Source: www.barnabasfund.org
Date: July 21, 2020
Indian Christian missionary Munshi Dev Tado was murdered on 10 July by suspected Maoist Naxalite attackers who had previously threatened him for sharing the Gospel in western Maharashtra State.
The 28-year-old was taken to a forest near his home in Gadchiroli district and shot. He leaves a wife, three young daughters and a son.
Munshi Dev Tado with his wife and three of his four children [Image credit: AsiaNews]
Munshi was a former member of the militant communist Naxalite group and participated in the persecution of Christian families in the area. He converted to Christianity, left the Naxalites and began Christian ministry, opening a church on his own land. He has twice been ordered to stop his missionary work by Naxalites.
Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), condemned the “hateful” murder. Gadchiroli is a remote tribal area where radical Hindutva groups also operate, he said.
“Munshi Dev Tado's conversion to the Christian faith was the cause of hostility and tensions,” added George. “He was assassinated in this remote wooded area for his Christian faith, and for his church, and for preaching the gospel. The GCIC demands justice for Munshi Dev Tado and the truth about his murder.”
Naxalites are believed to have carried out the beheading of Christian father-of-five Anant Ram Gand in the eastern state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) in February 2019. Anant’s six-year-old son tearfully ran after his father as he was dragged away by three assailants, who ordered the boy not to follow.