Timely police intervention foils Hindu extremist bid to burn believers in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla – The police of Himachal Pradesh have foiled the plans of local Hindu fundamentalists who had threatened to attack and burn to death scores of Christian believers if they refused to embrace Hinduism by November 20.

A local pastor of a Believers Church, his family and other Christian believers who attended the church were all threatened with death by a mob of Hindu right–wing organization, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) unless they participated in a Hindu reconversion ceremony on November 20.

According to Pastor Ramesh Masih, his father Pastor Feroz Masih was attacked by VHP activists on November 4 and threatened that they would come to their house on November 20 and conduct a Hindu program in which verses from the Gita, the Holy Book of the Hindus, would be recited and all Christians would be converted back to Hinduism.

“They forced my father to sign a paper saying that he was willing to reconvert himself and his church members to Hinduism,” Gospel for Asia (GFA), a U.S.–based mission group, quoted him as saying. “They also warned him that he, along with all the believers, would be burned alive if they refused to reconvert. They also threatened to burn down the believers’ houses.”

Following the attack, the Masih family had lodged a complaint with the local police giving names of those who had attacked him.

According to news reports, the police swung into action and warned the people named in the complaint that they would be held responsible if any untoward incident took place on November 20.

The VHP activists reportedly heeded the warning and backed off, thereby allowing the members of the Believers Church to meet peacefully on Sunday.

“About 20 people came for the service. This was lower than usual as some villagers were facing opposition. But we were able to meet without incident,” said Ramesh Masih.

According to the pastor, VHP and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, activists have stepped up anti–Christian violence during the past few months. “Anti–minority and communal violence was at its peak during the rule of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Center,” he recalled.

“Misconceptions are the root of the problem,” said police inspector Sureshta Thakur of the Baijnath police station. She felt that many illiterate people are misled by the Hindu fundamentalists into believing that Christians are forcibly converting Hindus.

“We have warned the VHP and its supporters against taking the law into their own hands,” Thakur said.

The police inspector has, however, refused to grant any police protection to the Masih family, saying, “Only the district collector has the authority to sanction police protection.”

According to constable Rakesh Kumar, Pastor Masih was attacked by the VHP activists because they heard that the pastor had “forcibly” converted the wife of one local Hindu, Prakash Chand, two years ago.

However, that allegation was untrue, Kumar said, adding, “We are satisfied that Masih did not convert her by force.”

Pastor Ramesh Masih feels that attacks against his family has risen after some local newspapers alleged that they were forcibly converting Hindu villagers.

“We simply preach the message of peace and joy as given in the Bible. All the believers who attend the worship ... have embraced Christianity out of their own will,” he said, denying the allegations.

He also rejected the claims of “forced” or “fraudulent” conversion made against his father, saying such false accusations are a mere pretext for attacking and harassing Christians.

“Recently, I arranged a press conference in which many of our church members said they had accepted Christianity out of their own free will, because they had been healed of their diseases,” he added.

In April, this year, some VHP extremists had also threatened Masih and pelted stones at his house.

According to GFA founder president, Dr. KP Yohannan, the police had tried to arrange a meeting between the pastor and the attackers, but the assailants had gone into hiding.

"One positive outcome of this incident is that people in the area now know that those who come to faith in Christ are doing so because of the power of the Gospel, not the coercion of men," Dr. Yohannan said.

Dr. Yohannan said the threat was reminiscent of the brutal murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children in 1999 by Hindu radicals in the state of Orissa, who vowed to burn alive anyone who did not renounce their new faith.