Posted on 06/14/2007 5:57:53 AM PDT by kellynla
Laxmi Narayan Gowda, an independent pastor and representative of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), was recovering in a hospital at press time with swelling and numerous bruises.
The incident took place at about 7 p.m. in Hessarghatta, about 30 kilometers from Bangalore, when a group of about 50 people barged into the pastor’s house and threatened him with violence unless he moved out of the area, said Sam Joseph, a Karnataka-based leader of the All India Christian Council (AICC).
The group returned with 100 more people shortly after, cornered Pastor Gowda in a room in his house, and began assaulting him in front of his wife and two small children.
Extremists of the Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council), allegedly led the mob.
One of the assailants threw kerosene on the pastor, and others started burning Bibles. Someone tossed a burning Bible onto Pastor Gowda, but miraculously he did not catch fire, Joseph told Compass.
The extremists then stripped the pastor naked and hung a board around his neck that said, “I am the one who was converting people,” before parading him through the area.
“By this time, the mob had swollen to about 1,000, as more people joined in to harass and torture the pastor,” Joseph added.
Local police arrived about an hour later, after one of the pastor’s relatives called them by telephone.
The assailants burned at least 250 Bibles and also vandalized furniture and equipment.
Police had not registered a case against the attackers at press time. When Compass spoke to Inspector R. Malesh of the Soladevanhalli police station, he said the victim did not want to file a complaint.
“We have requested the Christians to give us a complaint in writing, but they do not want to press charges against the attackers,” he said.
Malesh claimed that the mob consisted of local people who did not belong to any Hindu extremist groups. Some of Pastor Gowda’s neighbors attacked, he said, because they do not want Christian prayers and meetings to take place in his house.
A local source, however, told Compass on condition of anonymity that the attack was pre-planned and directed by an unidentified lawyer. The lawyer suggested to the crowd that if they hit the pastor as a mob, then there would be no possibility of prosecution, said the source.
Before Pastor Gowda accepted Christ about 15 years ago, the source said, he was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organization of numerous Hindu extremist groups in India.
“The attackers seemingly wanted to punish Pastor Gowda for converting to Christianity from their Hindu nationalistic ideology, and warn others against dong so,” added the source.
Pastor Gowda has been working in the area for the last 12 years. The source also said the pastor was firm in his faith following the attack.
Dr. Sam Paul, AICC’s public affairs secretary, said that although Karnataka was known for anti-Christian attacks, the situation has become more volatile in the state since the Janata Dal-Secular party, in coalition with the Hindu nationalistic Bharatiya Janata Party, took power from the Congress Party in February 2006.
“Extremists in Karnataka are emboldened as the police usually turn up after the incident,” he said. “There are also times when the police encourage anti-social elements to harass Christians.”
Paul also stressed the need to educate India’s people about true conversion, in particular that it does not mean that one becomes anti-national.
Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the GCIC, told Compass that he was thankful to God for saving the life of one of his organization’s representatives.
neither-nor — I appreciate your comment.
A little background on me: I’m not a “when-it-is-convenient” Christian. I spent years researching what truth is, which of the various religions represented truth, which was consistent with observable fact, and so on. I concluded that the religion that Jesus Christ lived and preached was true, and that therefore others are not true.
I’ve found the faith that Jesus preached to be real, to be dependable. I’ve found Jesus to be dependable.
The thing is, Jesus didn’t allow for other “religions.” He proclaimed that He was “the way,” the *only* way, and that there was no other way to reconciliation with God other than through Him. God the Father saw fit to reveal Himself through Jesus, and not through another. So it follows that Jesus is Truth, and other attempts to make sense of “all this” are just not. Including Hinduism.
I have no hard feelings against Hindus, of course. My prayer is that someday soon they come to know Jesus as their Savior. And “Savior” is something Krishna isn’t. I need a Savior, not a man who says fascinating things.
That has to be the most absurd statement I have ever read on FR. ISLAM started in 622 AD and Hinduism has been around since 3000 BC or so. How can the source be the same ?
