. Paulouse, were beaten and Paulouse's vehicle was vandalised on January 2 by the Hindu extremists.

The pastors suffered from internal injuries from the attack.

"We were attacked while we were distributing tracts on God's love to the local residents," Abraham George told Compass Direct News.

He added that the extremists accused them of offering money to Hindus in exchange for their conversion to Christianity.

The pastors adamantly denied all allegations made against them.

The pastors were later taken to the local police station where they were held for more than four hours.

The police officers refused to register the complaint filed by the extremists regarding any kind of "forced conversions".

Despite the intense persecution and false accusations, the pastors, stated that they did not want to press any charges against their attackers. The All India Christian Council (AICC) had offered to help them in lodging an official complaint.

"We are Christians, and we believe in forgiveness," Abraham George said.

The General Secretary of the AICC, Dr John Dayal, strongly denounced the attacks.

"The fact that Christians can be attacked in the National Capital Region (NCR) reflects how insecure we are in this country," Dr Dayal told Compass Direct News.

The NCR comprises of Delhi and its neighbouring cities: Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon.

On the same day, extremists from the Dharma Sena beat up two Christians in a village in Madhya Pradesh.

Shyam Sunder and Ram Deen both received injuries on their chest and legs, according to Rev Madhu Chandra from AICC.

Another church was harassed on the same day when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a protest rally against the church's building construction in Andhra Pradesh.

A mob of two hundred led by a RSS leader, known only as Giri, and BJP leaders, Lokesh Gupta, had gathered at the construction site of Good Shepherd Community Church (GSCC). The mob objected to the location of the church building which was near a Hindu temple, according to the AICC report.