Two Pastors And Church Believers Beaten Up By Hindu Radicals

By James Varghese

9/30/07 INDIA (ANS) — Fifty members of Rashtriya Swayem Sevaks (RSS), a Hindu radical group, badly beat up a pastor and church believers of the IPC Prayer center at Kodlipet in Coorg District, Karnataka State , during the Sunday worship service on September 30.

According to the news carried by Global Council of Indian Christians* (GCIC) on their website — www.persecution.in — at about 11.30 in the morning, about 50 Hindu radicals came to the church, shouting anti-Christian slogans. They entered the church and locked its back door and started thrashing the pastor and believers with rods and pipes.

Pastor Freddy, 34, the minister of the church and Pastor Benny, also 34, his colleague, were the ones who were leading the worship service in the church with about 50 believers.

Pastor Freddy, His Father Mr. Cherian (72 years), and Pastor Benny were beaten up badly and they have sustained serious head injuries. Both of them are being transported to Bangalore for better treatment. Two other believers were also injured in the attack.

Local municipal election poll results were declared this day and these radicals were celebrating their election victory. Pastor Freddy had been attacked earlier and was warned by the state police and intelligence agencies about a possible murder.

GCIC is in touch with pastor Freddy and others and are doing necessary arrangements for their treatment.

Speaking to ANS, in a Telephone conversation, Dr. Sajan K. George, president of Global Council of Indian Christians said, “The GCIC team have took them to a hospital in Bangalore and Pastor Freddy has got 17 stitches and Pastor Benny 18 stitches on their heads. The condition of Mr. Cherian, father of Pastor Freddy, is a bit serious”.

He also said, “The inspector of the local station has assured us of all possible assistance and the police are scared and helpless in front of the militants involved in the attack.”

A complaint was registered in the nearest Kjodlipet Police Station which is about 225 kilometers away from Bangalore , the state capital

* The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) is an association of the concerned who have been anxious about the trends of intolerance triggered by religious fundamentalists in Indian society. GCIC was established for the advocacy of freedom of faith and continues to lobby the agencies and people responsible at the local and national levels for upholding and implementation of the constitutional guarantees and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.