In yet another instance of psychologically manipulating Hindus into doubting their own sanity, leftist and Dravidian Stockist outlet The News Minute on 17 October 2022, published an article written by one Nithya Pandian titled “The systematic attack on Christians in Tamil Nadu’s Hindutva laboratory.”

The article alleged that Tamil Nadu has been seeing rising attacks on Christians by Hindus incited by “right-wing groups”.

The report stated how Christian groups experienced difficulties at the hands of “Hindutva forces” like Hindu Munnani in establishing prayer houses and carrying out prayer meetings. The report also alleged that the state police do not take such cases seriously allowing the passing of “the well-orchestrated attacks as a conflict between individuals”.

The article also quoted statistics about the number of attacks on Christians in India year-wise. However, nowhere in the article does it state that the entire report is based on “unverified data” as hearsay references are passed off as legit.

The article that reads more like a missionary propaganda piece is nothing but an attempt at gaslighting Hindus portraying them as villains, and the evangelist missionaries as some kind of saviours-cum-victims while justifying the latter’s illegal proselytization activities.

In this rejoinder, we bust some of the misinformation, lies, and fictitious stories peddled in the article.

How TNM Layers Its Deceit To Peddle Missionary Propaganda

The article’s genesis can be traced back to the “PETER MACHADO vs. UNION OF INDIA” case, which was filed in the Supreme Court on 05-03-2022 as a criminal writ petition.

The misinformation by the author, Nithya Pandian, begins with the explanation of who the petitioners are in the case filed in the supreme court. According to the TNM article, the United Christian Forum (UCF) was one of the petitioners in the Supreme Court case. However, the Supreme Court’s case registry lists no one by the name UCF as a petitioner in the PETER MACHADO vs. UNION OF INDIA case. The list of petitioners in the case includes Peter Machado, National Solidarity Forum, Evangelic Fellowship of India, AC Williams, and Micheal Williams. There are no petitioners named United Christian Forum in the case. A basic investigation into the case, however, revealed that the petitioners, Peter Machado et al, used data collected by UCF, a mysterious problematic organization.

The TNM author lacked the prudence to investigate the petitioners’ identities and backgrounds before writing a detailed article based on their statistics.

There is a reason for describing UCF as a mysterious problematic organization. Several hours of surfing in internet yielded nothing but the organization’s toll-free number, 1800-208-4545, and John Dayal as convener and spokesperson of the organization.

Almost all Christian news websites (christiantoday.co.in, persecution.org, and others), as well as TNM, cited UCF data. They are such an influential organization that its data is used as a source for filing a criminal writ petition in Supreme Court. Even, The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF, Independent US Federal Government Commission) has used UCF data to recommend placing India under the category of ‘countries of particular concern’. However, UCF does not have its own website, and we were unable to locate it.

Their Facebook page has been inactive since 2020, and their Twitter page has been inactive since 2019, with some links recently made private.

Tweets by UCFHR

Even before the case “PETER MACHADO vs. UNION OF INDIA” was filed, NewDelhiTimes on February 1, 2021, has published an article, that stated,” Many of the incidents were exaggerated and not factual. Moreover, incidents of criminal nature were portrayed as communal without corroboration by UCF.

This is exactly what the Union Government’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented in the Supreme Court in their affidavit. According to the affidavit, the preliminary investigation of the data presented by the petitioner, Peter Machado et al (UCF data) revealed that they are “false” and “self-serving documents” along with press reports. It said that the PIL is based on mere conjectures, and was filed for an “oblique purpose”.

The affidavit also took a dig at what it described as a “recent trend” where “certain organizations start planting articles and preparing self-serving reports themselves or through their associates”. These writings eventually become the basis of a PIL, it added.

“The MHA’s investigations revealed that the majority of the incidents alleged in the PIL were “purely criminal in nature and arising out of personal issues,” it continued.

“A preliminary fact-check of the mentioned incidents and the inputs received thereof revealed that about 162 incidents were not truthfully recorded and the remaining 139 were either false or deliberately projected wrongfully as instances of targeted violence against Christians,” it added.

