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A List of Atrocities Commited Against Christians Across
India

Hindu Extremists

The holy masters gather to re-affirm their faith

A Chronology of Events concerning the Attacks against Christians

1. 1998

2. Jan. 6, 1998, Bangaon (Bihar) - Father Villan Topno attacked seriously hurt.
3. In January 1998, Hingoli (Maharashtra) - Paul Nagendran and his team were beaten up. Nagendran lies paralysed.
4. February (Haryana): A 200 year-old graveyard belonging to the Christian community was captured illegally and a grave desecrated and destroyed in Hansi.
5. Feb. 15, 1998 Latur (Maharashtra) - Alleged RSS workers attack Catholic Hospital Association of India camp.
6. February 20, 1998 (Tamil Nadu) - Bethany Fellowship Church was destroyed in Erode.
   
7. February (Gujarat): Divan Tembrum village. The heads of the village, police Patel Ramesh Avasu and Suresh Mahru, rushed to the prayer hall while prayers were taking place at 8 p.m. The Christians were beaten up with police sticks. A complaint was made to the police but no action has been taken.
8. March 2 (Gujarat): Padra, Baroda District. A group of people were distributing handbills concerning an oncoming Christian meeting scheduled to be held on Baroda polo grounds during 4th to 7th March, 1998. VHP-Bajrang Dal, Durga Vahini young men came out in large numbers and started severely beating the group, which included a few foreign tourists. One woman, who was pregnant, was kicked with boots. Another woman's frock was torn. They were not only severely beaten but also forced them to chant the names of Hindu gods. Later the police came on the scene and took the victims to the Padra police station and detained them there for a long time.
9. March 4 (Gujarat): Vadodara (Baroda), Attack in the Baroda polo ground on peaceful Christian minority group. Jesus Mahotsav meeting was scheduled to be conducted on the polo ground Baroda, during 4th to 7th March, 1998 with due permissions from the authorities. Necessary arrangements for this meeting were made including erection of a dais for the speakers and another pulpit for the singing team. A group of about 300 young volunteers allegedly of the VHP-Bajrang Dal descended on the stage and on the polo ground, where a large audience was patiently waiting for viewing the listening the programme.. The group began running among the audience, blowing whistles and bursting fire crackers, thereby creating great commotion and panic among the entire gathering.
   They resorted to severely and mercilessly beating the audience. On an earlier day they tried to set the stage on fire, when it was being erected. Some people in the audience received such severe injuries including fractured hands and head injuries. A Maruti 800 car (No GJ-6-AA 308) belonging to one of the participants was burnt. The trouble makers also destroyed musical instruments, the loss of which is estimated to be around Rs 2 lakh. The buses engaged for transporting the participants in the meeting were prevented from taking off. The stranded participants using public transport at the bus stands were singled out and were mercilessly beaten.
10. March 13, 1998, Khanvel (Dadra & Nagar Haveli) - Pilgrims attacked by Holi revellers.
11. March 25 (Bihar): Luke Putaniyil of Missionaries of Charity murdered in Noeada, a place about 120kms. from Patna..
12. April 1998, Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) - Gipson's Central Baptist Church threatened with demolition by VHP activists.
13. Apr 3, 1998 Baroda (Gujarat) - Christian convention at the polo grounds attacked by the members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal.
14. April 11, 1998, Palanpur (Gujarat) - Worshippers at prayer meet attacked on grounds of holding 'Jesus Mahotsav'.
15. April 11, 1998, Palanpur (Gujarat) - Angelos II the Music team of Inter Collegiate Prayer Fellowship was not allowed to perform.
16. April 11, 1998 (Gujarat): Palanpur. Attack on Christian gathering during the Passion week on 11th April, 1998:. The united meeting of Christian communities of Palanpur at the Municipal hall during the passion week (Crucifixion of Jesus Christ) on 10,11 & 12th April, 1998 : was attacked on 11 April in the afternoon around 4 pm when some 30-35 members allegedly of the VHP/Bajrang Dal forcibly entered the Municipal hall from behind the climbing the compound wall, armed with hockey sticks, cricket bats, iron rods, etc. They destroyed the food being prepared for about 250 guests, damaged vessels, entered the next room where some women and children were resting, and beat them. They damaged a Tata bus of the mission which was parked on the ground near the hall. The damage is estimated at Rs 35,000/-.
