NOTCIACRISTIANA.COM.- In the world, many Christian believers prepare to celebrate both the holidays and the global Christmas tradition.
But in India that does not exist! Several of the Christians in India are struggling with a growing sense of fear and terror..
For the month of December alone, the monitoring agency International Christian Concern (ICC) dOccurred more than half a dozen cases of religious persecution against Indian Christianss.
The results are increasingly alarming. at least 10 Christians were arrested on trumped-up criminal charges, 25 Christian families had their drinking water cut off, and several churches, including a church with almost 600 members, were closed down.
In India, intolerance and persecution grows every day. It’s nothing new, but impacts the community’s ability to freely celebrate the Christmas holidays.
Pastors fear attacks
Pastor Raja Bhovi, a senior leader at His Grace Church, located in the Indian state of Karnataka, told the Persecution organization:
«We have canceled all our Christmas events in Banni Mardatti village, including Christmas carols, cottage gatherings and pre-Christmas events. There is a fear of being attacked by Hindu radicals«.
On December 4, Pastor Bhovi’s church community was attacked by a mob of radical Hindu nationalists while clearing land for the construction of a church.
As a result, the Christians were brutally beaten by the extremists.
In the police station, they do not pay much attention to the denunciations, nor to the complaints, much less to the demands of the Christians.
The mafia of Hindu radicals are many and they represent a good number, what’s more the authorities don’t even face them out of fear or perhaps they are even linked to them.
Pastor Bhovi explained that “about 25 Christian families were present at the police station to file a complaint, however, the police told us that lChristians cannot hold any gatherings in the village,” he said.
“Pastors from out of town are not allowed to visit Christian families, even during this holiday. seasonlament.
Following this, the extremists in the village cut off the water supply for the 25 Christian families.
According to the locals, the radicals threaten the Christianstelling them that they will be expelled from their villages, unless they recant their faith.
Pastor Bhovi hopes that in the different communities where there is persecution they can freely celebrate the Christmas holidays.
“Our hope is that we have a peaceful celebration of Christmas, even though it is far from our homes,” the pastor said.
looking for an alternative
Another pastor in the area, Pastor Ramjit, is working hard to get permission from local authorities to at least allow him to hold a Christmas service on December 25.
«If we don’t get permission, we’ll have to organize several smaller gatherings in homes on Christmas Day.”said Pastor Ramjit. “We’re going to have a service one way or another.”
All over India, Christians are afraid to be able to reunite even with their families.
With acts of persecution and religious intolerance on the rise, many are canceling their Christmas celebrations.
In some cases, yesEntire programs have been canceled for fear that such gatherings will fuel attacks.
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