Christians in India’s Orissa state who were victims of the recent wave of communal violence are now being told to “covert or die” by Hindu fanatics.
The ultimatum issued by the Hindu extremists has forced some Christians to abandon their religion altogether, reported the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), a Bangalore-based Christian advocacy group.
"I am forced to convert to Hinduism whether I like or dislike; I cannot say further and my life is in danger," Promond Digal, 32, from the violence-hit Kandhamal district, told GCIC.
A clash over a decorative arch for the Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24 led to large-scale communal violence and attacks against churches throughout the district. Four people were confirmed death while 95 Churches and 730 houses were burnt down or destroyed after several days of violence, according to the All India Christian Council (AICC).
Earlier this month, a fact-finding team from the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) of India accused Hindu fundamentalists of perpetrating “organized and pre-planned attacks” against the Christian community. The commission pointed to possible involvement of organizations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Coucil), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers’ Organization) and their affiliates.
AICC and GCIC, on the other hand, have openly accused the Hindu organizations of being responsible for the attacks on Christians.
Furthermore, although the anti-Christian violence has apparently subsided, ”fundamentalists are going to individual families with guns and threatening them to become Hindus," according to GCIC.
Christians who have converted to Hinduism expressed their helplessness about changing their religion.
"Fundamentalists came and threatened me and my family and said if you do not change your religion prepare to leave the village or die, there was no other way than to accept Hinduism," said B. Digal, 60, from Gochhapada village.
Catholic Christian Samonary Digal in the Kandhamal district similarly reported how the members of the RSS “warned me to prepare to die or to leave the place if you do not become Hindu.”
“Finally I had to accept what they say," he admitted
According to social worker R. Nayak, "25 Dalit families of Mahasingh village under K. Nuagam Block have been converted to Hinduism on Dec. 25.”
“They were forced to drink mixed water of cow dung, ghee and perform the Hindu ritual," he reported
"They live under threat and convert then. They live under danger and panic."
Another forced convert, who did not want to disclose his name, said he was told, "If you cannot be a Hindu, we will finish you off and set fire your entire house.”
However, he added, “I and my family have left the faith but God will remain with us."
Relief organizations, including Christian NGOs, are not yet allowed to go into the violence-struck districts. Food distribution from the state government, meanwhile, seems to be improving, GCIC reported.
Orissa state is often noted as the site of the 1999 slaying of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons – Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8 – who were burned to death as they slept inside their vehicle after a Bible study class. It is the only Indian state that has a law requiring people to obtain police permission before they change their religion – a move designed to counter missionary work.
RSS
If anybody wants to help poor and Hindu fundamentalists are not allowing to do so . Better seek help from INDIAN government to source missionaries help to poor via some NGO or government organizations.So that religion does not come as an issue. and violence will be null.We all can live together peacefully.
Prophet
citsonga
ProfessorX
Wake up guys and petition the United States Congress to pass a resolution to save Indian Christians from Hindu extremists. If you keep mum then you have not resisted evils but would be considered as a silent complices in the court of Almighty The-God.
I honor those who have faced the ultimatum, and have not strayed from their faith. They will die for their love of God, not for their hatred of others. But I also pray for their safety. But whatever the outcome, the Lord be glorified.
"For if I die, I die as unto the Lord. If I live, I live as unto the Lord. So whether I live or die, I am His."
Blessed be the martyrs, for God alone will recompense their blood.
professorx here is some stuff to consider.
