India (MNN) — Persecution is picking up again in India. Hindu nationalists recently attacked a Sunday worship service in Odisha state, beating the pastor and several church members.
John Pudaite of Bibles For The World says believers had a small respite following election results in June. “Things were quiet for a month or two, and now we’re starting to see it ramp up again,” he states.
Election results forced the Hindu nationalist BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reset some short-term plans. But their overarching desire to turn India into a Hindu-only nation is still on track.
BJP Flag
(Image courtesy WikimediaCommons)
“BJP did come back to power. They’re not quite as strong as everyone expected, and they could only form a government through the support of two regional parties,” Pudaite says.
“This, in some way, probably has softened them a little bit. But at the same time, we’re hearing of violence against pastors [and] Christians being dragged out and beaten.”
Persecution was already high leading into election season. In “the first six months of this year, there were over 350 cases of violence against churches, attacks on pastors, mobs coming into churches while they were in worship, and just disrupting the sermon,” Pudaite says.
“We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in India so they can be strong through this time.”
Modi and the BJP have ruled India for the past decade, giving free rein to Hindu nationalist subgroups and mobs. Yet, Gospel work continues. Learn how to support believers and their projects through Bibles For The World.
“From 2014 onwards, we’ve seen a steadily increasing amount of persecution and violence against Christians, against the Church,” Pudaite says.
“Not only the physical violence but also the churches and the Christians being attacked through legal means, through the passing of the anti-conversion laws.”
Header image courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs USA.
