Parents, Islamic Extremists Beat Young Woman in India

Christian in West Bengal cast out of home for her faith.

NEW DELHI, March 20 (CDN) — A young woman was thrown out of her home this month for daring to give thanks for healing in Christ’s name in a predominantly Muslim village in India’s West Bengal state, and then her parents helped Islamic extremists to beat her nearly unconscious.


The attack on Rekha Khatoon, 22, took place on March 9 in Nutangram, Murshidabad.


“I boldly told those who beat me up that I may leave my parents, but that I will not leave Jesus,” Khatoon said. “Jesus has healed me, and I cannot forget Him.”


In a village where hard-line Muslims have threatened to kill the 25 families who initially showed interest in Christ, leaving only five frightened Christian families, Khatoon was returning from worship with Believers Church at Al Hamdulillah Hall when her parents and Muslim extremists attacked her, she said. They called her a pagan, among other verbal abuse.


The mob also harassed the Christian woman who encouraged Khatoon to trust Christ as Lord, Aimazan Bibi, said Bashir Pal, pastor and founder of the village Believers Church.


“On the same night, Rekha Khatoon’s father, Nistar Shaike, and about 20 Muslim radicals surrounded Aimazan’s house, shouted anti-Christian slogans, threatened to harm her and her family and falsely accused her of ‘luring’ Rekha to convert to Christianity,” Pastor Pal told Compass.


After finding herself alone on a road after the beating, Khatoon had taken refuge in Aimazan Bibi’s home.


Khatoon had met Amaizan Bibi last year and told her about a reproductive ailment that caused her to bleed heavily, and the older woman had shared both the gospel of Christ and His healing power with her, Pastor Pal said.


“After Rekha Khatoon came to know about her ailment, she met one of our church members, Aimazan Bibi, and she shared her physical problem with her and told her that her illness was getting worse as she was not able to purchase medicines anymore,” he said.


Aimazan Bibi also invited Khatoon to attend church. On Dec. 23, Khatoon came to the worship center, where Christian women laid hands on her, he said. The pastor and congregation prayed for God’s healing touch in Jesus’ name.


“She received healing from Christ, and thereafter she attended the worship services whenever she could,” Pastor Pal said. “On Jan. 17, Khatoon attended one house church meeting in her village and once again testified that Jesus has healed her, and that she had not taken any medicine since Dec. 23.”


He said the Muslim extremists warned Khatoon not to have contact with Christians. West Bengal is 25.2 percent Muslim, with Hindus in the predominantly Hindu country making up 72.5 percent of the population in the state, according to Operation World. The state, which borders Muslim-majority Bangladesh, is only 0.6 percent Christian.


Upon learning that she was attending Christian worship meetings, her parents had strictly warned her not to have any relationships with Christians and not to attend their fellowship, Aimazan Bibi said.


“However, she told them that she cannot forget Jesus and His love for her,” she said.


Pastor Pal’s wife, nurse Anasea Pal, added that at another house church meeting, Khatoon brought her sister and talked about the healing she had received from Christ.


Khatoon has since relocated to another area, where she lives largely confined for her own protection.


Khatoon and her mother had attended worship services at the church previously; they began there in 2009 until area Muslims, furious to hear that several women were attending worship services, warned them to cease all contact with Christians or else they would face harm. The local mosque then offered Khatoon’s mother a job carrying food for the local Islamic leader to ensure she stopped all contact with Christians.


She also stopped Khatoon from attending Christian meetings.


Tensions prevail in the area, with enraged Muslim radicals threatening to hurt the five Christian families on the slightest pretext. In addition to harassing Aimazan Bibi, Islamic extremists have ruined her son Sirajul Shaike’s business, throwing away all his vegetables and chasing him out of the village market.


“It is very difficult for them now, since selling vegetables was the main source of income for the family,” Pastor Pal said.


Christians in the village have endured all manner of physical torture and social boycotts at the hand of Muslim extremists, Pastor Pal said. He added that the extremists are not allowing Christians to enter the village.



END

Accused Pastor in Kashmir, India Given Reprieve

Police fail to find evidence of fraudulent conversion; converts urged to return to Islam.

NEW DELHI, February 16 (CDN) — A court has ordered the Jammu and Kashmir state government to temporarily halt criminal proceedings against a pastor accused of bribing Muslim youths to convert to Christianity.

The state’s High Court on Saturday (Feb. 11) halted proceedings in the police complaint of “promotion of religious enmity by conversions” against the Rev. Chander Mani Khanna of the Church of North India denomination. Responding to a petition by the pastor to quash the complaint, the court issued notices to top officials of the state’s police department and interior ministry because investigators have not been able to formulate charges even though the case was registered last Oct. 29, Pastor Khanna told Compass by phone.

Pastor Khanna, who retired on Jan. 16 from All Saints Church in Kashmir Valley’s Srinagar city, seemed relieved.

“After I was released on bail, the court had asked me not to leave the state, but with this stay order I can at least travel out,” he said.

The pastor, who remained in jail for more than 40 days until he was released on bail last Dec. 1, added that the court asked the government to file its response by March 14, and then it will set the date for the next hearing. Police have not been able to gather evidence of “conversion by allurement” against Pastor Khanna.

The pastor added that real victory will be achieved when he is allowed to return to Kashmir, in the Muslim-majority region of the state.

“We do not want to retaliate,” he said. “We want to promote the spirit of acceptance, accommodation and tolerance and be salt to the community in Kashmir for the betterment of the whole country.”

Kashmir’s sharia (Islamic law) court, which has no legal authority in India, in December found Pastor Khanna, the Rev. Jim Borst, a Dutch Catholic missionary and Gayoor Messah, a Christian worker, guilty of “luring the valley Muslims to Christianity” and ordered them to leave the state. The court, headed by Kashmir Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-din Ahmad, also “directed” the state government to take over the management of all Christian schools in the region.

Muslim leaders had been rallying against Christians after a video posted on YouTube last October showed the baptism of formerly Muslim youths at All Saints Church. The sharia court summoned Pastor Khanna and held a hearing before announcing its verdict against the three pastors.

Reconversions
Life has been extremely difficult for Kashmir’s Christians since the sharia court’s verdict, said a Christian worker who fled the region last month along with 15 others.

Muslim clergy, he told Compass, claim to have converted 155 Christians back to Islam.

“But I don’t believe that,” added the source, who said he fled fearing police would force him to speak against Pastor Khanna. “I have spoken to some of them, and they said they neither denounced their faith, and nor did they embrace Islam. Out of fear, they listened to the ‘advice’ while remaining non-committal.”

Local online news portal Kashmirwatch.com late last month reported that an Islamic seminary in north Kashmir was working with 115 converts to bring them back to Islam.

“We are collecting details,” it quoted a seminary official as saying. “We would try to catch them all and persuade them to revert to Islam.”

