Release International

Hindu nationalists have falsely accused five Christians of desecrating Hindu temples, prompting their arrest.

In fact the Hindu activists had completely destroyed the Christians' modest church in Patagunta village, Andhra Pradesh, the day before they took their complaint to the police.

Police officials immediately took pastors Dhanraj and Jyothi Kumar and the three other unnamed Christians into custody, according to Release partner All India Christian Council (AICC). Officers have refused to say where they are holding the pastors but the three others are being held at Tavanampalli police station.

The Hindu nationalists accuse the Christians of destroying idols and other valuables in several temples. The AICC is calling for the immediate release of the detained Christians and police action against the Hindus who attacked the Patagunta church.

Meanwhile, Christians in Orissa have made progress in their fight for justice following Hindu nationalists' campaign of violence against them in 2008. A legislator from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been found guilty of involvement in the murder of Bikram Nayak, a 30-year-old Christian attacked by a mob in Budedi village.

A judge in Fast Track Court II in Kandhamal sentenced Manoj Pradhan to six years' imprisonment for 'culpable homicide' and fined him about £215 for setting houses ablaze. Pradhan was arrested as a primary suspect in the violence in late-2008 but was released on bail after winning a seat in the 2009 state assembly election, having run his election campaign from jail.

(Sources: All India Christian Council, Compass Direct)

• Pray for the immediate release of the five Christians in Andhra Pradesh accused of desecrating temples. Pray that justice will be done in their case.
• Thank God that a court in Orissa has risked the wrath of the ruling BJP by convicting one of its members, Manoj Pradhan. Pray God's peace over the family of Pradhan's victim.

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