george bush considers himself a "saved" Christian, yet he has sanctioned the torture and imprisonment of so-called enemy combatants without any chance for due process. Perhaps most of these so called combatants are actually innocent. How would one know though without a trial or hearings? bush ordered the dropping of bombs on Baghdad during the initial invasion of Iraq knowing full well that many innocent civilians would be killed. Indeed whole families were killed. bush claims Jesus to be his favorite philosopher and his savior. Didn't Jesus say “Turn the other cheek” & "Thou shall not kill"? Sometimes we cant, but how was Iraq and its people our enemy. Iraq and saddam was not a threat to the US and had nothing to do with 9-11. Saddam was bad news to be sure, but there were other ways of dealing with him that would not have involved the wholesale destruction of a country. The US itself has committed many crimes in the ME over the decades. What gives us the right to play God there considering the poor track record of the US in the ME? What would Jesus have done? Dropped bombs on Iraq. Based on his teachings, I think not. bush gives Christianity a very bad name indeed. I find it rather interesting that among my agnostic and atheistic friends, they ALL opposed the Iraq war. My Christian friends mostly favored the war, seems a bit odd to me considering they claim to lead a so-called Christian life.
professorx
"the very fact that the alleged people who commited those atrocities demonstrates that they were not saved christ-followers. "
The fact of the matter is, the indigenous people that weren't exterminated by white Europeans were sent to concentration camps and Christian Europeans occupied their lands and controlled their fate. Both Africans and the Indigenous peoples were shortchanged by the constitution with the result of continued enslavement of Africans and the continued genocide of the indigenous peoples. If one accepts that the founding fathers were mostly Christian, as I read on these boards all the time, then one would have to also conclude that the Christian founding fathers are also responsible for enslavement and genocide of other human beings.
citsonga, the very fact that the alleged people who commited those atrocities demonstrates that they were not saved christ-followers.
citsonga
Surely I cannot cry on the graves of those killed by so called Christians (if they were) but certainly I would support to eradicate any killings in future. I am Pro-life and against violence.
khanson
"In modern day India what extremist Hindu organizations are doing against Christians can only be parallelled what Nazi did to Jews in Germany"
You might have added what christians did to Africans and Indigenous Americans.
'Convert or Die'
Sounds like the same deal the invading christian europeans gave to the "heathen" indigenous peoples of the americas.....
chicagomel: "I've never understood why the extremists are so opposed to the Gospel anyway, why they feel such a need to resort to violence and intimidation."
Jesus warned us beforehand this would happen. (Matt 10)
www.persecution.com & www.persecution.org are good places to learn of the persecution Christians face on a global scale.
I agree. People in India and outside of it should pressure the government to stop the extremists and uphold the laws, and whatever rights their constitution grants them. I've never understood why the extremists are so opposed to the Gospel anyway, why they feel such a need to resort to violence and intimdation.
Christians should bombard the Indian Embassy with letters expressing their outrage at this dastardly and cowardly behavior of Hindu extremists. We must support our brothers and sisters in Christ, with prayer, and action.
Thank you for praying with me Star2, you are my sister, in Christ :)
Dangy
Amen.
God does not "test" us, He asks only that we trust Him when the world tests us. Jesus has been tested in our place and He was victorious! TRUST in the power of the completed work if Christ!
Fear is not of the Lord. Standing on our own strength we will fail, but in Christ all things are possible! Dare we jugde our brothers and sisters in Christ? We, who have never faced anything that compares to the persecution they are under? No! Instead, pray daily that the Lord strengthen and protect them, pray daily that God removes our foolishness and focuses our mnds and our hearts on His righteousness.
Father, in the precious name of Jesus we ask that you use us this day, that Your Holy Spirit begin to make us true "salt and light" in this world that others may see and know Your strength, Your power, Your love. Remove from us, dear Lord, fear of the world's "boogeymen," fill us with your love, give us hearts for Your will. Teach us how to love our enemies, Lord, bring to our minds the faith of those three Hebrew boys who trusted You completely and were shown Your power, who saw Your very presence in the fire with them, and escaped unharmed! Lord, please let us to stop focusing on the bad things in this world and redirect our gaze, continually, to focus on Your completed work in Christ Jesus. We thank you for all You have done, for all You are doing, for all that You have promised to do in our lives, make us willing and useful to You in this world. Lord we ask that You open our eyes and our hearts that we will recognize those who bravely stand with You, that we may support them with our love and our prayers! Do not allow us to foolishly trust in the world's institutions, remind us that we are fully owned by You, and that You alone are worthy! In the name of Jesus. Amen