Bible school students attacked in Himachal Pradesh

Three Bible school students in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh, India, were attacked and beaten and their Bible school was vandalized by a mob comprising of Hindu extremists who opposed the growth of Christianity in their nation.

The incident took place on January 27, when the Gospel for Asia–managed Bible school students had divided into groups and were witnessing in nearby villages. While they were preaching about Christ, the students were suddenly confronted and beaten by a mob comprising of members of a Hindu extremist group.

After beating them severely, the mob dragged the believers to the nearest police station and filed a complaint against them.

Soon thereafter, a mob of about 60 members of this same group stormed the Bible school and vandalized the facility.

"They caused a lot of damage," reported a Gospel for Asia (GFA) field correspondent, "breaking the windows and shelves and tearing apart the books before they left."

The extremist group is a branch of the Hindu fundamentalist outfit, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council), an organization dedicated to promoting Hindu ideology through severe suppression of other religious ideologies.

According to information obtained by the GFA, local police has sealed the Bible school and has taken everyone – staff, students and a women ministry team – into custody.

"It was first thought that the police were against us," said the GFA correspondent. "But then we came to know that the police took them in order to protect them."

The same evening, the police released the group and posted four officers to guard the Bible school overnight.

"It is not sure whether or not the fanatics will return," the correspondent said.

Gospel for Asia currently trains thousands of students in Bible colleges throughout Asia. First–year students typically attend home Bible schools, which offer a more personal mentoring environment, and which then feed into the larger Bible colleges for the students' final two years of missionary training.

Gospel for Asia leaders are asking Christians to pray for this situation to be resolved, for the safety of everyone involved and for continued freedom to preach the Gospel in the state of Himachal Pradesh.