17. April 16 (GUJARAT): NARODA (Ahmedabad). Church under construction razed to the ground by the Gram Panchayat The St Antony's Church, Prayer hall, Community hall and Medical Centre which were under different stages of construction, near the Murlidhar society in Naroda (Ahmedabad suburb) were destroyed in the presence of a large and armed gathering. There are many religious and other structures which are illegally constructed, in the Naroda Gram Panchayat area and AUDA area, and even in the Capital city of Gandhinagar, but only the Christian buildings were targeted.
18. Naroda: St. Mary's School, run by the Jacobites, was vandalized on the pretext that Sanskrit was not taught there. Among other religious articles, a statue of the Virgin Mary was badly damaged
19. May 5, 1998 Koshippilly (Kerala) - 'Little Flower Church' vandalised, crucifix desecrated 10 May, 1998, (Mumbai) - 40 strong group disrupted the Sunday Worship in 4 churches.
20. May 11 (Maharashtra): Shiv Sena activists attacked Father Octavio Nevis with iron rods in Ambernath.
21. May 15, 1998 - Ranchi (Bihar) Brother Modestus Tirkey. headmaster of a Catholic School attacked.
22. May 18, (Gujarat): Miscreants attacked and stoned the jeep of a Catholic priest Xavier Amalraj at Pipalvada near Zankhvav breaking the windshield and injuring one of the occupants of the jeep.
23. June 1 (Maharastra): Christians beaten and 6 houses destroyed.
24. June 11, 1998 - Ambarnath (Maharashtra) - Alleged Shiv Sainiks assault Father Octavio Antony Nevis with iron bars.
25. June 16, 1998 - (Maharashtra) -Christians of Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) were beaten by Sarpanch and houses were destroyed.
26. June 16 (Maharashtra): St. Savariyar Church at Srilankapada, Malad in Mumbai was demolished by the Municipal Corporation.
27. June 17 (Gujarat): The principal of St Xaviers's School, Deputy Collector with the express orders of the Collector, Surat, and with police came to search and confiscate records of admissions and students who had applied. Another school, Lourdes Convent, was also humiliated with such orders-to-search-and-confiscate. The principal complained that the district education officer too was constantly harassing with threats of derecognition and cutting off of grants. The principal alleged that the collector's office was involved in the attempt to implicate the two schools.
28. June 21, 1988 (Gujarat): Singana village in Dangs Prayer hall burnt
29. June 26, 1998 (Gujarat): Prayer hall burnt at 8:30 p.m. in Lahan Kadmad village in Dangs District.
30. June 29 (Gujarat): Prayer hall in Umarpada attacked but assailants failed to set it on fire.
31. July 8, 1998 (Gujarat): Kapadwanj, Nadiad district (old Kheda district) : The body of Samuel Christian, a Methodist Christian, was exhumed allegedly by VHP activists from the cemetery at Kapadvanj and dumped near the Methodist church. A group of Vaghris, an OBC community, had encroached on the cemetery-land while the police and the administration have been allegedly not taking prompt action.
32. July 11, 1998 - Bhind (Maharashtra) - two workers of FMPB were beaten.
33. July 12, 1998 (GUJARAT) :, Christians gathered for Sunday worship when village Patel Baburao Gavit allegedly rushed in brandishing a bottle and threatened the Christians. The same day, the church lock was broken, and the Cross removed from the prayer hall in Dhavalidod.
