Arrests, Beatings and Secret Prayers: Inside the Persecution of India's Christians
Jeffrey Gettleman and Suhasini Raj The New York Times
Villagers praying in secret in Bihar, India, amid an uptick in violence against Christians in the country. (photo: Atul Loke/The New York Times) Arrests, Beatings and Secret Prayers: Inside the Persecution of India's Christians
Jeffrey Gettleman and Suhasini Raj The New York Times
“They want to remove us from society,” a Christian farmer said of Hindu extremists. Rising attacks on Christians are part of a broader shift in India, in which minorities feel less safe.
A swarm of men dressed in saffron poured inside. They jumped onstage and shouted Hindu supremacist slogans. They punched pastors in the head. They threw women to the ground, sending terrified children scuttling under their chairs.
“They kept beating us, pulling out hair,” said Manish David, one of the pastors who was assaulted. “They yelled: ‘What are you doing here? What songs are you singing? What are you trying to do?’”