An Indian Pastor has been attacked by a knifeman sustaining severe wounds to his chest, right hand and head.
While being operated on the semi-conscious Pastor’s only thoughts were to praise and worship God.
On 4th February 2022, while returning home after visiting church members in Beghma Pahantoli Village of Palkot District in the state of Jharkhand, Pastor Narendra Besra (46 yrs), was forced to stay at one of the members homes after a parade of elephants took up residence for the night.
In Indian villages the custom is to allow the elephants to remain where they are as early in the morning they move on. At 7pm the villagers had already gone to sleep which is quite normal but around 9pm Pastor Narendra had the urge to go to the toilet.
The toilet facility for the house was outside the main building and Pastor Narendra relieved himself and was about to walk back to the house, when a masked assassin began attacking him with a knife.
During the attack Pastor Narendra managed to thwart of the attacker by blocking his blows with his arm and protecting his more vital and delicate organs. He pushed the assassin away and was able to run into the home of the family he was staying with and quickly bolted the door shut.
He and the family began shouting for help and other villagers heard the commotion and came out. The assassin however had already fled the area. Worried about the state of health of Pastor Narendra he was taken to Life Care Hospital, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
During the attack Pastor Narendra managed to thwart of the attacker by blocking his blows with his arm and protecting his more vital and delicate organs. He pushed the assassin away and was able to run into a local villagers home and bolted the door shut.
Other villagers heard the commotion and came out and the assassin fled detection and capture. Police were called to the scene but arrived after the Pastor was already taken to Life Car Hospital, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
At the Hospital the police were called and a First Information Report (FIR) was filed with them.
From the images provided Pastor Narendra has severe wounds to his hands and head but will survive the attempted murder because he bravely fought back against the attacker.
The attacker was masked and has not been identified but police have launched an investigation.
For some time Pastor Narendra had been receiving minor threats which can be linked to his evangelism work. His church reaches out to Hindus and many of the congregation are former Hindus. Pastor Narendra is well known in the local area and is easily identified. It is believed that a group linked to the far right Hindu Group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an overarching body for all extremist groups in India, may have carried out the attack. Learn more about RSS (here).
Dr Vuchula our lead officer in India, has spoken with Pastor Narendra and we hope to have more details for you in a follow-up post later today.
Dr Vuchula, said:
“An attack on a Pastor of this nature is a terrorist attack.
“The full weight of the law should be utilised to punish the felon involved.
“We are confident local police are taking the right level of action and doing their utmost to catch the attacker.
“In the meanwhile we call for Christians to pray for our recovering brother.”
Pastor Narendra can be seen in the video praying and praising God while doctors treat him.
British Asian Christian Association, have agreed to cover all costs for his medical treatment on provision of invoices. Thus fare we have been advised that costs have reached Rs 60,000 (£585). We would appreciate your help in covering the significant costs and if you are moved to help please do so, by donating (here).
Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for the British Asian Christian Association, said:
“We thank God for the family that helped Pastor Narendra escape the murder attempt.
“We thank god for Hospital services who treated his injuries and the Police who are now offering protection and attempting to catch the assassin.”
She added:
“India is becoming increasingly intolerant of non-Hindus
“Though in the 1960’s and 70’s only three Indian states introduced anti-conversion laws, these have proliferated under the rule of President Modi with a further five states prohibiting conversion.
“The Hindutva (Hindu Nationalism) argument is based on an opinion that Christian philanthropy is a guise for proselytising.
“Theses laws aggregated with increasing caricature and demonizing of Non-Hindus in Indian textbooks, has created a society where Christians and other non-Hindus have become anathema.
“With the offence created by the eating of beef added to this mix it becomes obvious that Indian society is weighted against non-Hindus (click here).
“Government ministers and officials rarely speak out against violence to Non-Hindus and in some instances even defend it (click here).
“If things continue on this trajectory, levels of persecution will rise exponentially.”
