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“A crowd estimated in excess of 7 million people attended the Festival of Blessing services held over three nights this past week in India,” said Pastor Benny Hinn. “I came as a servant of Jesus Christ to bless the people of this marvelous nation, and I was pleased that so many people attended the festival, including a former Prime Minister, many Congress leaders, and numerous other Indian dignitaries and celebrities.”
“Our India services were heralded as a massive international event throughout that region of the world, and his increasing global impact is one of the reasons why Pastor Benny Hinn was recently named by Barna Research as one of the most influential church personalities in the world today,” said Donald Price, Chief Executive of Benny Hinn Ministries.
Beginning a few days before the Festival the BJP and Hindu fundamentalists began to protest the meeting and to demand the arrest of Pastor Benny Hinn. They also demanded that several elected officials renounce their agreement to attend. However, Karnatka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh refused and subsequently attended the Festival of Blessing.
According to Rediff, January 24, 2005
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded American evangelist Benny Hinn's arrest and a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into his “Festival of Blessings -- Pray for India” programme in Bangalore.
According to New Kerala, January 23, 2005
A three-day faith show here by American evangelist Benny Hinn may have concluded without any major trouble, but it has left behind a trail of controversies.
With the Karnataka government going all out to provide the logistics support for the Festival of Blessings that concluded here Sunday night, the high-tech show attracted nearly a million people from all over India and some from abroad.
Though massive protests, a 12-hour shutdown and stray incidents of violence in the city overshadowed the inaugural day, the congregation passed off peacefully during the weekend much to the relief of the organisers and the state government.
While prayers and high-decibel choir sessions under dazzling lights and special effects drew applause, the healing sessions at the end drew protests and questions by rationalists and rightwing Hindu activists on the “miracle powers” of the Israeli-born Hinn.
In fact, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded the resignation of Dharam Singh for permitting Hinn to conduct the festival and “mislead” the people with his healing powers to cure the sick and terminal patients.
Challenging Hinn's claims that several people got cured of their diseases by participating in the prayer-cum-healing sessions with the blessings of Jesus Christ, Hindu activists said an equal number of sick went home disappointed with no change in their health condition.
Refuting the charges, Hinn told the gathering that god alone was the healer and he simply prayed to invoke the lord's blessings to cure the sick and help the poor as Jesus Christ did over 2,000 years ago.
“I want to dispel apprehensions that I have come here to convert people. It is not true. I am only a servant of Jesus. I came here because people in India also need healing, just like anywhere in the world. God wants to heal. That is why millions of people have come to attend the festival and not for me,” Hinn asserted.
Thanking the state government, the city police and the Indian organisers for the peaceful conduct of the festival, Hinn told the gathering that he would return to India in February 2006 to hold a similar congregation at Hyderabad.
Apart from thousands of Hinn's followers making a beeline to the venue on the outskirts of the city, a galaxy of political leaders and other VIPs made their presence felt with special prayers and blessings from the controversial evangelist.
Among the prominent leaders who graced the occasion with their families included former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, central minister Oscar Fernandes, Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh and scores of Congress leaders like Margaret Alva.
State Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah declined to attend the meeting though some of his cabinet colleagues in the coalition government were present.
--Indo-Asian News Service
According to Indian Express, India - Jan 23, 2005
Thousands of people thronged the prayer meeting of controversial American evangelist Benny Hinn in Bangalore on Sunday, who wound his India trip, promising to return next year to Hyderabad, while the BJP prepared to make his event an issue in the Karnataka Assembly on Monday.
“I love India and I will come back to India,” Hinn said, adding that his ministry, based in Bangalore, will hold a similar congregation in February 2006 at Hyderabad.
According to the Times of India - Jan 23, 2005
BANGALORE: For three days now, the city has groaned under the weight of the Benny Hinn show. Many of the apparently "healed" have justified the need for the mega-scale event, despite the multitude of problems.
The article went on to question the verifiability of the healings.
According to the Times of India - Jan 21, 2005
BANGALORE: The protest over the Festival of Blessings programme escalated on Friday with widespread arson and stone-pelting across the city, which left several persons injured.
Normal life was disrupted as angry mobs forcibly shut down shops and blocked traffic in many areas following the bandh call given by the Hindu Jagran Vedike to protest the show by evangelist Benny Hinn.
BMTC bore the brunt of the mobs ire as over 110 buses were damaged. Many private vehicles were also damaged. Agitators went on a rampage pelting stones and setting fire to buses in places across the city. Police lobbed tear gas shells and lathicharged crowds at several places.
The trouble began around 6 am when a mob stopped a BMTC bus and set it on fire after forcing commuters to get off. Buses parked in the terminal were set on fire.
The police were caught off guard as most of the force was at the Jakkur airfield, the venue for the programme.
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