By team
9/9/2024 India (International Christian Concern) — A pastor and several members of his church were beaten on Sunday as Hindu nationalists attacked a worship service in Odisha on Sunday, accusing the church of forcefully converting Hindus to Christianity.
Those who conducted the attack in the city of Bhubaneswar included members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), the self-avowed protector of the Hindu religion, and Bajrang Dal, an RSS offshoot that is prone to violent attacks on minority communities.
According to reports, the church had recently rented a three-story building to conduct its worship services. After the RSS and Bajrang Dal learned that more than 100 people were attending the church’s services, they decided to attack the church and make false allegations of forced conversions.
Police arrived at the church and took some people, including Christians, to the police station for questioning. Members of the two Hindu nationalist organizations surrounded the police station in protest of the Christians. The situation only calmed down after a leader of the police arrived.
Anti-conversion laws are increasingly used against churches and individual Christians throughout India.
This story was originally published in persecution.org. Read the full story here.