After hearing both sides, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli directed the MHA to obtain information from state chief secretaries on the registration of FIRs, the status of investigations, arrests made, and charge sheets filed.

Knowing that the orders could be misconstrued as granting legitimacy to the data provided by UCF, the bench stated, “We need to separate the grain from the chaff, even though we believe that an attack on individuals does not imply an attack on the community. We must verify any such incident claims made in public interest litigation (PIL). The court has not formed any opinion on the veracity of the allegations made in the PIL.”

Order: with. Court has not formed any opinion on the veracity of the allegations in the plea under Article 32.

— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) September 1, 2022

This unverified, bogus data, as stated by MHA and which has not been accepted by Supreme Court till now, is the source based on which the TNM has published an article.

But that’s not all.

The background of United Christian Forum convener John Dayal, as well as a few other petitioners in the case, is also shocking.

John Dayal – A Chrisitan Bigot Who Spews Venom Against Hindus 

John Daya is the Convenor and spokesperson of UCF.

On September 11, 2015, he tweeted that “khaki” (a term he uses to refer to the RSS, BJP, and anything remotely Hindu) has a strange fascination with deviant sex, and he calls this an innocuous “opinion”.

While mentioning Asaram Bapu, who faces charges of rape and illegal confinement, John Dayal insulted the Hindu god Rama and incited religious hate by deliberately bifurcating Asaram Bapu’s name into ‘Asa’ and ‘Rama’.

Showing his double standards, several times John Dayal has expressed his love for beef on Twitter, however, asked the government to be sensitive towards religious sentiments while endorsing the ban on Da Vinci Code. These offensive posts were deleted and the images were retrieved from other sources.

Peter Machado – Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese And Multimillion Dollar Scamster

Archbishop of Bangalore Diocese, Peter Machado, is the primary petitioner in the case and is accused of numerous crimes including colluding with murderers, misappropriation of funds, and others.

Micheal F Saldanha, a former Bombay High Court judge, accused Machado in June 2020 of colluding and covering up murders allegedly committed by Bishop of Mysore KA William. He accused Peter Machado and Bishop K A William of ‘criminally misappropriating’ ₹49.5 crores collected in 2018 for Coorg Disaster Relief work.

The Karnataka Catholic Christian Association (AKCCA) accused him of being involved in a multi-million dollar scam the same year.

On August 28, 2020, AKCCA requested an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the financial misappropriation of the archdiocese’s Asha Charitable Trust. In a press conference held in Bangalore, the group accused the Trust of stealing $3 billion ($42 million).

It should be noted that the primary petitioner in the case, who used UCF data, is accused of criminal misappropriation by the members of his own community.

Before writing this article, UCF was contacted via the toll-free number provided in order to get the story from the other side. The details of how the data was collected and where it can be accessed (website) were asked. The person on the other end of the phone said they would call back soon, but we never heard back.

‘Villain’ Hindu Munnani Vs ‘Hero’ Chrisitan Missionaries

The TNM article legitimises proselytization activities of Christian missionaries branding them as evangelists “who spread gospel on the streets” while portraying those resisting such proselytization attempts as ‘militant’ bigots.

The article quotes a Coimbatore based lawyer saying “It was common to see evangelists spreading the gospel on the streets of the city; not any more.” while calling Hindu Munnani which works at the grassroots level to resist conversions as ‘extremists’ and ‘militant’ affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The reality is that it is the Christian missionaries who are rabidly militant and resort to religious extremism by spewing venom against Hindus as ‘satan worshippers’ and what not!

The article also calls resistance by local Hindus saying “threat of violence is an occupational hazard for evangelists seeking new followers.”

It also goes on to legitimise erection of illegal prayer houses and conducting prayer meetings saying “The bigger problem for evangelists is getting permission from the district administration to hold prayer meetings and build churches.” It is the erection of such illegal prayer houses, Christian cross near temples, etc that causes consternation and often leads to conflict with locals.

The TNM article quoting an unidentified “top police official in Coimbatore” said that there are 100 well-trained ward-level Hindu Munnani watchers, who can flee from police after inciting violence.

