JAUNPUR, India — A church in the Jaunpur district of India’s Uttar Pradesh state cancelled its weekly meeting Oct. 10 due to tensions in the region following false reports of forcible conversion in newspapers. The reports led to two attacks. A local Christian said tensions began Oct. 4, when local editions of national Hindi dailies published reports on the supposed forced conversion of 350 Hindu villagers to Christianity in Belahta village.
Reporters of these newspapers had on Oct. 3 come to the weekly prayer meeting of the Belahta village branch of the Abundant Life Church. More than 1,000 people, mostly believers from Belahta and nearby villages, had prayed and worshiped in a tent pitched outside the house of a convert. The next day, local villagers, along with extremists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, or World Hindu Council) and police, vandalized the structure. They threatened that if the meetings continued or any Christian from outside the village was seen again, they would resort to unprecedented violence. On Oct. 6, Hindu extremists of the VHP, local villagers and police stormed another branch of the Abundant Life Church in Lesuka village, about seven miles from Belahta, and beat four believers.
Share with others: