Indian officials order 10 churches to cancel worship services following complaints from Hindu nationalists

Indian officials have ordered 10 churches in Tamil Nadu state to cancel worship services, following complaints from members of Hindu nationalist groups.

The Hindu nationalists have reportedly asked state officials and police to issue orders to the churches in Coimbatore District to discontinue worship services unless they obtain permission from the collector's office. Church leaders have said that Hindu extremists are planning to target 20 other churches in the same way.

"It is a well-planned conspiracy against the Christian community, as the Hindu extremists know that it is not easy to approach the collector's office for such permissions," pastor Johnson Sathyanathan, president of the Synod of Pentecostal Churches of Coimbatore, told Morning Star News. "The time to get such approvals can stretch from a year and a half to many more years," he added.

The orders on six churches were based on complaints from members of the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is widely regarded as the parent organization of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In one case, the order was issued based on a complaint from members of a new Hindu nationalist group called Hanuman Sena.

Nearly 500 Christians had approached the district sub-collector and the superintendent of police on Oct. 11 to demand protection and appeal for the churches to be re-opened.

"They said that they can do nothing about it, and why should we create unnecessary trouble, that instead we should go ahead and get legal permission for our churches," Sathyanathan said. "We had organized a day of silent protest on Oct. 21, but we were denied permission to carry it out, as they stated that it was a law-and-order situation," he added.

Last week, a Christian delegation met with the minister of Internal Affairs of Tamil Nadu to raise their concerns about the recent notices.

According to Sathyanathan, the state minister has already asked the deputy superintendent of police and the local Member of the Legislative Assembly of Sulur to look into the matter and ensure that the churches can resume the worship services.

Religious rights advocates have asserted that the hostile tone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Democratic Alliance government, led by the BJP, against non-Hindus have emboldened extremists in several parts of India to attack Christians.

India has been ranked by Open Doors USA as the 15th worst nation in the world when it comes to persecution of Christians.

The advocacy group has noted that attacks on Christians have skyrocketed in the last year, with over 410 incidents of Christians being harassed, threatened or attacked for their faith in the first six months of 2017. In contrast, the group has documented a total of 441 incidents for the entirety of 2016.