The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Pentecostal Groups in North-East India With an enormous population already exceeding 1.28 billion and growing every day, India is the second-most populous country in the world today, and may outpace China’s 1.38 billion people in the foreseeable future. Although nearly 80% of India’s population, or about 1.2 billion people, are practicing Hindus, there are several other major religions with significant representation in the country as well, including Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.[footnoteRef:2] Although India has a long tradition of religious tolerance, longstanding hostilities between Hindus and Muslims continue to create tensions in the hotly contested Kashmir region in north-east India and the potential for war between these two nuclear powers is ever present.[footnoteRef:3] Taken together, it is clear that religion remains a powerful force in India today but many minority religious groups face some profound challenges in this country as well as significant opportunities for the future. Given that Pentecostalism is a vibrant form of Christianity with the potential to carry the Gospel to every country in the world, this paper examines the challenges and opportunities facing Pentecostal groups in North-East India today, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these pressing issues in the conclusion. [2: “India population.” 2017. CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html.] [3: Parvez Zaheer, “An Empowering Rule.” Islamic Horizons. 46, no. 1 (January 1, 2017): 54.]

The eight states of north-east India, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, are all rich in culture, share a common geographical region (see Figure 1 below), are all plagued by intermittent terrorism from a variety of sources as well as inter-ethnic conflicts – but this is where the commonalities essentially end. For instance, according to one authority, “The North-East consists of 40 million people spread over eight states that cover 263,000 square kilometers and none of them would agree to fight for the liberation of the ‘Northeast’ in general” (emphasis author’s).[footnoteRef:4] [4: Wasbir Hussain. 2008, May 2. “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” A Wide Angle View of India. https://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/is-there-that-much-violence-in-indias-8-north-eastern-states/]

Figure 1. Map of North-East Indian States

http://www.mdoner.gov.in/sites/default/files/silo4_content/NE/NE_Region.jpg

As can be seen from the map in Figure 1 above, North-East India has several natural frontiers with other countries, all of which contribute to the increasingly heightened tensions in the region. Moreover, the frequently hostile terrain combined with “the multiplicity of insurgency activities, militants [and] terrorists [has] created havoc in the border areas.”[footnoteRef:5] This regional unrest has been further exacerbated by at least 30 different separatist groups that have been seeking autonomy or outright independence from the Indian federation as well as the “battles for territorial supremacy amongst the different ethnic groups themselves.”[footnoteRef:6] The latter problem is especially pronounced given that there are approximately 400 additional tribal or subtribal groups and 160 Scheduled Tribes living side-by-side in North-East India. The strategic alliances that have been forged between these groups frequently “transcend inter-state and international borders.”[footnoteRef:7] [5: Rini Matthew. 2016. “The Dynamics of Terrorism in North-East India – A Critique.” Rostrum. https://rostrumlegal.com/the-dynamics-of-terrorism-in-north-east-india-a-critique/] [6: Hussain, “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” ] [7: Hussain, “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” ]

This level of ethnic diversity is not limited to North-East India, of course, but it is more highly pronounced in this region which is one of the factors that has fueled ongoing unrest. According to Pulla, besides the four traditional groups in the Indian caste system that are based on occupations (i.e., Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra), there are also “two more marginalized caste groups, Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes, who are living outside the mainstream of the society because of their lower social status [which] adversely affects the equality of opportunities to the disadvantage of these groups.”[footnoteRef:8] Caught in the middle of all of this ethnic, religious, political and social unrest, of course, are millions of ordinary Indian citizens who want nothing more from life than to earn a living and make the lives of their children better than their own. Indeed, even under optimal circumstances, earning a living in North-East India is a challenging enterprise because many of the states are suffering from impoverished conditions and a fundamental lack of employment opportunities.[footnoteRef:9] [8: D. Pulla Rao, “Socio-Economic Status of Scheduled Tribes in Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh.” Journal of Social Welfare and Management,...

