Hindu Nationalists Attack Church in Odisha
9/9/2024 India (International Christian Concern) — A pastor and several members of his church were beaten on Sunday as Hindu nationalists attacked a worship service in Odisha on Sunday, accusing the church of forcefully converting Hindus to Christianity.
Those who conducted the attack in the city of Bhubaneswar included members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), the self-avowed protector of the Hindu religion, and Bajrang Dal, an RSS offshoot that is prone to violent attacks on minority communities.
According to reports, the church had recently rented a three-story building to conduct its worship services. After the RSS and Bajrang Dal learned that more than 100 people were attending the church’s services, they decided to attack the church and make false allegations of forced conversions.
Police arrived at the church and took some people, including Christians, to the police station for questioning. Members of the two Hindu nationalist organizations surrounded the police station in protest of the Christians. The situation only calmed down after a leader of the police arrived.
Anti-conversion laws are increasingly used against churches and individual Christians throughout India.
Meanwhile, another large Hindu gathering, or Hindu Mahasabha, has been announced in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district. The event follows on the heels of another large gathering commemorating the 18th anniversary of the death of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati in the Kandhamal district.
A poster for the latest meeting that is circulating on social media says, “This Mahasabha is organized to demand a halt of all religious conversions (Hindu to Christian) and create a Hindu Rashtra (an Indian State comprising only Hindu people).” The meeting is organized by a group whose name loosely translates to “Society for the Protection of Hindus.”
Area Christians are on alert as previous such events have led to widespread persecution of Christian communities.