Local Christians say the sharia court has formed area committees to prevent conversions and reconvert Christians. Committee members are visiting Christians’ homes and allegedly pressuring them and their families to return to Islam.

Kashmirwatch.com reported that over 20,000 Kashmiri Muslims had converted to Christianity since separatist militancy erupted in Kashmir in the 1990s. According to a September 2002 report in Christian media in the United States, it reported, the number of “neo-Christians” was 15,000.

“The conversions are likely to have surged past 20,000, with over a dozen Christian missions and churches based in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland operating in the state,” the news portal stated.

Local Christians said the report in the U.S. media was not accurate.

Support from Separatists
While most Muslim leaders have turned against Christians and the state government is apparently unconcerned about their safety, a highly influential separatist group has spoken out for Christians.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of a faction of the Hurriyat Conference separatist political front, has reportedly said his group does not support the sharia court’s fatwa calling for the expulsion of a few Christian workers from the state.

“Banishing someone is no solution,” the Kashmir Times quoted him as saying. “As Muslims, it is our responsibility to ensure that we reach out to our youth and create awareness about Islam.”


The 82-year-old leader also acknowledged the contribution Christians have made to Kashmir.

“They are part and parcel of the society,” he reportedly said. “It is our duty to protect them. Kashmiris cannot ignore the contributions of Christian missionary schools towards the educational system in the Valley. Unfortunately, Kashmiri Muslims have not been able to build an educational institution like those by the Christian missionary schools despite all available resources.”

A fact-finding team, which included a senior official of the National Commission for Minorities, visited Kashmir from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 last year. It learned that some extremist groups and other vested interests had been trying to use the issue of conversion in their confrontation with the state government, political parties and moderate Islamic groups. They were “looking to score political points against each other, and any excuse was good enough to foment trouble,” the fact-finding team reported.

The state government apparently sided with the extremists to preempt any unrest, local residents told the fact-finding team.

END

International Petition Drive to Help Pastor Persecuted For Conducting Baptisms

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

SRINIGAR, INDIA (ANS) -- The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians is trying to raise international awareness of the case of an Indian pastor arrested on charges 'disturbing communal peace.'

In a media update, Ann Buwalda, Executive Director of Jubilee Campaign, says that Sajan George is highlighting the case through a petition drive.

Jubilee Campaign says Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church in Srinagar was on November 19th, 2011 arrested on charges 'disturbing communal peace.'

The arrests of Khanna and two others came after a local Muslim clerical association calling itself a 'Sharia court' accused Rev. Khanna of 'luring' Muslims into converting from Christianity. Their only evidence was a YouTube video of Rev. Khanna baptizing seven believers from a Muslim background.

Jubilee Campaign says that after 11 days in, jail Rev. Khanna was released on bail, but the so-called Sharia court issued a fatwa of expulsion, ordering him and two other Christian workers to leave the state.

In the media release, Buwalda says: “This case represents a worrying continuation of a dangerous trend Jubilee Campaign has seen in India for some time. Over the past several years radical Hindu leaders have reacted to the massive growth of Christianity with frequently accusations that Christians are 'luring' poor Hindus into converting by bribing them or lying to them. It was this sentiment which led to the passage of anti-conversion laws in several states of northern India and led to the 2008 violence against Christians in Orissa.”

Buwalda explained the causes of this sentiment are “complex and specific to the traditional Hindu society where political and economic power was based around the caste system.”

Buwalda said: “The Muslim view on conversions is more explicitly theological, as indicated by the term apostasy. Nevertheless the Hindu response to conversions, which involves baseless accusations of misconduct resulting in vigilante killings of religious minorities is very similar to the Muslim response that we have seen in Pakistan and elsewhere.”

Buwalda went on to state: “This attempt by the Kashmir Muslims to activate the radical Hindu lobbying in support of their actions has been at least partially successful judging by the response of a high-ranking Indian official.

“Of more immediate concern is to the local Christian community is the way that the Sharia court was able to enforce its fatwa of expulsion against Rev. Khanna and the two other Christian workers,” she said.

Buwalda added that, emboldened by their success, groups of local Muslims have been pressuring the families of converts, causing several other converts and Christians workers to flee.

In response, Sajan George, the president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, is trying to raise international awareness through the petition.

Jubilee Campaign urges concerned believers to sign the petition calling for the government of India to respect its own laws and stop the unjust persecution of Rev. Khanna.

Support Rev. Khanna and the Christian Minority in Kashmir, by signing the Petition here:http://tinyurl.com/774gh3m  

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

By Mahruaii Sailo

 

Orissa, India, January 31 (Compass Direct News) – A Hindu extremist in Adigar, Phulbani, Kandhamal district on Jan. 25 attacked a pastor’s hut and harassed his family, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). Jaleshwar Pradhan threw stones at the home of Pastor Patiba Mohan Kota while he was away, verbally abused his wife and pushed his daughters, shouting, “You Christians must not live here – it is not your land; the last time your houses were only damaged, this time all of you will be buried here,” the GCIC reported. Though damage to the house was minimal, the pastor and his family were anguishing in fear as Hindu extremists have previously tortured him physically, causing partial loss of eyesight and hearing, reported the GCIC. The pastor was among those whose houses were destroyed during anti-Christian violence in 2008. Pradhan was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, reported the GCIC.

 

Karnataka – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Jan. 23 barged into a prayer meeting led by Pastor Chandrakanth Chavan of New Life Fellowship in Haliyal, Kanara, beat him and stripped him naked. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the extremists shouted at the Christians in coarse language as they started beating and kicking Pastor Chavan and Kishore Kavalekar before parading the naked pastor in a procession throughout the village. At about midnight they tied the pastor to a tree near a temple and sent for police. Haliyal Police Sub-Inspector Umesh Shet and a dozen officers took Pastor Chavan and Kavalekar into custody for questioning, according to the GCIC. Both were charged and locked up but were released the same night.

 

Orissa – Raikia police on Jan. 9 arrested Pastor Sukadeb Digal from his home in Sipainju (or Sipainjari) village, Tiangia, G-Udayagiri Block, in Kandhamal district on false charges of forced or fraudulent conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police incarcerated him. Digal, pastor of Danekbadi Baptist Church at Daringbadi, remained in jail at press time.

 

Karnataka – Armed Hindu extremists on Jan. 9 beat Christians at a prayer service in Anekal, Bangalore, seriously injuring a pastor and others and accusing them of forceful conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a pastor identified only as Shanthakumar had organized the service at the home of another Christian where about 20 people had gathered in the Coogur area. At about 10:30 p.m. some 20 Hindu extremists attacked with huge clubs and iron rods, ranting in foul language and accusing them of fraudulent and forcible conversion, according to the GCIC. In the beatings, Pastor Shanthakumar lost one finger, and a church member identified only as Yashodamma received treatment for head and nerve injuries at Anekal Government Hospital. Another church member identified only as Vijay suffered a serious leg injury. The Christians reported the matter to the police; officials have held an inquiry and registered a First Information Report against the extremists, but no arrests have been made.