It should be noted that the TNM never ceases to demonstrate its loyalty to the DMK. TNM attempted to paint a picture in their article that right-wing groups like Hindu Munnani grew during Jayalalitha’s regime.

However, it preferred to remain silent on the only two communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the Kongu region during Karunanidhi’s regime in 1997 and 1998.

Will TNM agree that Hindu Munnani played no part in the two riots? If not, why is TNM writing that during Jayalalitha’s regime right-wing groups grew while it prefers to remain silent on the Karunanidhi regime?

Quoting the same Coimbatore-based lawyer, the TNM article said that “the period when AIADMK’s Edappadi Palanisamy was Chief Minister saw major deterioration in communal relations.”

But here is the truth. The Thoothuki Sterlite protests was backed by the Church with the likes of Pastor Mohan C Lazarus instigating people with unscientific claims. Mohan C Lazarus said that Sterlite Copper was a toxic factory and that the Church has risen to shut the factory down. He also instigated the Christian population to protest and ‘dispose off the factory’ from Thoothukudi. The anti-CAA protests at Chennai’s Washermanpet were instigated by the DMK and its Muslim allies.

The Case Of Persecution Relief

Persecution Relief, an organization claiming to help ‘persecuted’ Christians hatched a conspiracy to defame India at the international level by preparing periodical reports on alleged ‘persecution of Christians’.

They primarily collect data of skirmishes between Christian missionaries who go for proselytization in villages and the locals there, in an attempt to make a case for alleged ‘persecution’ of Christians in India.

These reports are then shared with various lobbying organizations in the USA and evangelist organizations across the world one among them being the United States Council on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The Commune based on Legal Right Protection Forum’s investigations had exposed Persecution Relief and its modus operandi back in December 2020 which can be accessed here.

Here is a list of isolated incidents that Persecution Relief tried to portray as hate crimes.

A Few Pertinent Questions To TNM

This whole scenario begs the logical question. Based on data provided by Christian organizations (UCF), the TNM published an article titled “Christians are being targeted”. Will they create a similar piece titled “Hindus are being targeted” if a Hindu organization provides similar data? It is not difficult to present evidence of Hindu persecution, social ostracism, and boycott in Christian and Muslim-majority areas.

Will the alleged ‘journalists’ at TNM have the courtesy to shed light on the dark side of UCF and its members?

This attempt of gaslighting Hindus needs to be called out.

As said by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, these articles are planted online, and then by keeping this as the source, petitions are filed in court to spread their propaganda. Now that the case has been adjourned to December 6, 2022, more articles about Christians being attacked will proliferate on the internet.

The TNM article seems to be one among them.

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The post A Rejoinder To TNM: A Missionary Propaganda Legitimizing Proselytization Passed Off As ‘Hindus Persecuting Christians’ appeared first on The Commune.

‘Persecution Relief’ and its head Shibu Thomas who were recently exposed for indulging in anti-India activities find themselves in trouble again, with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) directing the DIG of Bhopal to register an FIR against Shibu Thomas, the founder head of the organization.

The NCPCR in its letter to DIG Irshad Wali, drew attention to the report of Persecution Relief in which it had alleged persecution of Christians and had recommended the Centre/State Governments to instruct the Child Welfare Committees to ‘not harass’ Christian orphanages and institutions. Persecution Relief had claimed in the report that children were evacuated in the middle of the night against the wishes of their parents and many false POCSO cases were registered against those running the institutions with many being in jail.

In page number 116 of their report, Persecution Relief states that “Christian schools, Children Homes and Orphanages are being attacked by Hindu extremists in India”.

To verify the veracity of these claims, the NCPCR had written to the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh to initiate an inquiry into the allegations made by Persecution Relief. The Government of Madhya Pradesh informed that the said NGO failed to provide any factual information to substantiate the claims made in the report.

Taking serious view of the NGO’s evasion in providing facts and evidences to substantiate its claims of persecution of Christian child care institutions and filing of POCSO cases, the NCPCR has called for taking necessary action as per law for maligning child rights institutions and mechanisms in the country and has asked the DIG to submit an action taken report within 7 days of receiving the letter.

