More than two dozen Christians attending a weekly prayer meeting in India were assaulted by members of a Hindu nationalist organization accusing them of “indulging in conversions.”
The group known as Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, called the authorities after attacking the Christian gathering in Rajasthan state on July 5, 2024.
Subscribe to have The Washington Times’ Higher Ground delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
Twenty-eight Christians who attended the prayer meeting were taken to the police station on charges of illegal conversion. Most were released on bail hours later, while three people, including one pastor, were discharged the following day.
A local news outlet reported that the mob inflicted grievous injuries on the attendees, including women.
“A complaint was received that people had gathered at a house…for religious conversion, following which some people have been detained for interrogation,” said Sunil Sharma, Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The police did not mention the assault on Christians, but a viral video of the attack on Twitter/X showed several Christians bleeding. [Warning: graphic video].
VHP leader Rajesh Singhal brought 50 people into the house where the prayer meeting was being held and attacked those present while accusing them of engaging in forced conversions.
A Hindu nationalist news site published a different interpretation of the incident, reporting that around 100 people were lured into attending a religious forced conversion event held under the banner of the Church foundation.
“They put forward all kinds of things to justify the brutal assault,” said one of the Christians present at the house. “We were in weekly prayer as usual. A mob barged in and started assaulting us.” The victim also lamented that the police had not registered their complaint on the assault.
“There is certainly a political agenda behind this attack — repetition of what goes in many parts of the country,” said a leader in India who coordinates a state-level Christian forum there.
United Christian Forum, an ecumenical organization in India that monitors atrocities against Christians, documented this pattern of repetition in a December 2023 report.
“In almost all incidents, vigilante mobs comprising religious extremists have been seen to either barge into a prayer gathering or round up individuals that they believe are involved in forcible religious conversions,” the report said. “With impunity, such mobs criminally threaten and/or physically assault people in prayer, before handing them over to the police on allegations of forcible conversions. Often communal sloganeering is witnessed outside police stations, where the police stand as mute spectators.”
“We cannot see this [July 5 incident] in isolation from news reports last week that the ruling BJP party in Rajasthan has announced plans to bring in an anti-conversion law,” said the Christian leader. They want to prepare the ground for it with such coordinated conversion news reports.”
On June 19, the Rajasthan government told the Supreme Court of India that is working to introduce an anti-conversion law. Though the ruling BJP party passed an anti-conversion bill in 2006, it did not get the mandatory approval of the state governor.
–
Anto Akkara is a writer for Global Christian Relief (GCR), America’s leading watchdog organization focused on the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide. In addition to equipping the Western church to advocate and pray for the persecuted, GCR works in the most restrictive countries to protect and encourage Christians threatened by faith-based discrimination and violence.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.