by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A pastor and his Christian brother in India’s Punjab state were severely wounded last week after a group of warrior Sikhs attacked them with swords on account of their faith in Christ, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. India ranks 11 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
On Apr. 18, four Sikhs belonging to the traditional Nihang warrior group attacked Pastor Gurjeet Singh and his younger brother Gurdeep Singh in Sultanwind village, Amritsar District, MSN reports. Pastor Singh has led a house church in Sultanwind for 10 years.
In a statement to MSN, Daljit Kaur, the pastor’s wife, said the attackers approached her brother-in-law outside the house where a worship service was about to start, saying: “We have warned you earlier as well to not conduct church and not convert people, but you have not paid heed.” The men then assaulted her brother-in-law Gurdeep, striking him with swords Kaur stated.
Pastor Singh rushed out to help his brother, and the attackers turned on him too, MSN reports. “To protect his head, Gurjeet shielded every blow with his hand and thus sustained severe cuts on both his hands, his arm, his palm and they almost chopped off his thumb,” Kaur said. The brothers were hospitalized and each had to have surgery.
The Sikhs accused the two men of conducting church services and luring villagers to become Christians. “My husband was threatened twice by the Nihang Sikhs earlier, but he did not tell me anything about the threat – he knew I would begin to worry,” Kaur said.
In a statement to MSN, local church leader Pastor Vishnu Dev said: “I am very disturbed at the brutal attack on the brothers. If the police do not conduct fair investigation and just action, we will gather together and protest against the authorities and demand justice.”