Mennonite Weekly Review

Brethren in Christ Church members and institutions were attacked when brutal violence against Christians erupted Aug. 24 in India’s Orissa state.

The offices of the BIC Church in India were a target of the violence, which lasted for 12 days. Several pastors and church planters lost all their belongings when their homes were looted and burned.

The fury was set off by the fatal shooting of Laxmananda Saraswati, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a militant group, and four of his followers. Saraswati had been accused of persecuting Christians. The Indian government has said Maoists are suspected of his killing, but the VHP blames Christians.

The BIC regional administrator for South Asia said the BIC Church in Orissa, a Mennonite World Conference member conference, has about 100 congregations, and 30 are in the Kandhamal district, hard hit by the violence.

“There have been threats, beatings and persecution for the last 20 years, but the [current] situation is very tense,” he said.

“People have been brutally murdered, hacked to death, women have been gang raped, and more than 100 churches in all six districts [of Orissa] have been burned. Brethren in Christ members have been attacked but not killed.”

This summer’s violence was the worst that Christians in Orissa have ever experienced. Estimates put the death toll at more than 60 people.

A crowd of up to 4,000 Hindu militants attacked the BIC Girls Hostel at Nuagoan. The mob set the hostel and church ablaze, destroyed its water tank and demolished the campus.

Ten policemen who were on guard at the hostel fled when they saw the approaching crowd. Staff, girls and local believers fled.

“People, including pastors, who are still hiding in the forest have lost everything,” the church leader said. “They have no clothes, no food and are at risk of snake bites and malaria. They have no medication. It is not yet safe to help them.”

Several times over the past 25 years this leader has been threatened, sometimes by a mob of hundreds of people.

The International Brethren in Christ Association and MWC officials will send a letter to government officials, and BIC Church leaders in India will send a delegation to the state government asking it to put pressure on the local government to protect its citizens and to restore peace.