 

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on Jan. 17 beat a pastor and another church member in Yadagirgutta, accusing them of forceful conversion. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that the pastor, identified only as Kiran, and another Christian were on their way to visit a church member who works with the tourism department in Yadagirigutta, Bhogri, a Hindu pilgrimage town, when the extremists took notice and gathered a mob to attack them. As is customary in India, police arrived and arrested the victims. After area Christian leaders’ intervention, the accusations against the two Christians were found to be baseless, and they were released without charges, according to the AICC.

 

Karnataka – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on Jan. 1 attacked a New Year’s prayer service and accused a pastor of forceful conversion in Humnoor, Bagalkot. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the extremists stormed into the prayer meeting led by Pastor Siddu Seemanth Gunike of Blessing Youth Mission Church, ordered it to stop and beat the pastor, alleging that he was involved in fraudulent and forced conversions. After manhandling the pastor and other Christians, the extremists sent for Jamkhandi police, according to the GCIC. The sub-inspector and a few other officers arrived and began questioning those present. Area Christian leaders intervened, and police took a written statement from the extremists that they would not disturb the Christians again; officers advised the Christians to continue their prayer services.

 

Karnataka – About a dozen Hindu extremists in North Kanara forced their way into a New Year’s Eve prayer service, ordered Christians to stop praying and beat them. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that extremists led by Biju Nair and a friend identified only as Venkatesh accused the Christians of fraudulent and forcible conversions. The extremists informed police, and two police constables arrived and joined in harassing the Christians, threatening to harm them. The officers ordered the pastor to go to the police station the next morning, and on that day Christians filed a police complaint against the extremists and the two constables for trespassing on church property and for their heavy-handed tactics, according to the GCIC. Later, the Christians met with Ramnagar Police Sub-Inspector Babu Madar and briefed him about the incident. The sub-inspector reprimanded the two constables and advised the pastor to continue the prayer services without fear.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

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Copyright 2012 Compass Direct News

Tensions Rise in Kashmir, India after ‘Guilty Verdict,’ Fatwa

Sharia court launches campaign threatening to ostracize those who decline to convert to Islam.

NEW DELHI, January 20 (CDN) — Christian workers are fleeing India’s Kashmir Valley after a sharia(Islamic law) court issued a “guilty verdict” against three Christian leaders, issued a fatwa against Christian schools and allegedly launched a door-to-door campaign to bring converts back to Islam.

The court, which has no legal authority, found the Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church in Srinagar, Dutch Catholic missionary Jim Borst and Christian worker Gayoor Messah guilty of “luring the valley Muslims to Christianity,” The Times of India daily reported on Dec. 19.

The three had already left the region apparently due to rising tensions.

Headed by Kashmir Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-din Ahmad, the sharia court also “directed” the state government to take over the management of all Christian schools in the region, the daily added.

“I fled with my wife and children, as I was not feeling safe in Srinagar,” a Christian worker from Kashmir told Compass on condition of anonymity. “A group of Muslims visited my house twice, threatening my parents with a social boycott if they failed to produce me.”

The source said he and some of his friends left Srinagar, the summer capital of northern India’s Jammu and Kashmir state, a few days before the sharia court ordered three Christian workers to leave Kashmir Valley, in the Muslim-majority region of the state.

Another source told Compass that some men had visited his family and those of his friends in Srinagar asking for their whereabouts.

“They had the names of all my local Christian friends when they came to my parents’ house, and they asked for the names of more Christians in the area,” he said. “Muslim men are going to every believer’s home and asking their families to ensure that their children return to Islam. They are using Islamic scriptures to persuade the families, warning that if their members do not reconvert their households will face ostracism.”

The source added that those who have fled may not be able to return to their homes for at least a year.

“We have our family with children – where should we send our kids to school?” he said. “Where should we stay? We don’t have any answers.”

He said the men who are visiting Christians’ homes are sent from the many committees the sharia court has formed to prevent conversions. The mufti could not be contacted for comment.

Separately, well-known Muslim clergyman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq recently launched a website,www.tahafuzeiman.org, entitled “Council for Protection of Faith,” for a committee formed in November 2011, “after numerous cases of apostasy came into light” and “to thwart nefarious designs of pervasive forces and the deep-rooted conspiracy of making youth apostate and defectors by giving them concessions and benefits secretly.”

Besides the “guilty verdict” against Pastor Khanna, Borst and Messa, mufti deputy Nasir-ul-Islam reportedly said an investigation against Parvez Samuel Kaul, principal of a local Christian missionary school, was underway.

The court also ordered all Christian schools to teach Islam and other faiths.

“Given the Muslim majority character of the valley, the Muslim students should be taught Islam, and daily prayer written by Syed Mohammad Iqbal should also be sung in the morning prayers,” Nasir-ul-Islam told The Times of India.

Muslim leaders began to rally against Christians after a video posted on YouTube last October showed Muslim youth being baptized at the All Saints Church. Soon thereafter, the sharia court “summoned” Pastor Khanna to explain why Muslim youth were converted and whether they were offered money.

State police arrested Pastor Khanna on Nov. 19 on charges of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims by “converting” their youth. He was released on bail on Dec. 1. The court later summoned Borst, but he asked the mufti to meet him at his church site. The mufti declined. The court found Christian worker Messah “guilty” because he was also seen with Pastor Khanna in the video.

The All India Christian Council warned that the sharia court’s verdict could encourage extremist elements to indulge in violence.

“The church does not accept as genuine any conversion brought about by fraud or force,” Dr. John Dayal, the group’s secretary general, said in a statement.

He pointed out that a fact-finding team that went to Srinagar late last year found no evidence of force or fraud in baptisms. “Each baptism has been proven to be voluntary.”

There are only about 400 Christians in the Kashmir region, with 300 of them living in Srinagar, according to the fact-finding team.

The council also said the Christian community did not accept the jurisdiction of the sharia courts anywhere in India.

The sharia court was careful in its “verdict,” one of the area sources observed, noting that the three who were ordered to leave are not permanent residents of Kashmir. He questioned the fatwa against Christian schools.

“The court issued a fatwa against Christian schools because some business-minded Muslims want greater control over these schools, which are known for providing quality education,” he said.

Local residents saw an element of politics behind the tensions. The fact-finding team, which visited Kashmir from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, learned from local people that some extremist groups and other vested interests had been seeking to use the issue of conversion in their confrontation with the state government, political parties and moderate Islamic groups.