Earlier, Legal Rights Protection Forum had written to the NCPCR to initiate an enquiry into the matter of Children Homes run by ‘Abundant Life Society’ and the condition of children of those homes.

In its complaint, LRPF noted that ‘Abundant Life Society’ is intentionally demotivating the children who are facing sexual harassment and restricting them from reporting such incidents of sexual harassment.

Abundant Life Society, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based out of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh has been found to be running illegal children homes. Mr. Shibu Thomas, who is reportedly an Indian-origin US citizen is the president of this NGO.

BREAKING:@NCPCR_ directed @digpolicebhopal to register FIR against Mr. Shibu Thomas of Persecution Relief u/s 499, 500 of IPC for defamatory & false reports sent to various foreign agencies citing 'Child Homes & Orphanages run by Christians are being persecuted in India' (1/2)

— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) January 10, 2021

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Serving as a death blow to those peddling ‘minorities under attack’ narrative peddlers, the United States Department of State on December 7, released a list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) for violating religious freedom which featured the names of ten countries, including China and Pakistan. The State Department had however rejected the recommendation of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to add India to the list.

Answering a question as to why Pakistan was included in the list but not India, Samuel Brownback, the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, said that religious freedom had been violated by the Pakistani government but it wasn’t the case with India.

“(In) Pakistan, a lot of their actions (violations of religious freedom) are done by the government. In India, some of them are done by the government and the law that was passed, and much of its communal violence. And then when that takes place, we try to determine whether or not there has been effective enforcement, judicial action after communal violence takes place”, said Brownback. He said that half of people who are jailed for blasphemy are in Pakistan’s jails.

In addition to China and Pakistan, Myanmar, Iran, Eritrea, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan also find place in the list. Russia, Cuba, the Comoros and the Netherlands are on the special watch list.

In 2019, the USCIRF in its report mentioned that India had experienced a ‘drastic turn downward’ and that the religious minorities in the country were under ‘increasing assault’. It stated that the Indian government allowed violence against minorities by engaging in and tolerating hate speech and inciting violence. It recommended India to be included in ‘country of particular concern’. India had rejected the USCIRF observations as biased and tendentious and called the USCIRF “an organisation of particular concern”.

USCIRF, a notorious body of Christian crusaders waging a religious war stealthily on native religions and cultures, has been basing its allegations of ‘minorities under attack’ based on reports prepared by questionable NGOs like Persecution Relief, a Christian Missionary organization, which along with a body called Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) has been lobbying with US Law Makers and members of USCIRF to list India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’.

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Persecution Relief, an organization claiming to help ‘persecuted’ Christians in India has been working clandestinely and carrying out anti-national activities.

This organization has been gathering details about crimes across the country where the victims are Christians, collating them, and preparing periodical reports which are then shared with various lobbying organizations in the USA and evangelist organizations across the world.

They primarily collect data of skirmishes between Christian missionaries who go for proselytization in villages and the locals there, in an attempt to make a case for alleged ‘persecution’ of Christians in India.

https://twitter.com/PersecutionR/status/1327497481635078144

https://twitter.com/PersecutionR/status/1320587030221475841

While this activity of documenting crimes is a legitimate one, what is to be noted is that the so-called incidents of alleged crimes of ‘persecution’ are isolated incidents which are given a communal colour and presented before the international audience to portray India as an ‘intolerant’ nation and to tarnish the image of Hindus globally as they label innocent citizens of the country who resist Christian conversions as ‘religious fanatics’. It has been found that reports of reputed newspapers/sites and police reports differ vastly from the rhetoric peddled by Persecution Relief. Analysis conducted by Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) on 8 cases of alleged ‘persecution’ as reported to international agencies by Persecution Relief, concluded that most of them are everyday crimes and not hate crimes. Some of the cases were tussles between local villagers and Chrisitian evangelists who had come to proselytize.

Modus Operandi

Persecution Relief has been set up by one Shibu Thomas from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the organizations involved in the collection of information on incidents of alleged ‘Christian persecution’ in India and submitting it to various international organizations including the United States Council on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a body of Christian Crusaders, waging a religious war stealthily on native religions and cultures.

According to Shibu, they have a network of 300 Whatsapp groups organized district wise in 28 states, as well as district-wise and state-wise co-ordinators. With around 50,000 members representing most of the churches in India, this organized group breaks the news of ‘attacks on Christians’ and ‘arrest of Christians’.

They have a toll-free helpline for reporting incidents of ‘persecution’ of Christians. It publishes ‘persecution reports’ which are then utilized by Christian organizations like the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA). The official website of FIACONA carries the punch line ‘Pray for a Persecuted Church’. This data is then used to lobby with US Politicians, Church organizations to classify India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ and push for sanctions against India.

So far, they have documented 2,200+ instances of so-called ‘persecution of Christians’ since the year 2016 and have reported to both politicians belonging to the Congress party in India and international agencies.

They also support the church through political, judicial and financial interventions.

Conspiracy to spoil India’s global reputation

Incalculable damage has been done to the prestige and image of India in the eyes of the international world through the notorious attempts of Persecution Relief, a Christian missionary NGO that is out to destroy native culture and religions.

It is to be noted that Persecution Relief has been taken into cognizance by US Law Makers and members of United States Council on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a body of Christian Crusaders, waging a religious war stealthily on native religions and cultures. As a result, India has been branded as a “Country of Particular Concern” with respect to religious minority rights.

In its report for the year 2020, the USCIRF put India in the same league as China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and other countries where there is zilch freedom of religion. Amongst several reasons cited in its report, one of the reasons cited is the jump in Christian persecution in India.

In 2019, India was rated “10th most dangerous country for Christians to live”, by UK & US-based monitoring group named Open Doors. The same monitoring group had ranked India 28th in 2014. This group was also influenced by the reports of Persecution Relief.

Isolated incidents portrayed as hate crimes

Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), a legal activism organization working in the area of Scheduled Caste and Tribal communities rights has analyzed 8 cases of alleged ‘persecution’ as reported to International agencies by Persecution Relief. However, most have them are isolated incidents of crime that have been given a communal twist to blame the Hindus.

Click here for the list of cases analyzed by LRPF.

Exposing their recent webinar

In a webinar named “FIACONA Webinar November 2020” held on 17th November 2020, the members of FIACONA expressed their satisfaction at getting India included in the top 14 countries, moving from 28 in 2015 to top 10 in the persecution of minorities but regretted that they could not get sanctions imposed on India by the US government.

Ironically, while the topic of the webinar was ‘Hate Crimes against Christians in India’, one of the speakers  Valson Abraham (President of Indian Pentecostal Church) was gloating over how ‘in one state they have grown from 300 to 1800 churches in 10 years’ and there were ‘4th generation of churchgoers’. He was also excited about the ‘huge jump in the number of Christians in the state of Punjab’ and then went on to spell out strategies for fulfilling the ‘Great Commission’ and ‘reaching out to the world’s largest unreached population’ words which in plain English mean evangelism and conversion of non-Christians into Christianity through ‘spreading the Gospel’ and ‘church planting’.

Valson Abraham also stated that just sheer “sheer number of workers, money or field visits alone will not give results” adding that there was a need for “well thought out strategies, missionary work, and well-trained pastors”. He said that only 5% of India’s pastors are ‘adequately trained’.

He also said that there was “good news about good happenings in Orissa and Bihar, Central and northern states of India”. “There is tremendous growth and there is no longer strong resistance to our work.”, Abraham says.

Valson Abraham claims that there are now ‘6-8 % in India praying to Jesus’. “We should pray like never before. Satan can laugh at our toils but will tremble at our prayers.”, Abraham can be heard saying.

He also said that they were attempting to bring through 7 domains: the entertainment industry, sports, education, politicians/government officials, newspapers, businessmen, and the Church.

Another speaker of FIACONA, Mr. John Prabhudas said “We expressed our displeasure to state department officials for not placing India on the agenda for sanctions, for various political considerations. We hope it will change”.

