New Delhi, November 22, 2007 (All India Christian Council)

Hindu fundamentalists murdered a pastor and burnt a church at Mandwa village under Kodenar Police Station of Jagdalpur district in Chhattisgarh on November 20^th night. The village has 60 Christian families who are members of a Pentecostal church.

According to information recieved by the All India Christian Council, on the night of November 20th, Bajrang Dal activists came in a jeep and surrounded the church with the help of some of the villagers. Pastor Sudroo, Ramlal, Sonadhar Kashyap and Jugal Kashyap were tied with ropes and severely beaten and pastor was reported to have been murdered by the fanatics.

The General Secretary of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, Mr. Arun Pannalal told the AICC about the murder of one pastor. "The Christians, who witnessed the incident, rushed to local police station to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against those culprits. They were detained in police station for 24 hours without food and water and later released without registering the complaint," said Mr. Pannalal.

The attack on Christians in Mandwa was reported to the concerned Superintendent of Police and the District Collector by Kodenar police station but no action against the Hindu fundamentalists was taken till the filing of this report according to the sources.

"The Christian minorities in the state are facing grievances as the state and district authority do not take action against the Hindu fundamentalists, who have tortured innocent Christians in the state," said Mr. Pannalal.

"The legal system in the state has failed to render justice to Christian minorities, so now only possible way left is to approach the Office of Prime Minister and National Minorities Commission," said Mr. Pannalal.

The religious persecution in Chhattisgarh has increased ever since Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in April 2001. Christian workers and missionaries suffer false allegations of forced and fraudulent conversion charges under the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act 1968, which is actually anti religious freedom in its nature.

Mr. Pannalal said, "None of the allegations against pastors and Christian workers by the Hindu fundamentalists have been given verdicts so far, which mean the charges are baseless."

The National Commission for Minorities has said the Anti Conversion bills passed in eight Indian states violate the fundamental rights provided in the Indian Constitution and the Commission said that India has enough laws to handle the fraudulent and forced conversions, therefore there is no need of such laws.

The Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Bill 1968 was amended in 2006 by the BJP Government, but Governor Narasimhan refused to sign it into the law and forwarded it to the Attorney General of India, Milon Banerjee, for a legal opinion.

The Christian persecution in India has risen to four attacks per week, already 192 in 2007 (from 1 January to 22 November) while there were 178 in 2006 and 165 in 2005 according to John Dayal, National Integration Council member. These figures represent only the reported incidents while many other unreported attacks take place.

The All India Christian Council (www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.