34. July 16, 1998 (Gujarat): Zankhav village of Mangrol taluka, Surat District: The Shantiniketan High School, run by the Jesuit priests of the Loyola Education Trust, was broken into and stoned on July 16. A tractor was driven into the premises and the playground for children was ploughed. Damage to the tune of Rs. 15,000 was caused. The land in question was the property of the late Shantilal Shah who handed it over to the Loyola Education Trust to build a school in 1984. The Fathers have been running the school which caters to the tribal students of neighbouring villages and the residents of Zankhav town (out of the 720 students enrolled, 152 are Christians and the rest belong to other religions). The "Gujarat Samachar" and the "Sandesh" dailies, had been systematically printing inflammatory and vicious articles in Gujarati that the priests were forcibly converting tribals to Christianity and that only Christian children were being admitted into the school. Two truck-loads of hooligans from the nearby Wadi village were let loose in Zankhvav market the next day . In the ensuing violence, the parents of three students were arrested. Rather than take punitive measures against the evil-doers, the Gujarat State Government (BJP), seems to be a tacit endorser of the destructive activities that have been carried out and are being carried out to create fear among the tribals and to paralyse the good work done by Christian groups.
35. July 16 (New Delhi): Hindu politicians prepare bill harmful to Christian education. The bill calls for all schools to conform to the concept that India should be a Hindu nation. It calls for the rewriting of India's history books and the closure of non-Hindu religious schools.
36. July 17 (Karnataka): Bajrang Dal conducts simultaneous raids al over Karnataka, forcing their way into Christian schools and Convents. Cluny convent, Bangalore; the Sacred Heart Convent, Keshwapur, Hubli; the St. Mary's Convent School, Christ the King Convent School, Nirmala Convent School, St. Joseph's Convent School and Carmel Convent School, all in Mysore; the St. Joseph's Convent School and St. John's Convent School in Mandya and the St. Joseph's Girl's High School in Bellary reported such raids.
37. July (Karnataka): Bajrang Dal activists forced their way into St. Mary's Convent School while the Assembly was on and spat on the face of a nun who protested.
38. July 18, 1998 (Gujarat): In Bhapkal Village in Dangs District, a prayer hall was burnt and Christians harassed allegedly by one Bansha Bapu Pawar of the same village.
39. July 18 (Tamil Nadu): Assemblies of God's church believers and workers beaten and materials looted in Anaaipalayam.
40. July 20, 1998 (Gujarat): Rajkot: Copies of the Holy Bible (New Testament) were burnt by alleged VHP and Bajrang Dal activists at the I.P. Mission School, Rajkot. The miscreants claimed that the school authorities, in connivance with the Gideon Society, were trying to forcibly convert the children into Christianity because on the last page of the New Testament, readers were expected to sign a note stating that they had accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
41. July 23, 1998 (Gujarat): Borkhal Village: revenue Thallathi (official) Kalu Mana Gaikwad allegedly connived with local Hindu activists and late at night attacked and injured Adivasis who were at prayer in the prayer hall. The adivasis were beaten up, and later false cases filed against them.
42. July 23 (New Delhi): Delhi Government attempts to close down churches because the serving of sacramental wine violates liquor laws.
43. July 24 (Gujarat): In Isar, a small village 10 kms. from Zankhav, where also the Catholic Priests are working, a group of RSS and Bajrang Dal activists attacked the Christians and terrorised them. They added insult to injury by filing a case against the Christians themselves resulting in the arrest of 14 Christians. Dhavalidod village :
44. July 25 (Gujarat): Hindu activists exhumed a buried body of a Christian in Gandhinagar.
45. July 27, 1998 (Gujarat): Darapada village,, Christian believer Ulus Ramji Pawar was attacked and killed allegedly by one Dinesh Nana Bhoye of Darpada and other, and a false complaint lodged against the murdered man.
46. August 9 (Gujarat): Church demolished by RSS people in Ahmedabad.
47. August 13 (Manipur): Two Catholic priests manhandled by an Army Colonel.
48. August 15 (U.P.): O.M. workers distributing tracts in Robertsganj were brutally assaulted by youth belonging to the Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, and VHP.
49. August 25 (West Bengal): Bikashdas of MCI assaulted by Trinamool MP Sudip Bandhpadhyay in Calcutta,
50. August 31 (Bihar): A Catholic church demolished in Kobatoli village in Gumla District.
51. September 5 (New Delhi): Bajrang Dal launches "Quit India" campaign against Christian missionaries.
52. September 22, 1998 - In a most shocking incident in Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh, four of our Religious Sisters were assaulted and gang-raped in the early hours.
