Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Hindu Mob in India Beats, Strips, Parades Pastor
spcm.org ^ | June 12 , 2007 | Vishal Arora

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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: antichristian; burningbibles; christianity; hindu; hindus; india; indianchristians; persecution; religiousintolerance
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-160 last
To: neither-nor; HiTech RedNeck; Maneesh; Gengis Khan

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.


141 posted on 06/17/2007 7:33:52 PM PDT by Theo (Global warming "scientists." Pro-evolution "scientists." They're both wrong.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: Gengis Khan; Theo
“I should add that the father of Hinduism is the same person as the father of Islam.”

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.

142 posted on 06/18/2007 6:27:29 AM PDT by Maneesh (A non-hyphenated American.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: aruanan
“Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of Muslims the Hindus killed in the 20th century.”

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 ?

143 posted on 06/18/2007 6:38:15 AM PDT by Maneesh (A non-hyphenated American.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 139 | View Replies]

To: Theo; Maneesh; neither-nor
Your researching is faulty and smacks of ego. Spending years on a research thats is fundamentally wrong does not make you more knowledgeable then the rest of us.

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.

144 posted on 06/18/2007 8:00:10 AM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: Gengis Khan
That is a very wise opinion and my primary objection to Christianity (which I am strongly in favor of) is the belief that if you don’t believe in Jesus then you will go to Hell and you are not religious.

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.

145 posted on 06/18/2007 9:12:38 AM PDT by Maneesh (A non-hyphenated American.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: Maneesh

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.


146 posted on 06/18/2007 11:37:06 AM PDT by cmdjing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 142 | View Replies]

To: cmdjing
Its much better to pray to a mythological “demon” then to a real demon like Mao. So kiss my “six armed blue skinned demon”.

And howz you fetus soup today?

147 posted on 06/18/2007 11:45:35 AM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: cmdjing

” 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.


148 posted on 06/18/2007 11:49:49 AM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: Maneesh

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.


149 posted on 06/18/2007 12:05:24 PM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 145 | View Replies]

To: Maneesh
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 ?

A. I do know my history.
B. It's not an absurd statement since it was referring to a specific period of time.
C. The violence in India went both ways quite freely.
D. Your 50 million figure is suspect.
150 posted on 06/18/2007 12:27:06 PM PDT by aruanan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: cmdjing
“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.”

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.

151 posted on 06/18/2007 2:12:44 PM PDT by Maneesh (A non-hyphenated American.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: aruanan
Show me where in any holy book of Hinduism, it promoted and condones violence against infidels, horrendous treatment of women, beheading, lying, treating non believers as third class citizens if they live in your nation and having no tolerance of other religions. Also spreading your religion by force.

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.

152 posted on 06/18/2007 2:19:26 PM PDT by Maneesh (A non-hyphenated American.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 150 | View Replies]

To: cmdjing; Maneesh

BTW how are Christians treated in China?


153 posted on 06/18/2007 4:27:08 PM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 151 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

“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.


154 posted on 06/18/2007 4:32:35 PM PDT by Rb ver. 2.0 (The Republican party of today is the Whig party of 1856.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aruanan; Maneesh
A. You DO know your leftist history.
B. Now read some real history.
C. Click here http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=4649
D. Only the TRUTH will set you FRee!
155 posted on 06/18/2007 4:33:02 PM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 150 | View Replies]

To: Gengis Khan
That is a terrific article, thanks for the link. I have read “THe sword of the prophet” from the same author and this appears to be from that book. India and Hindus have been the biggest victims of Islamic barbarism.
156 posted on 06/18/2007 5:52:13 PM PDT by Maneesh (A non-hyphenated American.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 155 | View Replies]

To: Gengis Khan
A. You DO know your leftist history.

Yeah, sure. Far from being the biggest victim in history of Islam, India is still a nation existing from ancient times with a non-Muslim identity. This cannot be said of everything else from India to the Atlantic Ocean, including the Persian Empire and Christian Egypt.

Any thoughtful person who knows history and religion would be anti-Islam. Along with Communism, Naziism, and the Black Death, Islam has been responsible for more death and destruction on the face of the planet than just about anything else since the last asteroid impact. Islam was started by predators. It has spread by predation. It has lived off the decaying corpses of the civilizations it has destroyed. It is a vast, ancient sea of corruption, oppression, fanaticism, and ignorance lapping up against the shores of the present, kept alive by the fortuitous accident of living above huge reserves of petroleum.
157 posted on 06/18/2007 9:01:42 PM PDT by aruanan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 155 | View Replies]

To: aruanan; Maneesh
“India is still a nation existing from ancient times with a non-Muslim identity. “

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.

158 posted on 06/19/2007 11:25:48 AM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 157 | View Replies]

To: Gengis Khan
If only they had taught you all they in your leftist madrassah.

If you make assumptions this big, I've got to wonder what else you're swallowing with those camels.
159 posted on 06/19/2007 12:54:21 PM PDT by aruanan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 158 | View Replies]

To: aruanan
You are the one in denial about Muslim atrocities on Indians. Whatever I am swallowing is a lot less in size then the camel sh*t you digesting.
160 posted on 06/20/2007 4:03:17 AM PDT by Gengis Khan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 159 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-160 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson