Hindu militants in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh have threatened to kill over 60 new Christian converts if they refuse to convert back to the Hindu faith, reports Gospel for Asia (GFA).

|TOP|Tensions arose following an attack on a pastor from a local evangelical Believers Church in Baijnath town on 4 November.

The 62-year-old Pastor Feroz Masih was reportedly still recovering on Tuesday after being beaten by members of the nationalist Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or ‘World Hindu Council’, and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal, after allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity.

“Now the same group says they will conduct a Puja ritual on November 20 to forcefully convert the Christians in the church, pastored by [his son] GFA native missionary Ramesh Masih Battih, back to Hinduism,” said GFA in a statement.

“They said they would burn alive any [Christian] who does not renounce” their faith in Christ.

Compass Direct, a Christian news agency, quoted Battih as saying his father was forced to sign a paper saying he would be willing to reconvert himself and his church members back to Hinduism.

|AD|He was reported as saying: “They also warned him that he, along with all the believers, would be burned alive if they refused to reconvert. They also threatened to burn down the believers’ houses.”

GFA said the threat was “reminiscent of the brutal murder of missionary Graham Staines and his two children by the same kind of fundamentalists [in the state of Orissa]”.

Australian native Staines, who worked with lepers in Orissa, and his two sons, Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8, were burned alive by Hindu militants on January 22, 1999.

GFA said it was not clear if police would act on a complaint filed by Battih about the attack and threats because investigations are difficult. GFA said the “area is dominated by a large temple to the Hindu god Shiva” and that, “Thousands of pilgrims come to the temple, so it is not clear if the police will take any action to protect the Christians.”

K.P. Yohannan, President of Gospel for Asia, said: “What is most important now is that we pray for this situation.

“These brothers and sisters have chosen by their own free will to follow Christ.”

He called on GFA supporters to “pray for their protection, and that God will surround them with His angels and turn back any violence.” Mr Yohannan also urged prayers “for their attackers, that their hearts will be softened” and “the people set free in Christ”.

Compass Direct news agency quoted a 2001 census which showed Himachal Pradesh to have one of the smallest Christian populations in India, at around only 7,687 out of a total population of 6 million.