Lucknow – Persecution against Christians in the heartland of Hindus, Uttar Pradesh, appear to be on the rise, with the latest victims being the members of the Jesus Film crew that was attacked by a group of Hindu extremists.

The JESUS Film Project, spearheaded by the Campus Crusade for Christ, distributes the film "JESUS" - a two-hour docudrama about the life of Christ based on the Gospel of Luke. The film, translated into hundreds of languages since its initial release in 1979, has been viewed by millions worldwide and has helped hundreds accept Jesus as their Saviour.

In Uttar Pradesh, however, the local Hindu extremist groups have reacted vigorously to the movement and last month a raid was carried out by at least 35 Hindu extremists on a showing of the Jesus Film in the state.

"When the film showing was going on, around 35-40 men attacked them, tearing up the screen and beating up people," said George Ninan, the South Asia Director for Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC).

During the attack, all the viewers fled the scene. Karan Bahadur, the leader of the film team suffered the most. "He could not escape and was badly beaten till he lost his consciousness," Ninan said.

According to the Assist News Service, Bahadur was taken captive, tortured, and questioned in detail about his family and work. The following night he was released near some railroad tracks and told to run for his life. He ran as far as his strength allowed, then hid himself in bushes that lined the track. The next morning Bahadur jumped aboard a slow-moving freight train, then eventually made his way by truck to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

After Bahadur was found, the Jesus Film crew reported the incident to the local police, but they have refused to deal entirely with the matter. The police did recover some of the film equipment from the school compound, but the generator used to supply power for the equipment is still missing.

"Praise God there was no serious injury to our staff and that we could get the projector back and the film," Ninan said.

In Uttar Pradesh where Buddhism and Hinduism are the dominant religions, less than one percent of the population knows Jesus Christ. In recent years, militant groups have arisen and urged Hinduism to be recognised as the official state religion. There are reports that they have attacked both Muslims and Christians because they are said to follow a "foreign" religion.

Ever since the pro-Hindu BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) assumed power in late 1990s, persecutions against the Christians and Muslims were on the rise and over 500 incidents of violence have been documented against Christians since 1998, including the rape of four nuns and one nun being shot in the face. In 1997, Hindu fundamentalists disguised as police officers killed Fr. Thomas, a Jesuit priest from Belgium. Another priest was severely beaten and paraded naked through the streets by militants in the same year. In 1999, an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two sons were burned to death in their van by Hindu extremists.

Till date, hundreds of Christians have been injured, killed or left homeless by such attacks.

However, persecutions have not deterred the missionaries from preaching the Gospel to the unreached. For CCC’s Jesus Film ministry, the team at the Uttar Pradesh state in northern India is just one of 900 operating in different parts of India.

George Ninan remains hopeful about India. "Most of the ministries are seeing results," he said. "Please continue to pray for their protection."







Surojit Chatterjee
Christian Today Correspondent