4 (October-December 2014): 189. ] [9: Hussain, “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” ]
To its credit, the central Indian government has made significant investments in developmental projects throughout North-East India in recent years in response to these problems, but the outcomes of these investments have been mixed. In this regard, Hussain emphasizes that, “Leakage of funds at various levels of the government machinery [means] development funds are making their way into the coffers of the insurgent groups.”[footnoteRef:10] There have been other constraints that have adversely affected the ability of the central Indian government to effect meaningful change in the North-East India region as well, including a lack of the requisite expertise and training that are needed to apply investment funds effectively. [footnoteRef:11] [10: Hussain, “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” ] [11: Hussain, “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” ]

It is important to note, however, that the same level of unrest and insurgency does not exist equally throughout North-East India and some regions remain peaceful and increasingly prosperous. In fact, the characterization of the entire North-East India region as being troubled has further exacerbated efforts to address the problems where they are especially severe. In this regard, Hussain concludes that, “It is very unfair to bracket all these North Eastern states as disturbed areas. This only proves lack of understanding of complex problems of the North Eastern region. It must be understood that no two states of North East are similar. In fact, each state has its own set of problems. They have been grouped as North Eastern region on geographical convenience only (emphasis added).”[footnoteRef:12] [12: Hussain, “Are all India’s 8 north-eastern states disturbed areas?” ]

Unfortunately, this is the complex and convoluted environment that is facing many of the Pentecostal groups operating in North-East India today. Many of these groups have a lengthy history in India in general and in the North-East in particular that dates to antiquity. Indeed, Christianity can even be regarded as an Asian religion and St. Thomas and/or St. Bartholomew were the founders of Indian Christianity.[footnoteRef:13] Notwithstanding their status as relatively miniscule minorities in the North-East, the historic positive influence of Pentecostals has been significant, especially in the fields of healthcare, social services and education.[footnoteRef:14] [13: Peter C. Phan, Christianities in Asia. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 4.] [14: Phan, 4.]

While the numbers of Pentecostals in North-East India has increased significantly in recent years, especially among marginalized ethnic groups, their presence actually dates back more than 300 years as shown in the timeline set forth in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Timeline of historical growth of Pentecostalism in north-east India

Time Period

Description

1700-1900s

In the 1700s, German Lutherans and British Baptists establish Protestant missions in southern and western India. In 1860, revivals in the U.S. and Europe inspire an Indian Anglican to lead a Pentecostal revival in southern India. In the 1860s and 1870s, Protestant churches in southern India attract many Dalits (or “untouchables,” Indians outside of the caste system). Beginning in the 1880s, Protestantism also grows in Punjab, in northern India. Christian conversions inspire Hindu counter-movements, including the Arya Samaj, founded in 1875

1910-1960

An American woman is the first Assemblies of God (AG) missionary to India, settling in southern India in 1915. In 1918, the Indian AG is formally established, and in 1927, an American missionary establishes the first permanent AG Bible college outside the U.S. in present-day Kerala. Indian pastor K. E. Abraham leaves the AG in 1929 and founds the Indian Pentecostal Church, one of India’s largest Pentecostal denominations. The denomination splits in 1953, leading to the creation of the Sharon Fellowship Church. Between 1900 and independence in 1947, thousands of Hindus in southern India convert to Anglican and Baptist forms of Protestantism. According to the Indian census, the Christian growth rate between 1881 and 1931 is 338 percent, compared with 27 percent for Hindus.

1960-1994

This period sees the rapid growth of neo-Pentecostal churches, such as the New Life Fellowship, founded in 1968, which has about 1,500 house churches in Mumbai and 3,000 nationwide by 1996. By the late 1970s, the leadership of the AG and other Pentecostal churches becomes indigenous. A 1988 study finds that more than 3,000 indigenous Pentecostal and charismatic missionaries work among non-Christians.

By 1995, the Assemblies of God becomes India’s largest Pentecostal denomination, claiming 300,000 members. Christianity continues to grow rapidly in northeast India. Of seven northeast states, Nagaland is majority-Christian by 1961 and two more, Mizoram and Meghalaya, are majority-Christian by 1991

1995-2002

The Indian Pentecostal Church has more than 50,000 members,…