They were “looking to score political points against each other, and any excuse was good enough to foment trouble,” one resident said. The state government apparently sided with the extremists to preempt any unrest, local residents told the fact-finding team.

While most Muslims in Kashmir are peaceful adherents of Sufi Islam, some are influenced by Wahhabism and are extremists.


END

Karnataka Most Dangerous State in India for Christians

Detail of painting symbolic of assaults on Christians in India,
 displayed at exhibition in New Delhi last year.
(Photo: Compass)

Southern state remains most volatile place for third straight year.

NEW DELHI, January 13 (CDN) — Attacks on Christians accelerated over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays in the south Indian state of Karnataka, which was identified as the most unsafe place for the religious minority for the third consecutive year in 2011.

With 49 cases of violence and hostility against Christians in 2011, Karnataka remained the state with the highest incidence of persecution, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s annual report, “Battered and Bruised…”

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), which is based in Karnataka’s capital of Bengaluru and initially reported most of the incidents, also documented at least six anti-Christian attacks between Christmas Eve 2011 and New Year’s Day.

On the evening of Jan. 1, about 20 men disrupted the New Year’s Day worship service of the Blessing Youth Mission Church at the house of a believer in Hunnur village, in Jamkhandi division of Bagalkot district. Suspected Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal, the men manhandled pastor Siddu Seemanth Gunike, accusing him of forcibly and fraudulently converting Hindus. Local police intervened and rescued the pastor and other Christians.

On New Year’s Eve, more than 10 men trespassed onto the premises of the Karnataka Calvary Fellowship Church, in the Ganeshgudi area in Joida division of North Canara district, and disrupted a service of thanksgiving. Believed to be Hindu nationalists, the men forced the church to stop the service. Police arrived but only to summon the pastor, identified as P.R. Jose, to the police station the following morning. After GCIC’s intervention, however, a senior police official assured the Christians of security.

On the evening of Dec. 28, 2011, a group of men from the nationalist Hindu Sriram Sene disrupted the prayer meeting of the Divyadarsana Ministry Church at the home of a Christian, Bima Naik, in SS Layout in Davanagere city, the headquarters of the central Davanagere district. Alleging the meeting was to convert Hindus, the men tried to manhandle the Christians. Police arrived, but instead of detaining the intruders took pastor Raju Doddamani, Naik and three other Christians to the police station for interrogation. They were released late at night.

The same day, unidentified persons burned a Christmas tree and a crib that were part of Christmas celebrations by local Catholics in Maripalla area in Bantwal division of the Dakshina Kannada district. Police arrested two men, but their identities were not disclosed.

Police reportedly said the decorations were burned over suspicion of “conversions.” Evangelizing and conversion are legal in India.

Also on Dec. 28, suspected Hindu nationalists ransacked and broke windows of the Hebron Assembly Church in the Haleangadi area of Mangalore division in Dakshina Kannada district. The attackers also destroyed household items in the house of the pastor, identified only as Prasanna. Police registered a case against the attackers, but at press time no one was reported to have been arrested.

On the evening of Dec. 25, about 20 people beat Christians with stones and wooden clubs as they celebrated Christmas at a house in the Maindguri area, near Surathkal, a few miles from the city of Mangalore, in Dakshina Kannada district. The attackers, allegedly from a local extremist Hindu Jagran Vedike (Hindu Revival Forum), attacked the Christians, including women and children, indiscriminately.

A 27-year-old man identified only as Joyson fractured his leg; a pastor’s wife identified as Lata, sustained chest injuries; a 29-year-old woman identified as Roshini and another woman identified as Annamma received head injuries; and a 23-year-old man identified only as Deepak broke his nasal bridge in the attack. A local Christian told Compass by phone that police arrested five of the attackers, but that they had been released on bail.

The attacks on Christians in Karnataka are “shameful” and “a blot on the secular and democratic India,” GCIC President Sajan K. George said. The local government and authorities were “complicit in the persecution against Christians,” he added.

Anti-Christian attacks increased in the state after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to sole power in May 2008. At least 28 attacks were reported in less than two months in August and September of that year. In 2009, Karnataka witnessed at least 48 attacks, and the number grew to 56 in 2010, according to the EFI.

In its 2010 report of Christian persecution in India, the EFI had warned about increasing attacks on Christians in Karnataka, remarking that “although in 2007 and 2008 two major incidents of violence occurred in eastern Orissa state’s Kandhamal district and hit headlines in the national as well as international media, little efforts have been taken by authorities in India to tackle the root causes of communal tensions, namely divisive propaganda and activities by powerful right-wing Hindu groups, who do not represent the tolerant Hindu community.”

The violence in Kandhamal district during Christmas week of 2007 killed at least four Christians and burned 730 houses and 95 churches, according to the All India Christian Council (AICC). These attacks were preceded by around 200 incidents of anti-Christian attacks in other parts of the country.

Violence re-erupted in Kandhamal district in August 2008, killing more than 100 people and resulting in the incineration of 4,640 houses, 252 churches and 13 educational institutions, according to the AICC.

Christians account for about 2.3 percent of India’s population, which is more than 1 billion.

END

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

By Mahruaii Sailo

 

Karnataka, India, November 30 (Compass Direct News) – Police on Nov. 26 arrested a Christian woman after Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal accused her of forceful conversion at Kushalnagar, Kodagu. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the extremists barged into a prayer meeting led by a woman from Bethel Ministry, identified only as Janakiyamma, at a Christian’s home on the outskirts of Kushalnagar. The extremists called Kushalnagar police, and a sub-inspector identified only as Chickaswamy and other officers took Janakiyamma into custody and questioned her for three hours, according to the GCIC. They charged her with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” and “acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention,” and she was sent to Madikere Jail, according to the GCIC. Area Christian leaders were taking steps to free her at press time.

 

Chhattisgarh – Police arrested three pastors belonging to the Grace Church of God Welfare Society, along with two other Christian workers, and falsely accused them of forcible conversion on Nov. 22 in Pandariya town, Kawardha. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that a mob of about 25 Hindu extremists led by Raghu Pathak, along with Block officer Uttam Singh, disrupted the worship service and made the allegations against pastors Jivan Tigga, 57, Leku Sahu and one identified only as Madhav, along with Christian workers Itwari Lal and another identified only as Santosh, according to the EFI. Police later arrived and arrested the pastors under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code for acts intended to outrage religious feelings. The Christians were later released on bail.

