The storm of persecution in opposition to Christians in India is raging fiercer than ever. What was displayed in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, final month was not simply one other incident; it was a brutal token that religion has develop into against the law within the eyes of extremists and, worse, within the eyes of these sworn to uphold the regulation. Six pastors have been arrested on fabricated fees of Pressured Conversion, and plenty of of them have been subjected to torture in custody.
On July 20, Pastor Abhinav Baksh was main his afternoon service when roughly 35 Hindu extremists descended on the church, shouting obscenities, mocking Christianity, and blasting hymns to their gods to disrupt worship. Video footage later captured them chanting, “Hit these finishing up conversions with footwear!” and “The pleasure of the nation is Bajrang Dal!”
Contained in the church, ladies, kids, and even aged ladies clung to 1 one other because the mob’s fury grew louder. The church doorways have been locked from inside for security. As a substitute of confronting the aggressors, police arrived with a present of power and demanded that the doorways be opened.
As soon as inside, officers ignored the mob’s provocations and as a substitute ordered the congregation to board a bus. Almost 40 Christians—together with the ladies—have been forcibly taken to the Jamul police station, as if they have been criminals.
On the police station, officers demanded that Pastor Moses Logan present 5 names to pin fees on. He refused, saying the one individuals who must be charged have been those that attacked the church. Underneath political and extremist stress, police charged six pastors—Logan, Baksh, Ok. Thomas Gunta, Komal Kothari, Om Prakash Sahu, and Satya Kumar.
Shockingly, a number of ladies who had been current have been additionally booked beneath the identical pretense of “compelled conversions.” They have been handled with the identical contempt, interrogated harshly, and saved beneath custody.
The Christians have been accused beneath India’s new penal code sections for “rioting” and “obstructing public servants,” flimsy fees that uncovered the sham nature of the arrests.
Torture Behind Closed Doorways:
When the pastors have been moved to Durg jail that night time, the ordeal became sheer horror. In response to Pastor Logan, the jailor interrogated everybody about their occupations. When the pastors boldly recognized themselves as pastors, confirming their spiritual vocation, the jailor ordered punishment.
The 5 pastors—excluding Logan, who claimed sickness—have been savagely overwhelmed with wood batons on their thighs, buttocks, and knees. They have been humiliated, compelled to endure aggressive physique searches and verbal abuse.
“They handled the pastors with cruelty that phrases can barely seize,” Logan recalled. “Their religion turned their crime, their veil turned their accusation.”
Pictures later revealed deep lacerations on the pastors.
Metropolis Christian leaders and households moved heaven and earth to safe bail. By the night of July 21, the pastors have been launched. However freedom got here tainted—prison fees nonetheless dangle over them, whereas the true culprits stroll free.
Pastor Logan painted a bleak image: “Christians are not protected of their properties, of their church buildings, and no longer even in jails. These we search safety from are the very ones who hurt us.”
In Chhattisgarh, persecution has taken an organized form. Church buildings are being shut down—60 to 70 in Bastar alone. Funerals are blocked. Even non-public celebrations like birthdays are raided. Extremists storm Christian properties, disrupt gatherings, accuse households of conversions, and use false complaints to weaponize the regulation.
India’s Harmful Descent:
India now ranks eleventh on the 2025 World Watch Listing of nations the place Christians face excessive persecution, a steep decline from its thirty first place in 2013. Rights teams level to the ruling BJP’s emboldening of Hindu nationalist teams as a driving power behind this rise in violence.
On July 22, round 400 Christians gathered exterior the Jamul police station to demand justice—not just for the pastors but in addition for different Christians. They submitted a memorandum on July 24 condemning the mob assaults, the false fees, and the jail torture. The police took the memorandum however have but to take any motion in opposition to the extremists or jail officers.
Right this moment, the pastors stay beneath the load of authorized battles and the haunting reminiscence of their ordeal. The attackers roam free, bolstered by silence and impunity.
Pastor Logan’s phrases slice by means of the darkness:
“When the protectors flip predators, the place can the sheep run? But we is not going to cease worshipping. They’ll break our our bodies, however they can’t silence our religion.”
