ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 24, 2007: (HPI note: This report is from a Christian missionary news service and should be read with that in mind. A search of Google News finds no other report of this incident.)
According to ASSIST News Service, Gospel for Asia (GFA) native missionaries in India — including a state leader — have been driven away, beaten and even arrested by police at the site of the Ardh Kumbh, a massive festival during which millions of Hindu pilgrims bathe in the confluence of two sacred rivers at the north Indian town of Allahabad. On Monday, January 22, an estimated 20 million people bathed in the Ganges. Up to 60 million are expected to have taken the religious plunge before the 45-day event is over on February 16. GFA native missionaries had to walk or ride bicycles about 10 kilometers to reach the festival site. But as of January 21, more than 200,000 pilgrims had happily accepted their Gospel tracts. On that day, however, radical anti-Christian thugs beat up three native missionaries, stole their materials and told them to leave the festival. Anti-Christian sentiment was also evident when police told a GFA women’s team to leave. The women retreated, but a men’s team continued to share the gospel. Police then arrested six of the Christians and questioned them for a day.