53. September 23, 1998 - A crowd led by the BJP MLA Shailendra Pradhan attacked the parish house of Fr. Edward Sarel, about 10 kms. from Jhabua. 24 September '98 - a Clarist Convent in Baghpat (U.P.) was attacked.
54. September 23 (U. P. ): Nuns in a Clarist Convent were attacked in Bhagpat.
55. September 26 (UP): The subdivisional magistrate, Mr. Yadav, along with the Police Station Officer, Mr. R. D. Rai and Sub-inspectors Mr. Girija Singh and Mr. Shri Ram Mishra along with seven policemen forced their way into the Jiwan Jyoti Christian Hospital Campus in Robertsganj. They threatened a group of about 32 seekers and misbehaved with the medical superintendent, Dr. (Mrs.) Monica Benjamin.
56. September 26 (U.P.): Activists of Hindu Jagran Manch, Bajrang Dal and Rana Tharu Parishad broke into the Union Church in Amaun, two kilometers east of Khatima, in Udham Singh Nagar District. They put up an idol of Shiva in the church and worshipped it for about two hours.
57. September 26 (New Delhi): A Statue of St. Bernard was hacked and thrown out of the compound of Jesus and Mary College in New Delhi.
58. September 30 (New Delhi): Acharya Giriraj Kishor, the Secretary-General of the VHP, warned Christian missionaries to leave India.
59. October 7 (U.P.) : Christy Jyoti Convent Public School threatened by villagers of Baghpat and Meerut Districts.
60. October 10, 1998 - BJP Government's Home Minister has accused Mr. Houtsma of "Spreading superstition in our society" and violating the rules under Bombay Police Act by organising a Faith Healing session in Rajkot. Police had issued a show cause notice to the Faith Healer.
61. October 30, 1998 (Ayodhya) - The BJP dominated council of Ayodhya last week passed a resolution banning burial of the bodies within the municipal limits of this historic town.
62. October 30 (Gujarat): Attack on delegates attending the National Christian Conference in Baroda during the 9th Leadership Conference from 27th October to 1st November 1998. They used sticks, belts, chains, and fists to mercilessly beat up the delegates as they were forced into the streets. Bibles and other personal documents were snatched from their hands. About 40 of those beaten up sustained injuries.
63. November 9 (Haryana): A Catholic convent was broken into in Jhajjar District in Kheda Khummar Village and two nuns, Sr. Daisy and Sr. Litsy were assaulted and asked to leave the place.
64. November 11 (Gujarat) : In village Borigautha near vaghai in Dangs district, miscreatns tried to burn down a chapel. The miscreants also set fire to some structures in the village and looted the people.
65. November 11 (Gujarat) : In Daghunia village near the Saputara road in Dangs district, several Christian tribals were beaten up including a sickly lady. Several families were taken to Unai in forced to bathe in the hot springs as a kind of `purification.' The woman and her husband were again terrorised and assaulted. The elected sarpanch sided with the miscreatns and has now decreed that the Christians should not draw water from the village well, and should not send thier cattle with the animals of other villagers to the jungles to graze. In another decree, the village Sarpanch had said the Christians would no longer be given work in any government or government aided project.
66. Sultan Battery (Kerala) Gospel workers that includes 4 women whom belongs to the St. Paul's Mission of India was attacked by RSS workers. They were beaten brutaly and their bibles were destroyed.
67. - Continuing harassment and violence against Christians in Dharampur, South Gujarat: - Jamalpadam village: Adivasi Christians of the village were beaten up allegedly by VHP activists.
68. - Pipalyamal village. In complicity between police officer Damor and local VHP activist Gamaj Gavli, Christians have been routinely harassed and threatened.
69. - Jarsol Village; The Gujarat Samachar, against which the Christians have made several complaints, reported, falsely, that Adivasi Christians of the village had slaughtered and eaten a cow. False complaints were filed by the police officer, G. M. Damor, and many Christians were implicated and locked up.