2 Indian Pastors Beaten by Hindu Extremists, Bible Burned: 'See, I Have Set Your Jesus Ablaze'

There has been another brazen attack on Christians in India. This time, a mob of Hindu extremists attacked two Christian pastors, accusing them of luring people to Christianity with money before beating them both until they were unconscious. 

Then, they set one man's Bible on fire.  

Morning Star News reports a group of 12 people attacked Pastor Sanjay Kumar and Pastor Inderjit after the group saw them praying with a family on the roof of their home. The incident occurred on Jan. 28 in the Anand Nagar area of Haryana state's Ambala Cantonment.

While several people in the group videoed the scene with their phones, others proceeded to question the two men without letting them answer. 

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Pastor Kumar told Morning Star News that they falsely accused the two pastors of receiving foreign funds and using the cash to get people to convert to Christianity. The group was reportedly led by Sanjay Rana, a neighbor and member of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal. 

"I told them to ask the members of the family we were visiting if we have forced them to come to church if we have allured them or offered them any money to come to church," Inderjit told the outlet. "They asked the family if we had allured them. The family outrightly denied any allurement. They in fact began to testify of the reason for their belief in Jesus."

Rana allegedly demanded identification from both men and took Inderjit's driver's license and Kumar's ID card before members of the mob began punching and slapping them both.

Pastor Kumar told the outlet his attackers took his diary which contained his prepared sermons. They were looking for names and addresses of people who had been converted by the two pastors. After finding no names, they tore pages out of the book as well as a songbook and threw them in the gutter, according to the outlet.  

The pastor told Morning Star News after regaining consciousness, he pleaded with the group to return his Bible. 

"Their beating did not pain me as much as the snatching of my Bible did," Kumar explained. "I began to weep. I said, 'This is my Bible….this is my Jesus. Please give my Bible back to me.' A woman and a man from the crowd using a matchbox burned my Bible, and she sarcastically exclaimed, 'See, I have set your Jesus ablaze.'"

While still videoing the attack, members of the Hindu mob tried to force the pastors to recite a devotional hymn in praise of the Hindu "god" Hanuman. They also tried to abduct the two men and take them to a Hindu temple to force them to bow before idols, the pastor told Morning Star. 

The outlet reported both Inderjit and Kumar sustained several internal injuries from the attack. 

When Pastor Kumar went to the Ambala Cantonment police station the next day to file a report, he was surprised to find a First Information Report (FIR) or complaint had been filed against him, alleging he forcefully tried to convert a woman at the prayer meeting on the roof.

Police Station Head Officer of Ambala Cantonment Naresh Kumar confirmed to Morning Star News that FIRs had been registered against both parties. Kumar's complaint cited the alleged "destruction, damage, or defilement of a place of worship or an object held sacred," "voluntarily causing hurt" and "house-trespass." The woman had filed a complaint against the pastor on the same date alleging "outraging religious feelings," "wounding religious feelings" and "provocation."

"We were shocked to learn from the police station that Rita signed on the complaint letter, which was a complete lie," Ravi Kumar told the outlet. "Our terms with Rita and her family were very cordial. I do not know how the Hindu extremists were able to convince Rita to sign the complaint letter."

Morning Star News reported the police did investigate the incident and that the investigation is still ongoing. 

Later, when law enforcement authorities summoned local Christians for "peace talks" at the police station, they met with Rana, who was accompanied by several people belonging to Hindu nationalist groups, including a well-known political leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The two sides reached an agreement on Jan. 30, withdrawing their complaints. 

Pastor Inderjit, who said he attended the meeting via conference call, told Morning Star News that Rana asked for forgiveness.

"Sanjay Rana and a well-known BJP leader, Rambabu Yadav, spoke to me on a conference call from inside the police station," Pastor Inderjit said. "Sanjay Rana asked me for forgiveness for assaulting me and Pastor Sanjay. I told him that I forgive him."

Meanwhile, Pastor Kumar and his family have moved to an undisclosed area for security reasons. 

As CBN News has reported, Christian leaders in India have demanded that local law enforcement authorities respond with "strict action" to such incidents of violent persecution. 

Just last month, a house church in India's Chhattisgarh state was reportedly attacked by a mob of 200 radical Hindu nationalists, leaving two Christians with serious injuries.

In addition, three Christian women were seriously injured in October when a huge mob of radical Hindu nationalists attacked congregants at a church in India's Uttarakhand state.

The attackers were identified as members of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), VHP, and Bajrang Dal. They claimed that their actions were appropriate and accused the church of engaging in illegal conversion activities. 

The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government against non-Hindus – an effort that's led by the Hindu nationalist BJP – has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014. 

India currently ranks 10th on the Open Doors 2022 World Watch List of places in the world where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

The Open Doors watch list warns "the persecution of Christians in India is intensifying as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence."