EFI NEWS
Christian Priest murdered in Andhra Pradesh 
Tortured and disfigured body of Fr. Rev. Thomas Pandippallyil, a Catholic Priest, was found in Yellareddy area in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh on August 16, 2008 
    
The body of Rev. Thomas Pandippallyil, a member of Carmelite of Mary Immaculate, was found when people waiting for Sunday Mass in a village began a search after the priest failed to turn up. His body was found in a deserted area in Balampilly village with the legs and hands crushed with severe beatings, and eyes gorged out.
    
He is believed to be killed on Saturday night. His motor bike was also found abandoned at a distance of one kilometer. On Saturday, he reportedly offered a Mass in Burgida village, where he stayed and started for another village for the Sunday Mass. 
    

The priest was actively involved in educational field. He joined the Chanda mission of the CMI on 24th June 1987. He was ordained a priest in 2002. He was the rector for the Chanda mission province of the CMI, and also worked as hospital administrator, school manager and mission centre director.
    
GFA students attacked in Dehradun, Uttarakhand 
Several students belonging to Gospel For Asia seminary were attacked by a group of Hindu extremists in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on August 15, 2008. 
    
Rev. Merlin Clarance, a local pastor, informed EFI that on Independence Day morning few GFA students were distributing the Gospel tract "Sachi Azadi" when a group of extremist having affiliation with the Hindu Jagran Manch arrived on the spot and caught hold of one of the students and indiscriminately started beating him. The other students, however, managed to escape from the scene. 
    
After the merciless pounding they even took the student to the Cantt police station. Later the Principal along with the teachers of the college arrived at the police station. But to their utmost horror they too were attacked and abused in front of the police officials by the fundamentalists gathered at the station.
    
Without any substantial proof police detained the principal along with his staff. The Christians were detained in the police station overnight. Inspector Jagdish Pal of Cantt police station informed that no case was lodged against either parties. The students and principal were detained only for the safety purpose.
    
EFI requests prayers for the safety of the Christian brothers and sisters in these places. 

Rev. Dr. Richard Howell. General Secretary, Evangelical Fellowship of India, New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

Orphanage set on fire in Orissa village, nun killed (Aug 25th, 2008)

Bhubaneswar: A nun was burnt to death and a priest injured when suspected Sangh Parivar activists set fire to an orphanage run by Christian missionaries in a village in Orissa’s Bargarh district on Monday (8/25).

First reports from Khuntapali village say the suspected Sangh Parivar activists first pulled out children from the orphanage and then set it ablaze at around 1600 hrs. The 25-year-old nun and the priest were trapped inside. The priest is now recovering in a hospital. In the past Hindu extremists in Orissa have attacked Christian missionaries. In 1999 an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two sons were killed by a mob that set their car on fire.

The incident occurred during the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) statewide bandh (shutdown) in Orissa to protest against the murder of its leader in Kandhamal district on Saturday. Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a member of VHP's central advisory committee, and four other people were killed at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district, 340 km from Bhubaneswar, on Saturday evening after more than 30 suspected Maoist rebels opened fire on them.

Over a dozen churches and prayer halls were torched, police outposts attacked and about 15 vehicles damaged in the communally sensitive Kandhamal district during the bandh.Two churches were damaged in Phulbani town and two police outposts were ransacked near Nuagaon, while churches and prayer halls were attacked in Baliguda, Barkhama, Tikabali and Udaigiri areas. Activists accompanying body of the slain leader defied curfew and held processions passing through Phulbani town, attacking churches, houses and vehicles of one community, police said.In the state capital, saffron activists fanned out in large numbers in order to enforce the bandh and blocked important roads and intersections.

Road and rail traffic was affected while shops and business establishments remained closed across the state during the bandh, supported by the BJP, a coalition partner in the ruling combine.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)

Indian Sub-Continent Tourism Links:

(Disclaimer: Links/Sites given below are for general info purposes only and not think as a recommendation from our fellowship. BBTFD or its office bearers neither endorse & take liability for the site content nor affiliated with any of the commercial outfits (travel agencies, etc) mentioned in there. You need to do your own due diligence that includes but not limited to go through US State dept.  related to that specific country (India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Tibet,  etc) and do other research about specific destination, prior to making any kind of travel plans  to Indian sub-continent.)