Church leaders urged India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate action against violent extremists after a series of attacks against Christians left a pastor and two of his congregation badly beaten.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) called on the government and district authorities to take steps to safeguard the rights of religious minority communities and to provide protection for churches against attack.
Persecution in Uttar Pradesh
On 29 July, a mob of extremists attacked two Christian men and verbally abused Christian women as they made their way to a prayer meeting at a home in Kanshiram Colony, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The mob then dragged the pastor from the prayer meeting and brutally beat him.