In 2011, the southern state of Karnataka (pictured in red on map) recorded the highest number of attacks against Christians in any Indian state, with 49 cases of violence and hostility according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India's (EFI) annual report, "Battered and Bruised...".

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has asked the Orissa court to transfer the investigation into the murder of Pastor Michael Nayak elsewhere, after the police dismissed the case as "accidental death".

Michael Nayak disappeared on 20 July 2011. When his body was found on 28 July, the police closed the case. His brother was threatened when he went to the police to demand the reopening of the investigation.

On Sunday 5 December there were four attacks against Christians in Bangalore, the state capital of Karnataka. The first took place when Hindu extremists attacked a prayer hall during a worship service, terrorising and threatening about 50 worshippers.

A new report by the Evangelical Fellowship of India shows that the church in India continues to face serious persecution. The "Half Yearly Report of Major Incidents of Anti-Christian Violence in India, 2010" lists 106 incidents of attacks on Christians, by state, for the months January to August 2010.

Manoj Pradhan, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Orissa, has been released on bail, less than a month after being sentenced to seven years in prison for his part in anti-Christian riots in 2008.

Local Christians were initially relieved that a sentence had been handed down (albeit, in their eyes, far too short) but they are dismayed that bail has been granted.

Most of those charged with murder and arson following the anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal district in autumn 2008 have gone free, partly due to threats which have kept witnesses from testifying.

In that wave of violence, Hindu extremists targeted Christians following the death of a local Hindu leader - despite the fact that Maoists claimed responsibility – killing more than 100 people and burning 4,640 houses, 252 churches and 13 educational institutions.

Several Christian families who have returned to their homes in Kandhamal district are pretending to be Hindus by leaving the Hindu saffron flag flying from their houses.

The flags were placed there by Hindu extremists during the anti-Christian violence last Autumn in which 50,000 Christians were forced to flee for their lives.

There is a spirit of uncertainty among the Christian community in Orissa following the announcement that federal paramilitary police are to withdraw from the state by the end of June.

India's general election is being held over the coming four weeks and voting in the state of Orissa (scene of anti-Christian campaign of violence last year) begins tomorrow (16 April).