In the webinar, Shibu Thomas of Persecution Relief introduces himself as a businessman who is now doing “Lord’s work”. His organization had an FCRA registration which he has not renewed, as he was asked to answer a 22-point questionnaire for its renewal. He further states that ‘he was attacked, slapped with FCRA and income tax recovery notice’.

He says that 2224 incidents have been documented and also referred to the incident of Pastor Mahesh of Sharon Church (Refer to the link above).

Shibu Thomas claims to have been a part of BJP in Madhya Pradesh for 10 years and was supposedly in charge of minorities cell. He states that he started Persecution Relief in 2015 (Note: Until 2015, India was not seen as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the USCIRF).

Shibu Thomas in the webinar laments that the most difficult issue that they are facing now is the tactic of social boycott and ex-communication implemented at village level by ‘fanatics’ (local villagers who are non-Christians).

He also says that signboards with “No Christian preachers allowed in this village” have become another big problem in their efforts.

“The small Christian community is unable to withstand this social boycott where fines of up to ₹5,000 are imposed on those who speak/deal with ex-communicated members. These people are not allowed to draw water from common sources, no work is offered to them, no goods are sold to them in shops, etc. Then pressure is applied to do “ghar wapsi” (coming back to native Hindu fold),” he says.

Shibu Thomas and Congress

Referring to the incident of Kondagaon in Chattisgarh, Shibu Thomas says that he has written to Sonia Gandhi and has even got a reply from her. He says that he has also been given an appointment by Chattisgarh Chief Minister (currently ruled by Congress) to present their case.

In February 2019, Shibu Thomas had met with Rahul Gandhi who was then Congress President and had handed over him a copy of the “Persecution Relief Annual Report – 2018”.

During the webinar meeting, Shibu Thomas also says that they had earlier met with Jharkhand Chief Minsiter Hemant Soren supposedly facilitated by former Defence Minister during the UPA regime A.K. Anthony. At that time, Hemant Soren had promised to them about repealing the anti-conversion law.

Recently, the Hemant Soren Government in Jharkhand had passed a resolution that allows members of tribal communities to identify themselves as ‘Sarna’, a distinct religious category from the Hindus. About this move, Shibu Thomas said, “The Jharkhand act on allowing Tribals to mention their religion is a great step. We have made great efforts in this regard and achieved success. Census wants Tribals to be treated as Hindus. There are 200 tribal districts in India and this movement of tribals allowed to declare their religion is important for us as most of the tribals are Christians.”

LRPF, which has brought this matter to light has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate Persecution Relief and its owner Shibu Thomas. It has also called for initiating a thorough inquiry into 2224 incidents cited in its reports.

Lodged complaint with Ministry of Home Affairs against 'Persecution Relief' for sending false reports to international agencies resulting in India being declared as a country dangerous for Religious Minorities by @USCIRF.

Routine crimes like ..1/3 pic.twitter.com/GNYxRrbjv1

— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) December 1, 2020

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Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), a legal activism organization working in the area of Scheduled Caste and Tribal communities rights has analyzed 8 cases of alleged ‘persecution’ as reported to International agencies by Persecution Relief. However, most have them are isolated incidents of crime that have been given a communal twist to blame the Hindus.

Case 1: Murder of Samaru Madakami in Odisha

This case, as reported by The Hindustan Times reads “Odisha cops exhume body parts of youth killed over suspicion of witchcraft”. The alleged killers were all from the same village as the deceased and some of them were his relatives.

However, the same incident is reported on a Christian website as:

‘Christian boy stabbed and stoned to death for his faith in Eastern India. A tribal mob, incited by Hindu extremists, killed the 16-year-old, falsely accusing him and other targeted Christians of practicing black magic’.

The same story was picked and shared by Muslim Mirror.

Persecution Relief documented this case as a 14-year-old Christian boy being murdered in cold blood by a group of ‘religious fanatics’ in the east Indian state of Odisha’

A case of murder of alleged practice of witchcraft has been twisted to read as murder of Christian by religious fanatics.