 

Chhattisgarh – A mob of about 200 Hindu extremists disrupted house church worship and attacked pastor Naresh Sahu on Nov. 6 in Parsada village, Raipur. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that at about 11 a.m., as the Sunday worship service was underway, a large group of Hindu extremists gathered in front of the house of Pastor Sahu and brought the service to a halt. The extremists verbally abused the pastor, dragged him out of his house and beat him brutally, according to the EFI. The mob then tore Bibles and other church materials. Police sent the pastor to Abhanpur Hospital for treatment, and both parties have filed complaints, reported the EFI. Pastor Sahu later met with former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Shri Ajit Jogi and submitted a letter about the incident. After intervention by Jogi, police went to the village and issued a notice to both the parties to resolve the dispute.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Pastor’s Arrest Stir’s Anti-Christian Sentiment in Kashmir, India

Bishop says area Christians in danger from angry Muslims after accusation of ‘allurement.’

By Vishal Arora

 

NEW DELHI, November 23 (Compass Direct News) – Charges that a pastor in Jammu and Kashmir state “lured” Muslims to Christianity by offering money are false and have put the lives of the clergyman and other Christians in danger, according to Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy of the Church of North India denomination.

 

Following the arrest on Saturday (Nov. 17) of the Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church in Srinagar, Bishop Samantaroy told Compass by phone that the time has come for the church to speak up against the “discriminatory action” by authorities in India’s Kashmir Valley.

 

The bishop of the Amritsar Diocese said the pastor told him his life was in danger, as the charges have angered area Muslims. The government must provide protection to the pastor, churches and Christian institutions “immediately,” he said.

 

The allegations of allurement appear to have turned Muslim clergy and separatist leaders against the Christians. Kashmir lies at the heart of a bitter territorial dispute between India, Pakistan and China, even as many Kashmiris call for separation from India. Two prominent leaders of the separatist movement, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have met religious leaders to prevent “conversions.”

 

A court in Srinagar on Sunday (Nov. 18) remanded Pastor Khanna to judicial custody for 15 days, a representative of the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s advocacy wing told Compass. Pastor Khanna was arrested for creating “enmity” between religious communities and hurting religious sentiments.

 

Bishop Samantaroy said the allegation made by Kashmir Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-din Ahmad, the state’s highest official of Islamic law, that Pastor Khanna had converted Muslims by offering money was “totally baseless and untrue.”

 

Ahmad has a video of Muslims being baptized in Pastor Khanna’s church, which he said was evidence on which to file a police complaint of fraudulent conversion, although the video only shows a baptism ceremony. The Constitution of India grants religious freedom to all, allowing them to propagate and change their religion or have no religion at all.

 

Superintendent of Police of East Srinagar Sheikh Zulfkar Azad, however, told Compass there was “certain evidence” of allurement by Pastor Khanna, though he did not specify it.

 

“I am in hospital for treatment, and that’s all I can say at the moment,” he said.

 

Seven youths who were baptized, as shown in the video, have denied to police that they were offered money to convert, a local Christian told Compass. But some local newspapers have quoted anonymous police sources as claiming the converts were given money.

 

A source who requested anonymity previously told Compass that police beat the converts from Islam when asking them if Christians had given them money for their conversion (seewww.compassdirect.org, “Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam in India,” Nov. 10).

 

Police arrested Pastor Khanna two days after the mufti held a hearing on conversions in thesharia (Islamic law) court he heads. Although sharia courts in India deal only in civil matters with community people’s cooperation and do not have any legal authority, the mufti had summoned the pastor to appear for the hearing. The pastor agreed in an effort to maintain peace.

 

On the pretext of meeting with a senior police official, police picked up Pastor Khanna at his residence on Saturday evening (Nov. 17). After arresting him, officers did not inform his family, nor was the pastor given any written communication concerning the charges, the bishop said.

 

Police later brought Pastor Khanna to his home as they searched for evidence. They took CDs and literature for examination and kept him in custody.

 

Bishop Samantaroy said Kashmir’s Bar Association had asked its members not to defend the pastor. The church has asked a lawyer from Jammu, a Hindu-majority region in the state, to apply for his bail.

 

He also said he was worried about Pastor Khanna’s health. The pastor is diabetic and needs daily medical attention, and the bishop said he has learned that the doctor looking after him has a poor attitude toward him.

 

The pastor earlier told Compass that the Muslim youths had been coming to the church on their own initiative and wanted to take part in Holy Communion. Pastor Khanna told them they had to follow a procedure if they wanted to join in the sacrament, and they expressed desire to be baptized in due course.

 

Barring a few sporadic incidents of communal violence, Christians and Muslims had had good relations in Kashmir. Tensions began in March 2003 after local newspapers alleged that Christian missionaries were converting Muslim youth. Reports of conversions followed an article in an evangelical Christian website in the United States that claimed thousands of Muslim youths were converting to Christianity, which local Christians say was not true.

 

In November 2006, a convert from Islam, Bashir Ahmed Tantray, was shot dead by Islamist extremists in Barmullah district. Tantray’s name had appeared in newspaper reports.

 

In September 2010, Muslim mobs burned a school and a church in Tangmarg district after a television channel showed U.S. pastor Terry Jones burning the Quran.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam in India

Police in India’s Kashmir Valley detained and beat converts from Islam and were expected to arrest Christian workers after Muslim leaders alleged that Muslim youth were being “lured” to Christianity.

Police in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley picked up seven converts who were recently baptized in All Saints Church in Srinagar, a local Christian, who spoke to the converts after their release on Nov. 2, told Compass. Srinagar is the summer capital of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the main city of the Kashmir Valley.

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Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam in India

Video showing baptisms in Kashmir creates tensions.

By Vishal Arora

 

NEW DELHI, November 10 (Compass Direct News) – Police in India’s Kashmir Valley detained and beat converts from Islam and were expected to arrest Christian workers after Muslim leaders alleged that Muslim youth were being “lured” to Christianity.

 

Police in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley picked up seven converts who were recently baptized in All Saints Church in Srinagar, a local Christian who spoke to the converts after their release on Nov. 2 told Compass. Srinagar is the summer capital of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the main city of the Kashmir Valley.

 

The source, who requested anonymity, said police beat the converts and asked if Christians had given them money for their conversion. Most of the converts were from Budgam district, about 18 miles from Srinagar, and pastors there fearful of being arrested were in hiding, he added.

 

Senior Superintendent of Police of Srinagar Ashiq Bukhari was not available for comment.

 

Police got the names of the converts and pastors from a video recording of the baptism provided by Kashmir’s grand mufti (the highest official of religious law), Bashir-ud-din Ahmad. The video was later posted on YouTube.

 

The Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church, told Compass that he had been summoned by the mufti, who is also the head of the sharia (Islamic law) court. He said he would meet Ahmad on Nov. 17.

 

The court had issued the summons for Saturday (Nov. 12), but Pastor Khanna had a prior engagement.

 

India, home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population, has a few sharia courts pertaining only to civil matters.

 

Ahmad alleged that Pastor Khanna, whose church is affiliated with the Church of North India (CNI) denomination, was converting young Muslim men and women by offering money, and that therefore he must be arrested. The mufti told media that the video was definitive evidence that Muslims were being “lured” to Christianity, although it only shows the baptism ceremony.

 

Pastor Khanna said the young men converted of their own will and without his persuasion.

 

The Indian constitution provides for religious freedom, including the right to propagate and the right to change one’s religion.

 

The pastor told Compass that the former Muslims, who were baptized at his church facility in August, were willing to sign affidavits saying there was no duress or allurement.

 

“That’s what they told the police also,” he said.

 

Pastor Khanna said his church is located in the heart of Srinagar, and that many Muslims come to attend worship service on Sundays.

 

“I have never gone to anyone’s house to share about Jesus,” he said. ‘But in the church, it is my responsibility to preach God’s Word. I can’t refuse anyone. The house of God is open for all.”

 

The pastor said the Muslim youths had been coming to the church on their own initiative and wanted to take part in Holy Communion. Pastor Khanna told them they had to follow a procedure if they really wanted to join in the sacrament, and they expressed desire to be baptized in due course.

 

“I can’t convert anyone; it is the work of the Holy Spirit,” he added. “And what do I teach in the church? God’s love and how to be good citizens and good human beings … I have never shown disrespect for the Quran.”

 

Pastor Khanna said there were many people, some with cameras, at the baptism ceremony.

 

“If it was meant to be a secret or illegal activity, we wouldn’t have allowed cameras,” he said.

 

Kashmir’s civil society had shown support, he added, as the church had helped build about 600 homes for the poor, apart from providing other services in the region.

 

Kashmir police reportedly acted on the mufti’s complaint because conversion is a sensitive issue.

 

“The decision to book the seven was taken at the highest level to avoid possible unrest in the Valley,” The Times of India reported.

 

Kashmir has only a few hundred Christians. The whole state, which has a population of more than 10 million, has little more than 20,000 Christians – mostly from the Hindu-majority Jammu region.

 

Christians have generally had good relations with the Muslims, but there have been some sporadic incidents of violence.

 

Local Muslims resorted to violence last year after a television channel showed U.S. pastor Terry Jones of Florida burning the Quran. In September 2010, Muslim mobs burned a school and a church belonging to the CNI in Tangmarg district. A month earlier, Muslims had attempted to burn a hospital in Anantnag district, but security forces managed to prevent it. A mob had also vandalized a Catholic-run school in Pulwama district.

 

In November 2006, a known voluntary Christian worker, Bashir Ahmed Tantray, was shot dead by Islamist extremists in Barmullah district. An engineer by profession, the 50-year-old Tantray was a convert from Islam.

 

Tensions have been simmering in Kashmir since March 2003, when national and local newspapers alleged that Christian missionaries were converting Muslim youths en masse in Kashmir. Tantray’s name also appeared in the reports.

 

Allegations of conversions by allurement hit the headlines after an evangelical Christian website in the United States claimed that thousands of Muslim young men and women were converting to Christianity – which, local Christians say, is not true.

 

Kashmir lies at the heart of a bitter territorial dispute between India, Pakistan and China, and there are also local movements in Kashmir that resist India’s rule.

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Court in India Questions State’s ‘Anti-Conversion’ Law

Himachal Pradesh takes note of heavy-handed clause in disputed law.

By Vishal Arora

 

NEW DELHI, September 15 (Compass Direct News) – The High Court of northern India’s Himachal Pradesh state on Monday (Sept. 12) questioned one of the many disputed provisions in the state’s “anti-conversion” law in a lawsuit filed by a Christian group.

 

“One of the two judges immediately recognized that there should be no question of the district magistrate [administrative head] granting permission or conducting an inquiry into whether a person’s faith is genuine,” a representative of the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s (EFI) Advocacy Department, the main petitioner, told Compass.

 

The source quoted Justice Surjit Singh as saying, “If I am dying and I want to change my religion, will I wait for some babu [official] to tell me I can do it?”

 

The mandatory provision in the “Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 2006” to advise authorities of one’s intended conversion 30 days before one converts was one of the many clauses cited as being “contrary to law, arbitrary and against the basic tenets of jurisprudence” by the petitioners.

 

A failure to send a prior notice is punishable with a fine of up to 1,000 rupees (US$21).

 

At the same time, both judges, including Justice Rajiv Sharma, seemed concerned about alleged inducements to convert, “and the biggest hurdle is to overcome this prejudice,” the source added.

 

The court scheduled the next hearing for Sept. 26, requesting the state’s head attorney to appear before it.

 

“We expect the court to hear both sides,” the source said. “However, a final ruling in the matter cannot be expected immediately.”

 

The public-interest lawsuit by the EFI, headed by the Rev. Richard Howell, and Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, a civil society group headed by Shabnam Hashmi, was filed in the High Court in the state capital of Shimla on Feb. 22 with a plea to strike down several sections of the law. Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog appeared before the court.

 

The petition was filed by Soli J. Sorabjee, senior advocate and former attorney general of India, and drafted by lawyers Robin R. David, Pramod Singh, Loreign Ovung, Munawwar Naseem and Tehmina Arora.

 

The law claims to prevent a “rise in conversions based on allurement” and is based on “a persistent demand from across the different strata of the society, urging the State Government to curb it” as, otherwise, fraudulent conversions may “erode the confidence and mutual trust between the different religious and ethnic groups in the State.”

 

The law in Himachal Pradesh was enacted by the former state government ruled by the Congress Party, which claims to be “secular” – a term that in India commonly means equal treatment of all religious communities. The Congress Party opposes the policies of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

 

While the Indian Constitution provides for full religious freedom, it is subject to public order, morality and health. The petitioners, however, argue that the term “public order,” when used as grounds for reasonable restrictions of a fundamental right, has a limited meaning narrowly tailored by the Supreme Court.

 

“The impugned provisions of the Act and the Rules are causing schism in the minds of the people, which outweighs the pretext of public order taken by Respondent in enforcing the impugned provisions of the Act and the Rules,” the petitioners argue.

 

They also argue that on several occasions, Christians have been attacked by extremist groups on the pretext of “forcible religious conversions.” On May 1, 2009, Pastor Suresh Masih Bhatti in Solan area was accused of forceful conversion, attacked and threatened with harm if he conducted further Christian meetings, says the petition. It cites several such examples to show that, contrary to maintaining “public order,” the law was causing religious tension.

 

The petitioners also submit that Christians in particular were unable to follow the tenets of their faith in its fullness or to interact with the people of other religions “for the fear of being inquired against and charged for violating the impugned provisions of the Act and the Rules.” They also noted that propagation of one’s faith was an integral part of the practice of Christianity.

 

“The impugned Act imposes severe and mandatory provisions to record and enquire into each conversion and thereby severely restricts the right to freedom of conscience and the right to privacy of an individual, thus infringing Article 21 of the Constitution,” the petitioners assert.

