Persecuted Church - India
India was featured in the May edition of the Newsletter but, in light of recent violence in Orissa and the need for prayer for the church there, we have decided to focus again on their problems.
Mission India reports that over the past seven weeks, Christians in at least a dozen districts in Orissa have endured relentless physical attacks and threats by Hindu extremists. The extremists’ campaign of violence began in retaliation for the August 23 murder of Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu fundamentalist leader.
Last week, police in Orissa confirmed that Saraswati was killed by communist insurgents, not by Christians as the extremists have maintained.
On October 14 Mission India reported that some believers in Orissa fear for their lives and are being forced to return to Hinduism. One family was apparently told by extremists, "Embrace Hinduism, and your house will not be demolished. Otherwise, you will be killed, or you will be thrown out of the village."
An unknown number of Christians have been forced to take part in "reconversion ceremonies," often at gun or knifepoint.
These ceremonies are just part of an overall climate of fear and violence that has gripped the Kandhamal region of Orissa since late August. Christian leaders in India say that in Orissa:
• 50,000+ people are left homeless
• 13,000 people are in relief camps
• 4,300 homes were burned or destroyed
• 400 churches and prayer halls have been destroyed
• Up to 57 people were killed
There has been little relief from the violence in government camps where thousands of Christians have sought refuge. Two weeks ago, a series of crude, handmade bombs exploded in one camp. Extremists have also reportedly poisoned the water supply at several other camps.
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condemned the violence as a "national shame" and advised the Orissa government to ensure law and order is restored.
After visiting three relief camps, the director of Jan Vikas, a centre for social action, told AsiaNews that
“our people are being treated like animals. They have been given just one blanket per family and sanitation and hygiene are simply non-existent. But what is even more tragic is the fact that they are not even allowed to pray, and are instead closely monitored by security forces. Women are particularly vulnerable—they are not allowed to get any counselling so that their emotional health is deteriorating rapidly.”
Outside, in the villages, things are not getting any better. According to eyewitness accounts, Hindu extremists have began “cleansing” the land where Christians had their homes and churches, torched to the ground in the past weeks. They are even pulling out the bricks from foundations, filling up holes in the ground, removing marks indicating demarcation lines of fields owned by Christians so as to divide them up among themselves.
PRAY FOR ORISSA
Mission India has asked for the following prayers for the people in Orissa:
• Pray for believers who have lost family members, homes and all their belongings. Many are fearfully taking shelter in the nearby jungle and have no access to food and water.
• Pray for a Mission India staff member in Orissa whose house was firebombed. He is now in hiding from Hindu extremists who want to kill him.
• Pray for all of the ministry staff and partners in Orissa who are unable to carry out their work due to the continuing unrest.
• Pray for God’s protection on Christian leaders, pastors, evangelists, and believers and that peace will be restored across Orissa.
• Pray that Christians in Orissa will continue to mobilize and maintain a strong ministry presence despite the violence.
• Pray for God’s forgiveness and mercy on those who are persecuting Christians in Orissa.
