House Church attacked by Extremists who threaten pastor

By James Varghese, Special Correspondent in India for ASSIST News Service

MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA ANS — According to the website of the Global Council of Indian Christians www.persecution.in, suspected Hindu extremists barged into a house church, broke the cross placed on the entrance of the church, and threatened the pastor in Jabalpur town, Madhya Pradesh state, India on Monday, September 28, 2009.

The website also revealed that attackers were the members of the Hindu extremist group, Abhinav Bharathi who are suspected of being in bomb blasts in different parts of India.

The story went on to say that around 15 Hindu radicals had come on 6 motorcycles at about 12:30 am and then they barged into Rhema Gospel House Church shouting the slogans of Jai Shri Ram Hail Shri Ram and abusing the pastor, Peter Johnson Lan, 51, by using bad language.

The website reported that these radicals warned of further attacks and dispersed after terrorizing the pastor for more than half an hour. After the attack, the pastor went to the nearest police station and submitted a letter to the Police Officer in Charge and copies of the letters were submitted to the higher police authority and local administration.

He was told that the police had assured him that they will look into the matter and will conduct a speedy investigation.