India: Police officer believed to have burned down church in Chhattisgarh state

Christians from India’s Koya tribal community in Kistaram village, Chhattisgarh state believe the head of their local police station is responsible for burning down their church in the early hours of 5 February, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports.

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India: Hindu radicals attack two pastors in Haryana state

A group of Hindu extremists violently attacked two pastors in northern India’s Haryana state last month, accusing them of receiving foreign funding to forcibly convert Hindus to Christianity, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Persecution of Christians in India has increased dramatically since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power in 2014.

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India: Christians pray and fast for unity as persecution intensifies

As persecution against Christians in India intensifies, many Indian believers spent Sunday 30 January, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948, in prayer and fasting for peace and unity in their country, Christian Today (CT) reports.

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India: Pastor and family violently attacked in their home

Chanting “kill him, kill him,” a gang of suspected Hindu extremists brutally beat up a pastor and his family at their home in Chandauli, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state on January 14, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Christians have come under intensifying persecution from Hindu radicals since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.

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‘Afghanistan Replaces North Korea As 1st Persecution Nation For Christians’

Christian advocacy group Open Doors said Wednesday that Afghanistan had replaced North Korea as the worst country for Christians on its annual World Watch List (WWL).

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India: Christians under attack in Karnataka state

Christians in India’s Karnataka state came under a surge of violent attacks by Hindu extremists during the Christmas period last month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Joining other Indian states, Karnataka has passed a new anti-conversion law that has reportedly encouraged Hindu nationalists to attack believers they falsely accuse of forcing Hindus to convert to Christianity.

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India: Nine Christians imprisoned on false charges of forced conversion

Nine Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state are in prison awaiting trial on false charges of forcing Hindus to convert to Christianity, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported on January 15. Persecution against Christians in India has steadily increased since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

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400 million Christians live in countries where churches are persecuted

Over 400 million Christians live in countries that persecute churches, ACS-Italia, the Italian chapter of Aid to the Church in Need, has assessed. The data also shows persecution of believers around the world is worsening, the Christian Post (CP) reports.

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