(TRUNEWS) A gang of 500 Hindus has attacked Christians at a church in India.

The protestant worshippers were pummeled recently with stones and the church building was damaged in the attack.  The police allegedly just watched as it took place, according to the pastor.

The Hindu group was angry that flags representing the Bharatiya Janata Party placed outside the church were worn.  Pastor Emmanuel Ariel claimed the wind did it.

Women and children were among those attacked.

International Christian Concern said the incident shows an uptick in violence against Christians in India.  Last month, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported Hindus doused a Christian couple with gasoline to try and get them to deny their faith. They were not injured, but a church was damaged and Bibles were destroyed.

“CSW condemns this and all other incidences of targeted violence against religious minorities, which have outraged civil society in India,” CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, as reported by Christian Post.

In Orissa in 2008 more than 100 Christians were murdered at the hands of Hindus, 300 churches and thousands of homes were destroyed.

image: http://www.trunews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/church-religion-cross-worship-christian-religious-300×200.jpg

This week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report warning India is on a “negative trajectory” regarding religious freedom. The panel will consider labeling India as a “Country of Particular Concern”. India has denied a problem exists, but The Catholic Secular Forum reported more than 365 incidents of persecution in 2015.