 

In March 2007, the National Commission for Minorities “noted with concern the terminology used in the [Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion] Act and the methodology prescribed for implementing it” and the “attempt of the Act, and reportedly by similar pieces of legislation contemplated in some other States, to interfere with the basic right of freedom of religion that is the birth right of every Indian.”

 

“Freedom of Religion” laws in some states in India are termed “anti-conversion” as they are used to limit conversions in general and not just those by “unlawful” means.

 

Anti-conversion laws are in force in the states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, besides Himachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh state has such legislation on paper, but its implementing rules are yet to be formed. Rajasthan state also passed a similar legislation, but it is awaiting consent by the president of India.

 

These laws define “force,” “fraud” and “inducement” vaguely, which can restrict Christian work. Although the legislation has been in force in some states for close to four and a half decades, not a single person has been convicted of wrongful conversion by any court.

 

Section 2(b) of the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act terms “divine displeasure” as “force.” Section 2(d) labels an “inducement” the offer of “any gift or benefit,” contrary to Christ’s commands to feed, clothe and give drink to the poor. Section 2(b) vaguely defines as fraud “misrepresentation or any other fraudulent contrivance.”

 

Section 4(1) requires any person wishing to convert to give a prior notice of at least 30 days to district authorities. Yet, “no notice shall be required if a person reverts back to his own religion.”

 

Section 3 states that a person who is converted by any unfair means shall not be considered converted. According to Section 5, an offense under Section 3 – which includes conversion “by the use of force or by inducement or by any other fraudulent means” – is punishable with imprisonment up to two years and/or a fine up to 25,000 rupees (US$517). In case of conversion of a minor, woman, Dalit or tribal person, the imprisonment can extend to three years and the fine up to 50,000 rupees (US$1,035).

 

The Supreme Court in 1977 upheld the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act in theReverend Stanislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh case, ruling that the right to propagate did not include the right to convert another person. Not all in the legal fraternity, however, agree with the judgment, and it dealt with only one argument, i.e. what entails Christians’ right to propagate.

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Believer's Burial Wishes Enrage Villagers

Gospel for Asia
For Immediate Release

A congregation, much like the one pictured here, needs your prayer. They were kicked out of their church building after a dispute over a member's burial wishes.

SOUTH ASIA (ANS) -- When Krishna Maya Pariyar died last week, her fellow believers tried to carry out her wish to be buried on her own land. But this caused major problems for the people in Krishna's village. They adhere to their traditional religion, which mandates cremation as the only proper ritual. The people in this village were upset that Krishna had turned her back on their traditional gods to worship Jesus, in both her life and in her death.


The people believed that if they could cremate, rather than bury Krishna, she would once again receive favor from her gods. So they confronted the Christians who were planning Krishna's burial.

"They told us that if we tried to bury her, they would destroy the church," said Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Prem Rai Rangon. He was also Krishna's pastor.

So Prem and his congregation left Krishna's body in her home for three days while he and other GFA-supported pastors tried to work out a peaceable agreement to the conflict.

Finally, the police intervened and told Prem that Krishna could be buried, but not on her land. Instead they told the Christians to bury their departed sister near a river, which was a two-hour walk from their village.

Finally, five days after she died, Krishna's body was laid to rest in this alternate spot. But the trouble is not over for Prem and his congregation.

The villagers are still angry at the Christians. They blame the believers for causing a disruption in the harmony of their community. Some of the more vocal anti-Christians in the village again confronted Prem and told him he had one week to get his congregation out of their village. The extremists threatened to tear down the church building if the Christians continue meeting.

The church meets in a rented house, and the landlord is worried his property will be demolished. He told Prem and the other believers they could no longer use the house for worship.

Prem is asking for prayer that God will give them wisdom and strength to encourage the affected believers and to continue being a bold witness in the area.

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• See other lives that have been changed through Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries.

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Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization based in Carrollton, Texas, involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.

Muslim Extremists in India Attack, Threaten Christian Women

Convert from Islam, others threatened with burning.

By Mahruaii Sailo

 

New Delhi street

NEW DELHI, August 5 (Compass Direct News) – Four months after a recent convert to Christianity from Islam in eastern India’s West Bengal state was stripped and beaten, about 50 Muslim extremists yesterday disrupted a prayer meeting held in her home, threatening to burn it down if she did not return to Islam, area Christians said.

 

The extremists warned Selina Bibi of Motijil village in Murshidabad district that if she did not return to Islam, then she must either leave the area or see her house burned down. At her baptism at Believers Church four kilometers from her home on March 29, a large crowd of Muslim extremists disrupted the service, said a pastor identified only as Bashir.

 

“I pleaded with them to let me at least finish the worship service before they attack us,” he told Compass.

 

When word of her conversion to Christianity reached her village, another extremist group from Motijil led by Jamal Shaike disrupted the service. Shaike and the others verbally abused the Christians, and he ordered his son who was present at the service to leave immediately, Bashir said.

 

The pastor said that on April 5, two Muslim women along with members of the extremist group summoned Selina Bibi to one of their homes and forcefully stripped her naked.

 

“The radicals believe that when any person from the Muslim community becomes Christian, they get Christian marks on their body,” Bashir said. “When the radicals could not find such marks, they started beating her up.” 

 

The Muslim extremists later gathered at the local mosque and resolved to ostracize her until she returned to Islam. She lives only with her two teenage sons.

 

Selina Bibi told Bashir that her body bore the marks of suffering for the sake of Christ, and that she was being treated like a criminal.

 

“She was not allowed to buy goods from the store, nor was she allowed to sell any vegetables,” he said. “They have also restricted her from procuring water from the village well. In spite of the persecutions she constantly faces from the radicals, she has started conducting a Bible study for ladies every Thursday at her home.”

 

After the extremist threats yesterday, study member Naseema Bibi said she and some of the other women attending the meeting went to the Murshidabad police station to file a complaint. Police called both parties, and they agreed in writing to allow each other to practice their respective faiths, and that police would prosecute any further attacks or disturbances, she said.

 

Burn Threat

In Natungram, Murshidabad district, Muslim extremists held three Christian women for an hour on July 21, threatening to beat and burn them alive if they continued worshipping Christ, area Christians said.

 

Moyazan Bibi and Aimazan Bibi of Believers Church told Compass that at 5:30 p.m. they had set out to visit a widow, Suryja Bibi, to share the message of Christ at her invitation. As they reached her house, a large mob of Muslim extremists led by Fakir Shaike, Sajahan Shaike, Manuwar Shaike, Samsul Shaike, Ahamed Shaike and Jalal Shaike blocked their way, pushed them around and verbally abused them for their faith in Christ as they threatened them.

 

“The extremists called us infidels and held us captive, threatening that they will call a public meeting to socially boycott us,” Aimazan Bibi said. “The extremists angrily shouted that we should not return to our homes, while they continued to mock and push us around.”

