India

NEW DELHI – Thousands of Tamil people, including scholars and language experts, paid homage to Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, the first Protestant missionary to India, for his immense contributions in the development of Tamil language.

Ziegenbalg was among many missionaries whose contributions were recalled during the five-day World Classical Tamil Conference in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Nagapattinam Tahsildar Rengarajan and Zonal Deputy Tahsildar Ramkumar garlanded Ziegenbalg's statue in Tarangambadi, a town in Tamil Nadu. more >>

Two pastors from the Assemblies of God Church denomination were attacked by a group of unknown people on Wednesday in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Pastor Shiju Kuriakose, 35, and Pastor Jayan, 30, from the Nitya Vachanam Bethel Assemblies of God Church were attacked with iron rods after they had conducted prayer at a believer's house.

According to the Global Council of Indian Christians, the pastors finished the prayer and went to a nearby tea stall when a “group of unknown people came in two motor cycles wielding iron rods." more >>

NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) – A pastor in Assam state was murdered and cremated without being identified last month before family members learned of his death when they saw a photo of his body in a newspaper.

The body of Son Englang, 35, was recovered alongside National Highway 37 on May 20, with marks indicating his hands had been tightly bound before he was shot. The pastor from Mallasi village, Karbi Anglong, supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA), had reportedly been kidnapped early in the morning of the previous day as he rode his bicycle to the Bokakhat marketplace to buy paint materials for his nearly completed church building.

The unknown kidnappers, suspected Hindu extremists, reportedly took him to the jungle to kill him. more >>

Two women pastors were arrested and sent to jail on false charges by a Hindu Nationalist Movement in Karnataka, India, according to a Christian advocacy group.

The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police arrested pastors Lalithamma and Kadaur Devaki on allegations of creating communal disharmony and disturbing peace in Kadur taluk, Chickmaglur district.

The incident occurred on Sunday, June 6, after a group of men from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, who were accompanied by police, disrupted the worship service. more >>

Gospel For Asia has expressed its sorrow over the murder of one of its missionaries in India last month.

Ajit Bansi was constructing a new church in Assam when he was killed by an extremist anti-Christian group on May 20. He had gone to a nearby town to purchase materials for the final phase of construction but never returned.

GFA said he was ambushed together with three other people and that all four were shot dead by the extremist group. more >>

NEW DELHI – The Bengal Christian Council on Friday condemned the Maoist attack on Mumbai-bound Gyaneswari Express that killed at least 98 people in West Bengal's Midnapore district in India.

"We are very grieved to learn of the tragedy this morning. The attack by the Maoists which resulted in loss of lives must be condemned in the strongest possible terms," said the Rev. A. Mondal, secretary of the BCC.

"As we send our heart felt condolences, we want to pray that God changes the heart of those people indulging in violence," he added. more >>