Hindu extremists charge the religious leaders, "guilty" of watching a movie about Jesus with a group of Christians. The police arrest them without checking veracity of the allegations. Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC): "Illegal and worrying detention close to general election".

Mumbai (AsiaNews ) - "We strongly condemn the Madhya Pradesh authorities' unjust and illegal detention of two Pentecostal pastors, attacked in the privacy of their home", says Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).  He as commenting to AsiaNews on the detention of Brother Sonjith and Brother Simson, on 22 March in the city of Moraine and caused by a group of Hindu fundamentalists.

The two Pentecostal leaders had organized the vision of a film about Jesus along with some Christians, in the house of one of the faithful. On being made aware of the projection, some extremists filed a complaint to the police, claiming that Christians were forcibly converting Hindus.

The police arrived on the scene and arrested the pastors. After being interrogated for two hours and having proved their innocence, the officers released them. "The GCIC - Sajan George told AsiaNews - is upset by what happened. The zealous pro - Hindu law enforcement agencies waste no time in arresting innocent Christians, taking them from the intimacy of a private home, without any evidence. Less than a month before the general election, we are concerned about the Christian community in Madhya Pradesh and other states led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)".

The BJP is an ultra-nationalist Hindu party (the current leader of the opposition) that supports extremist groups responsible for attacks against ethnic, social and religious minorities in India. (NC)

 

• india
• Madhya
• Pradesh
• Pentecostal
• pastors
• arrest
• false
• charges
• forced
• conversions
• general
• elections