Jagra Kashyap and his son Asharam Kashyap had to leave their families at home in Badrenga village, Bastar District, as they fear for their lives if they return, Pastor Vishwanath Kawasi said.

“Their families back home are also feeling unsafe, but if Kashyap and his son return there, they could be attacked any time again,” Pastor Kawasi told Morning Star News.

Demanding that Kashyap and his son renounce Christianity and return to Hinduism, a mob of about sixty Hindu extremists stormed their home at 10:30 a.m. and struck the elder man’s ear until it bled while delivering severe blows to his son’s back, the pastor said.

Doctors at the district government hospital said the impairment to his ear is permanent, and that he will need a hearing aid for the rest of his life, according to an allied lawyer for legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom India. Cases of forcefully pressuring Christians to convert back to Hinduism have been taking place at a rapid rate, Pastor Kawasi said.

“Just this week I have seen meetings of Adivasis vowing to protect the indigenous culture from being ‘polluted’ with Christian faith,” he said. “All this is not happening on its own; these steps are deliberate and funded by some prominent people in politics and a well-strategised effort to target the home churches in the remotest parts of the state.”

Police have done nothing to protect religious freedoms of tribal Adivasis who become Christians, he added.

ADF India’s allied lawyer helped the victims prepare a petition to Bastar District police officials, but officers said they will not register a First Information Report (FIR) unless eyewitnesses come forward to record statements. Witnesses fear they will come under attack from Hindu extremists if they give police statements.

Source: christianheadlines.com