Pastor attacked as police admit Hindu mob rules

Bihar, March 24, 2017: A pastor and another Christian were brutally assaulted in a marketplace in full view of public and a policeman by two Hindu extremists on 17 March 2017 in Begusarai. The two were not only assaulted but arrested and charged with ‘forceful conversion’.

Pastor Ajay Kumar of Assemblies of God (A.G.) Church along with a Bible college student, a trainee, only identified as Assaryav went to the Har-Har Mahadev cross-road for a hair-cut. About half an hour later Kumar received a phone call. “Someone called me at 1pm in the afternoon and said that he wants to meet me, as he wants to know more about Jesus,” said Kumar to Global Christian News.

The stranger enquired about Kumar’s whereabout and said that he is reaching the Har-Har Mahadev cross-road. “Soon two men riding on a motor-bike arrived and asked me if I was Ajay? They told me that they are not interested in knowing anything about Jesus, but that they want to get a Hindu boy married to a Christian girl,” revealed Kumar.

The strangers started to coerce Kumar to agree to get the couple married in the A.G. Church, where Kumar has been a Pastor for 7 years. When Kumar repeatedly denied that this could not be done, they tried to bribe Kumar. “They asked me how much money I want, to get the job done and that they are ready to pay,” said Kumar.

After Kumar and Assaryav stood firm on their words, “The strangers understood that they cannot make us do what they had supposedly planned. We later realised that it was a trap, to prove that Christians take money and forcefully convert people,” exclaimed Kumar.

They turned out to be members of the Bajarang Dal, the extremist Hindu organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

They started to assault Kumar and Assaryav. A policeman on duty in the area on seeing the Hindu extremists beat the two men brutally ran to their rescue.

“The extremists told the policeman to remain out of this and that to let them handle the Christians in their own way,” said Kumar in a state of shock.

The policeman left the place and informed the senior officials, who arrived at the crossroad and arrested the two Christians instead of their attackers.

They were taken to the area police station and detained until after mid night before being released on bail.

They are both charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 295 / 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India). The First Information Report filed against the two Christians by the Hindu extremists read:

“….Handing over two books to us, they said that there are a lot of earthquakes and plagues in this area, which is because of people who follow Hindu religion. If you change your religion, your social and economic status will accelerate and our Church, A.G. Mission will give you One Lac (1,00,000 Rupees) right now……So, please charge them with forceful conversion and for insulting Hindu deities……”

When Kumar and Assaryav were in the police custody, Global Christian News spoke to the policeman-in-charge on the phone who informed us that a mob of Hindu extremists was sitting inside the police station right in-front of him and that they were writing down their complaint. Only after they have finished writing, will charges be framed against the two Christians.

We phoned again and spoke to a policeman who does not want to be named and asked: “Would they take action against the Christians at the behest of the Hindus and believe whatever fake allegations they make-up against the Christians?”

He said, “We will investigate but what can we do, we have to abide by what the Hindu mob says. This is what has been happening these days.”

Kumar who has a 3-year-old daughter and a young marriage said that his wife and daughter were in great shock at what had happened.

Pastor D Joshua pastor of Shalom Prarthana Bhavan situated in Begusarai received information from sources that his Church is the next target, “I received information from sources that my Church, Shalom Prarthana Bhavan, is the next to be targeted by the Bajarang Dal members,” said fear-stuck Joshua to Global Christian News.

Bihar is a state in East India, bordering Nepal. It is the third-largest state of India by population. Hindu’s constitute 82.69 per cent, Muslim 16.87 per cent, Christians 0.12 per cent and 0.32 per cent others, according to the Bihar Religion Census 2011.

– global christian news