Fifty Christians had been attacked throughout a Sunday service in Rajasthan state in western India, when a bunch of about 200 individuals stormed a church constructing in Bikaner metropolis. A number of attendees sustained accidents after being struck with iron rods, and the assailants vandalized the property earlier than police arrived.
Within the assault, which passed off close to the top of the service, three worshipers had been severely injured on Feb. 16, whereas many others bore bruises throughout their our bodies, reported the U.Ok.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide final week.
The pastor of the church, who requested to stay nameless because of safety causes, mentioned a brand new member had attended the service that day and was seen sending messages minutes earlier than the mob entered the church, at which level he ran out of the constructing.
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The attackers left unexpectedly when police arrived on the scene. Police questioned the injured Christians afterward and accused them of compelled conversions. The pastor’s kids had been cautioned that they need to not end up like their father.
Native authorities then escorted the pastor, his partner and some different Christians to the Mukta Prasad police station, the place the mob’s accusations of compelled conversion had been examined. The pastor and his companions weren’t charged, as proof of such exercise was not offered.
Members of the church determined to not lodge a grievance, citing fears of reprisals. No motion was taken towards the group that invaded the worship service.
The assault occurred weeks after the Rajasthan Prohibition of Illegal Conversion of Faith Invoice 2025, an anti-conversion measure, was offered earlier than the state’s legislative meeting.
If it turns into legislation, people who wish to convert voluntarily could be required to submit an software to a district Justice of the Peace 60 days prematurely. Any conversion decided to be compelled could be handled as a non-bailable offense, doubtlessly leading to a major high-quality and as much as 10 years in jail.
The proposed laws would additionally shift the burden of proof onto these accused of compelling somebody to vary religion.
Twelve of India’s 28 states implement anti-conversion legal guidelines, in accordance with the U.S. Fee on Worldwide Non secular Freedom. Rajasthan’s proposed measure follows a development that features the 2024 amendments in Uttar Pradesh, the place an current anti-conversion legislation was modified to impose extra stringent penalties.
These legal guidelines have been enacted largely in states ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Get together.
Final December, over 400 particular person Christians and 30 church teams, together with a number of Baptist conventions, councils and associations, despatched a letter to President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in accordance with Baptist Commonplace. The letter requested for intervention towards violent mobs which have focused Christians and different spiritual minorities. The signatories acknowledged that believers in varied elements of India have been going through assaults and intimidation.
Knowledge from an India-based group, the United Christian Discussion board, exhibits a rise in assaults towards Christian communities over the previous decade. The group, which manages a helpline, recorded 127 incidents in 2014 and 834 in 2024.