Case 2: Murder of Sahdev Samarth in Chattisgarh

Below is the extract from The New Indian Express report on this incident:

‘Congress worker killed by suspected Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. Sahdev Samrat (30), a native of Thothapara area, was attacked with sharp-edged weapons on Saturday night when he went to attend a wedding in the nearby Kostapara area in Bhairamgarh town.

The Persecution Relief’s website reported the same incident as:

‘Brother Sachdev Samrath, a 48 year old tribal Christian was murdered… because of their opposition to conversion, Naxalites believed he was a police informer.’

Though the similar news is reported by News18, a local news site reporting an update of the incident said that the murder was not the handiwork of Naxalites but could be due to domestic issues as the deceased had recently married for the second time.

It is a common practice for Naxalites to leave behind pamphlets at the spot of offence explaining why they killed a particular person. The reasons given are usually ‘Police Informer’, ‘Class Enemy’ etc. The absence of any claim by Naxalites that they murdered Sahdev Samrath, has led police to believe that the murder could be due to personal reasons, as the deceased had married a second lady two months before his murder.

However, an elaborate story was published in one of Persecution Relief’s reports in which the deceased was hailed as a great Christian.

Thus, in this case, a bigamous man was murdered and the same incident was twisted by Persecution Relief and the murder is attributed to ‘murdered because of Christian faith’.

Case 3: Murder of Anant Ram Gond in Odisha

In a case where Naxalites killed one of their ex-comrades over suspicion of him being a police informer, a report by Sabrang (left-leaning portal) stated that ‘a Christian evangelical man was found virtually beheaded in Orissa, which many believe was a hate crime committed by Hindu fanatics because of his conversion to the faith.’ It went on to add that ‘Hindu fanatics’ armed the Naxalites who then went on to murder Anant Ram Gond.

The article in Sabrang goes on to say “the police protecting Hindu fanatics, denies role of Naxals”.  Then follows the inevitable reference to the 2008 Kandhmal incident.

If the version as published in the Sabrang India website is to be believed, it will be the first instance in Naxalite history where they took arms from Hindu fanatics to kill one of their ex-comrades.

On the other hand, speaking to Asia News, Shibu Thomas, the founder of the Persecution Relief said that, Anant Ram Gond had converted to Christianity nine months ago and had been baptized two months ago had attracted the ire of the villagers, mostly Hindu fanatics. “They armed the Naxals who physically committed the murder.”, he said.

Unfortunately, the story as peddled by Sabrang and Persecution Relief has as many holes as a tea sieve. Their own Facebook posts clearly show that victim Anant Ram Gond was killed by Naxalites for fear of spilling their secrets to the police.

A killing that had nothing to do either with ‘Hindu fanatics’ or the Christian faith of the deceased, was twisted into yet another tale ‘Christian persecution’ by ‘Hindu fanatics’ by Persecution Relief and Sabrang India.

Case 4: Murder of Munglu Ram Nareti in Chattisgarh

This is a case of Naxalites killing a person on suspicion of being a police informer. However, the news too was twisted to accuse Hindus and the following narrative was pushed:

“Munglu Ram Nureti from Kohkameta village in Chhattisgarh was killed because villagers who were opposed to his practicing the Christian faith falsely reported him as a police informer to the Maoists. The intruders then ordered Minka to call her husband, a father of five who had left the animist practices of his tribal fellows three years ago to follow Christ.” – Page 50, Persecution Relief’s Annual Report – 2019

Note the derogatory reference to tribal religious beliefs as “animist practices of his tribal fellows”.

Here is the testimony of victim’s daughter in this case

“My father is not an informer. He was a simple man who used to run a small grocery store. The police and Naxals both visit our villages and talk to villagers. That doesn’t mean the villagers are informers for either of them.”

Case 5: Murder of Subbaravamma, Bollapalli in Marturu, Andhra Pradesh

An elderly lady was killed by a youth in East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh and later the accused was caught by the police. According to the District Superintendent of Police, the youth suffered from psychological disorder. But the news was twisted (Page No. 38 of the Annual Report – 2018 by Persecution Relief) to ‘killed at the instigation of the Hindu temple priest, village sarpanch” which is quite contrary to the police version.