Also, the teachings of the 2 religions could not be more different. ISLAM is inherently violent and has grown at the tip of the sword. Hindusim is the most tolerant and non violent major religion with a complete acceptance of other faiths.
Read the Koran and the Bhagwad Gita and the difference are night and day. Look also at the history of Islamic civilizations that is replete with murder and that of Hindu India which has never been imperialist.
While deplorable, all these incidents were in response to agression by Muslims. Muslims have killed 50 million Hindus in the last 1200 years in keeping with their barbaric way of life.
If you knew your history, you just would not make an absurd statement like that. ISLAM is inherently a violent and barbaric cult, how much more evidence do you need to see on a daily basis as proof ?
There is only one God and he has no name, no form or religion but he has infinite number of manifestations. He has made his presence known to mankind universally through time and space and will continue doing so. Any religion claiming their’s is the only path to God is fundamentally wrong. Cuz most of those religion evolved only a couple of thousand years ago. Humanity existed for the last 30-50,000 odd years and they knew about God all the time. Concept of God didn't begin with Jesus. Moreover human beings created the religion called Christianity, not Jesus. The idea of God will last forever only his name will change, form will change and religions will change. Only the crux of his teachings will remain the same.
The only caveat I would make to that statement is ISLAM because their teachings are blatantly violent and differ sharply from all other religions. I would even question if ISLAM is a bona fide religion as it is a political system and controls every aspect of a person’s life and condones the horrendous treatment of women.
Funny that, for a most peaceful and tolerant religion, some of its adherents are awfully fond of human sacrifice and worshiping a murderous six armed blue skinned demon.
As Theo noted, there is only one God, and one path to salvation, and that is through Christ. All this mumbo jumbo equal-equal syncretic nonsense are the serpent’s words. Designed to confuse and lead people astray from the Truth.
God does not condemn anyone, people condemn themselves by forsaking his light.
And howz you fetus soup today?
” there is only one God, and one path to salvation, and that is through Christ. “
So why dont YOU pray to him? Your godless country needs him more then we do.
Who knows what the original creator of Islam intended. We can only guess it may have either been fundamentally wrong or is altered and degraded by its own tenets over the years as is the case with both Christianity and Hinduism. Both Christianity and Hinduism have deviated in many different directions form its original root and over a period of time have picked up many vices and perversion on the way. Definitely more so in case of Islam. Neither Christianity nor Hinduism is a monolith. There are several contradictions among them. In case of Christianity, I am not sure their current Evangelism that is practiced is true Christianity.
You can go back to the history of Christianity and find many horrific facts as well. All religions have that in their past. Here is a rational way to evaluate.
What is the inherent message from the religion’s holy books ?
How do the vast majority of the religion’s adherents live today, do they treat women well for example ?
On both counts, ISLAM is the religion that fails, Christianity and Hinduism in 2007 are forces for good. To put 1 religion down does not make your better. This whole notion of my god is better than yours is demented and if you really believe that all the non-Christians in the world are lesser people and will go to hell then you are a non violent version of the Taliban.
All of those are essential parts of ISLAm and nowhere to be found in Hinduism, if you still think that the two are equally violence prone, then you really do not know history.
How did ISLAM spread since 622 across the world, at the tip of the sword. Hinduism along with Judaism have no evangelical zeal in them at all so we do not go out and try to convert. In ISLAM, converting the world to Sharia law is their stated goal.
Where is there more religious freedom, Saudi Arabia or India ? I grew up in India, went to catholic schools all my life, had Christian friends and neighbors and never once saw an issue with that and have nothing but admiration for Christianity. Find me 1 human being who could tell you a similar story from the Middle East.
BTW how are Christians treated in China?
“The extremists then stripped the pastor naked and hung a board around his neck that said, “I am the one who was converting people,” before parading him through the area.”
A true honor.
Which is why it had to go through being “the biggest victim in history of Islam” . It would have been far easier to bow down to the invading hordes and accept Islam like the entire Islamic belt from India’s border to the Atlantic and escape all the genocide. India is the reason why Islam didnt manage to proceed further eastward. That came with a very high price.
Besides THEY invaded India, India didnt invade them.
If only they had taught you all they in your leftist madrassah.
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