 

The extremists rushed Suryja Bibi, asking her why she invited “infidels” into her home as they were pushing her. One of the assailants twisted her hand, the Christian women said.

 

“She was injured, but by God’s grace it was not broken,” said Bashir, founder and pastor of the Believers Church. “They warned Suryja Bibi never to call the Christians to her home again or leave the area and they also threatened all the villagers with the dire consequences they will face if they attend Christian meetings or talk to any one of them.”

 

Suryja Bibi tried to file a police complaint the next day, July 22, but the local Muslim head and other extremists stopped her, threatening to harm her, area Christians said.

 

Bashir said Suryja Bibi showed interest in hearing more about Christ, and that he met her and her daughters Mamoota and Darju at his house church fellowship on July19.

 

“Since then, the radicals have warned them not to attend any Christian service or talk to any Christians or else they will be burned alive,” he said. 

 

Naseema Bibi informed Bashir of the incident by phone, and he called police, he said.

 

“I also tried to call Aimazan,” he said. “At that time she could not take my call, as some radicals were trying to snatch her mobile phone from her.”

 

Moyazan Bibi said she pleaded with the assailants.

 

“I asked the attackers what crime have we done for them to torture us in this manner?” she said. “But the enraged extremists brutally pushed us around, furiously shouting at us to convert back to Islam or face dire consequences.”

 

After holding and harassing the Christian women for about an hour, the extremists fled in fear after they learned that Bashir had contacted the police, the women said.

 

The area was still tense at press time, with Suryja Bibi and her family unable to attend any Christian meetings as the extremists are closely monitoring them and are prepared to pounce on them at the slightest opportunity, Bashir said.

 

“We are trying to contact Suryja Bibi, but the radicals are not allowing any Christian to contact or meet her,” he said. “But we are praying for her safety.”

 

Aizama Bibi and Moyazan Bibi, who two years ago began trusting Christ as their Savior, told Compass that last December the extremists tried to chase them away from the village, threatening to burn them and their houses. They were not allowed to sell and buy in the area and were kept from using the public bathroom and the water well. 

 

The extremists also burned the crops field of Aimazan’s husband, Gaffar. The Christians reported the matter to police, and officers warned the Muslim extremists not to disturb the Christians again.

 

The Evangelical Fellowship of India last year reported that Muslim extremists in Natungram on Nov. 28, 2010, ostracized another member of Believers Church, keeping Chanda Bibi and her family from selling and buying. They also warned the family to stop attending church services and threatened to impose a fine on her if her family continued to follow Christ.

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

By Mahruaii Sailo

Orissa, India, July 25 (Compass Direct News) – Hindu extremists on July 14 summoned three Christian families of Missionary Grace Fellowship and demanded that they abandon Christ or face a social boycott in Lathikata, Banapur. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a Christian woman identified only as the wife of Sarat Naik declared before the intolerant Hindus and others that she and other Christians were prepared to undergo persecution, but that under no circumstances would they abandon Christ. She said relationship with Christ had transformed their lives, according to the GCIC. Area Christian leaders were reportedly taking steps to help the Christians.

Uttar Pradesh – In what appeared to be a premeditated attack, state police arrested five pastors and a Christian woman after Hindu extremists stormed into their prayer meeting on July 13 in Bighapur, Unnoa, and accused them of forceful conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at about 11 a.m., 70 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal attacked the meeting organized by Pastor A.B. Singh, Pastor Ganga Prasad and another identified only as Pastor Robert. Officers and extremists threatened the pastors, later arresting Pastor Prasad and Christians Om Prakash, Desh Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Prem Shankar and a woman identified only as Uma. They were released on bail at about 7 p.m. the same evening.

West Bengal – In Midnapur, Hindu extremists on July 10 seized St. Priscilla School, beating the Rev. Nathan Hazre, owner of the school, and his wife, Sabitha Hazre, while accusing them of forceful conversion. A source told Compass that the extremists removed all Christian devotional items. Led by Dr. Sushil Mahanty, the intolerant Hindus told the Christian family that they would burn them to death in the same manner that Australian Christian worker Graham Staines and his two sons, ages 10 and 6, were killed in Orissa state in 1999. In January the extremists had threatened school Principal Daniel Barik. Fearful Christians filed a police complaint, but officers had taken no action at press time.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists on July 3 disrupted the Sunday worship of a Believers Church in Pali, Korba, tearing up Bibles and gospel literature and beating Pastor Sunil Masih as they accused him of forceful conversion. The Rev. Ravi Paksh, secretary of the Korba Christian Forum, reported that the extremists from the Bharatiya Janata Party forcefully entered the worship meeting at about 11:30 a.m. The extremists took the pastor and other Christians to a police station, where the Christians told police that they had not been converted by force or fraud and attended church services willingly. Officers detained the pastor for about six hours, and after area leaders’ intervention, he was released without charges.

Uttar Pradesh – An enraged mob on July 3 beat Pastor John C.V. Samuel and his wife, accusing the pastor of forceful conversion, in Manpuri. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported the incident took place when Pastor Samuel of Assembly of God’s Church, his wife and other Christians were about to attend a burial service for Anil Saxena, who had attended the church for two years and had committed suicide after an argument with his father. The mob rushed the pastor and his wife and accused them of being the cause of Saxena’s death. Saxena’s wife intervened, telling the assailants that she and her late husband went to the church of their own free will and nobody had forced them, and she called police. Officers arrived and rescued Pastor Samuel and his wife, taking them to Pushpanjali Hospital, Agra. Area Christian leaders filed a police complaint, but no actions had been taken at press time.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists in Dhantulsi on July 2 attacked a Christian’s wedding reception and subsequent worship service, beating those at the gatherings and leaving their food in ruins. The Rev. Abel Varghese, area pastor and coordinator of Althea Indian Mission, told Compass that about 60 extremists beat women and children among those they attacked after barging into the wedding reception of tribal Christian Dhurau Kachalam. They also burned Christians’ vehicles. The Christians submitted a complaint to Kanker police, but the extremists continued threatening them, telling them to either stop Christian activities or leave the area. Sources said police pressured the Christians to withdraw their complaint and refused to take any action on their behalf.

Orissa – In Bendoguda, Malkangiri, Hindu radicals at midnight, June 28, destroyed a church building under construction. About 25 Christian families belonging to the Koya tribe were trying to build a worship center from their meager savings on a small piece of land donated by a Christian named Aitu Podiami. Hindu extremists had also attacked the same group of Koya tribal Christians in November 2010; at that time, with intervention from the Global Council of Indian Christians and the area sub-collector, a peace agreement between the communities had been reached. The Hindu extremists last month violated the agreement, and the village head has been pressuring tribal Christians to refrain from complaining to police about the incident.

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News