The District Police Superintendent of East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh Mr. Satya Yesu Babu confirmed to the World Watch Monitor that a 20-year-old sculptor from East Godavari District had been arrested in this case, but he would not name him. He said as follows:

“The accused suffers from some psychological disorder. He would roam around the houses in the locality daily, and on the day of the offence he entered the room where the old lady was present, assuming her to be a young woman. He tried to catch hold of her, but she resisted. It was then he picked up a wooden stick and struck her on her head. She succumbed to the injury. We came to know that he underwent some medical treatment in a hospital for the mentally disabled in Visakhapatnam. On 23 March, we took him into custody.”

The name of the accused cannot be mentioned in the FIR because, at the time the offence was committed, we did not conclude that he had killed her. This case has no religious angle. The accused is a psychological pervert and he was desiring only sex. When she revolted, he started beating her.”

Source Links: WorldWatchMonitor, The Hans India

However Persecution Relief and other Christian leaders from the East Godavari District made a 38-minute lengthy video on YouTube containing accusations against Hindus, police officials of ‘having colluded with Hindus’, and inflammatory speeches accusing local village sarpanch, temple Archak and others alleging that religious hatred was behind the murder.

Case 6: Murder of pastor Gideon Periasamy in Tamil Nadu

A case of suicide by hanging of a Christian pastor was twisted as ‘brutal torture and murder’ by Persecution Relief and other Christian organisations.

Tamil daily Dinamalar reported it as a case of suicide. The New Indian express reported it as suicide that ‘raises eyebrows’.

Persecution Relief straightaway wrote ‘brutally beaten, tortured before being murdered ‘

Within 2 days of the incident an online petition was prepared on www.change.org  site with strong accusations against Hindu organisations and individuals. The online petition says ‘The Christian Minority and a Dalit Pastor Mr. Gideon Periyasamy has been murdered on 20 Jan 2018, by the above said four accused who were Hindutva Extremist of Hindu Munnani and High Caste Fanatics.’

A 25-minute lengthy video in Tamil language was uploaded about the deceased Pastor Mr. Gideon Periyasamy which was interspersed with scenes from Graham Staines film and narration of his killing. His funeral was covered. Scenes of clashes from old videos were stitched together to evoke strong emotions from watchers and to convince the audience that Pastor Gideon was indeed murdered by ‘Hindu fanatics’.

The news was promptly picked up by international Christian websites with headlines screaming “Indian pastor tortured, beaten and then hung to death from the rafters of his church”.

Even before police could investigate the crime, the scene of the crime was disturbed and twisted. However, it turned out to be a clear case of suicide. Only a blood clot around the throat and neck where the main pressure from the rope had choked the pastor. There were bruises and welts but no other traces of blood on his body.

Case 7: Murder of Pastor Saanvi in Odisha

In this case, the Persecution Relief report does not mention date and place of the offence. The name of the deceased is mention in monosyllable without surname/house name. A search of the web yields news from predominantly Christian news/propaganda sites. There is no way of confirming this incident as this is not reported directly or indirectly in any independent web site or news channel.

In the absence of full details like place and date of offence, full name of the deceased, the authenticity of the story could not be verified at all.

Case 8: Murder of Pastor Mahesh of Sharon Church in Rajasthan

Persecution Relief claims that Pastor Mahesh who is familiar with electrical repairs was asked to climb a pole to fix a fuse. When he went up, electricity was switched on intentionally by ‘religious fanatics’ making him fall down and die. Villagers held a meeting and imposed a penalty of Rs. 2.50 lakhs on the accused. Sarpanch of that village and others came together and decided not to file lodge a complaint with police.

In its Facebook page, Persecution Relief wrote “a fanatic pre-mediate the murder of the Pastor by deceiving him to climb an electric pole to check the fuse and then he pulled the mains on, Pastor electrocuted to death. Church Pray for the wife and 3 Children”

However, this was nothing more than a simple case of death by electrocution which has been peddled as ‘Hindu fanatics’ premediating a murder.

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