Two Pentecostal Christian pastors were dragged into a Hindu temple, seated in the corridors and covered with ash on their faces. Sajan K.George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), told AsiaNews that the violence took place on April 22nd in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. The GCIC, states its leader, “is embittered by the deplorable [gesture] of humiliation and repeated harass-ment against the faithful and places of worship.”

The Christian leader complains that at least 15 similar inci-dents have occurred in the southern State of Tamil Nadu in the last three months. All of them had Pentecostal Christians as their target. Specifically, the aggression suffered by the two pastors “was filmed by criminals, who then posted the images online. The video shows that the religious leaders being forced to cover themselves with the sacred ashes inside the Mutharamman temple in Sandhaivalai. Then they were insulted despite one of the two sang the Bharat Mata ki jai [song typical of the Indian tradition that celebrates India as Mother Earth, ed].”