India's Christians See Rise in Hostility

That is the title of an article in the February 8th issue of Christian Science Monitor. The article goes on to say:

Ms. Bai, A Christian, was hosting a prayer meeting on January 16 when 50 Hindu extremists from a gruop calling itself Dharma Sena (Army for Religion) arrived. They beat up several men and set fire to 10 motorcycles and a car....

In the neighboring state of Orissa, over Christmas, mobs destroyed 55 churches and 600 hoouses - "the worst anti-Christian violence in India since independence in 1947."

Hindus say that the Christians are responsible for the violence. They are converting Hindus by all means possible.

Arun Pannalai, general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, says that sometimes the evangelizing style of new Christians appears insensitive. "We've been trying to teach them that you don't have to criticize other gods and goddesses when you preach."

A popular way to target evangelical Christians, as a result of the state's conversion law, is to accuse them of forcible conversions to get them arrestsd. "Few of those cases go to court..." says Pannalal, "But by then the extremists have done their job, which is to terrify people."