India (MNN) — Several Christian groups in India have come together to petition their nation’s Supreme Court. They say the government has failed to protect the Christian community from rising violence.
The petition has been filed by The Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese, Dr. Peter Machado, the National Solidarity Forum, and the Evangelical Fellowship of India.
Attacks
In late August, a group of people attacked a Christian church in Punjab State. They vandalized a statue of Jesus and his mother Mary before setting the pastor’s car on fire.
Cameras showed four masked youths entering the church and holding the security guard at gunpoint. The police say they have clues about who might have been involved.
The attack happened after a Sikh leader issued a statement condemning “forced conversion” by Christian missionaries. The speech went out on Facebook live.
Religious freedom
Abhijit, a partner with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says, “If you talk to any Christian workers or believers who are new believers, they will tell you they definitely have no freedom. When they try to do any big events in their own village or church, you will see that people are opposing it.”
The opposition comes not just from the government but their neighbors. And media outlets regularly blame Muslim or Christian minorities, saying they are hurting India’s national identity.
Ask God to strengthen Christians in India. Abhijit says, “Also pray for those Christian workers who have no resources. They’re not connected with any denomination. They have no ability to go to the Supreme Court. And also pray for the Christian leaders in India.”
“We need to rethink how we can be Indian and Christian.”
The header photo shows the supreme court of India. (Photo courtesy of Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
