11 arrested for turning Church into temple
The attackers reportedly held purification rites in the church with fire, removed crosses, destroyed other sacred objects, replacing them with an image of the Hindu deity Shiva.
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The arrested belong to different Hindu extremist groups, Agenzia Fides said quoting sources from Evanglical Fellowishio of India.
The church, which belongs to a community of Seventh Day Adventists, is in Asroi near Aligarh. The attackers reportedly held purification rites in the church with fire, removed crosses, destroyed other sacred objects, replacing them with an image of the Hindu deity Shiva.
The place of worship has now been returned to the Christian community and will be kept closed for a period of time.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that the militants were members of various extremist Hindu groups such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The EFI condemned such deplorable violation of religious freedom urging the Federal Government to stop what seems to be a plan by Hindu extremists to polarize Indian society on the basis of religion, terrorizing minority communities.
Recently a wave of anti-Christian violence raged through Uttar Pradesh with attacks to persons and church buildings.
“We demand strong and exemplary action to bring the criminals to justice and to restore security and confidence among minority groups,” the EFI said adding that, “this conversion to Hinduism would appear to be part of a broader strategy of religious conspiracy against minorities.”
Source: Agenzia Fides
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