Rash of False Accusations Spreading Violence throughout the Heart of South Asia

By Bill Bray
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) -- False blasphemy charges and fabricated accusations are increasingly being used by religious hate groups to organize persecution against Christians not only in Pakistan, but also in next door India. In both cases, there are similar devastating results, usually carried out as police and government officials stand back watching the violence.

An Indian church being burned

According to a human rights report from The Morning Star News (http://morningstarnews.org), Christians have suffered serious head injuries, expulsion from homes and incarceration based on false rumors spread by Hindu extremists carrying on a month-long campaign of false witness and terror in India.

The pattern seems to be well organized. The extremists target an indigenous Christian missionary, file false charges with police, begin the rumor campaign and organize mob action.

Similar organized rumor campaigns in Lahore, Pakistan last week caused a frenzied mob of 3000 vandals to burn down 200 Christian homes and two churches. Police evacuated the Christians and stood by watching as the mob destroyed an entire Christian community. In that case, a street sweeper was accused of "blasphemy" by a friend.

Communal violence is not just limited to the northern areas of South Asia, where an organized "hate belt" historically runs from Lahore in Pakistan through the Pakistan and Hindu Punjab and all the way to Patna in Bihar State.

Two Indian Christian women stand amidst the charred remains of their home that was burned down by extremists

Lately, similar tactics have been used as far south as the southern state of Kerala where some 100 Hindu extremists on March 10 attacked a Brethren Assembly church service in Chirayinkeezzh village, Trivandrum District, beating the Christians with wooden clubs; one church member sustained a serious head injury, said Pastor M. Anil Kumar.

The pastor, who has since relocated due to death threats, said a church member who goes by the single name of Ajith was hospitalized for three days for treatment of his head wounds, and that a Christian woman identified only as Lizie also sustained head injuries. In this case, the mob was responding to false accusations that church members of forceful conversion, he said.

Area Brethren Assembly leader K.V. Varghese said police arrested three of the assailants after Christians filed a complaint. Hindu extremists protested the arrests by calling for an all-day strike on March 12.

False Witnesses

Attack on a Christian church in Karnataka

In Madhya Pradesh in central India, two Christian leaders who were arrested after Hindu extremists beat them and falsely accused them of forceful conversion were granted bail after repeated requests on March 6.

The anti-conversion laws in India and the blasphemy laws in Pakistan are used in a similar way. No real guilt needs to be proved; the false accusation alone is enough to whip up a crowd of ignorant fanatics.

State police arrested Pastor Isaac Rajamani and evangelist Raju Shikaria on Feb. 18 after Hindu extremists beat them on Feb. 16 in a village near Khandwa, Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) leader Jaisingh Sugumaran told Morning Star News. The extremists mounted the attack at the Gulai village home of a sick couple who had invited Rajamani and Shikaria to pray for them.

Attorney Sanjay Masini said the Hindu extremists held the two Christians for an entire night.

"The extremists took pastor Rajamani and evangelist Shikaria to a nearby house, accused them of forceful conversion, detained them the entire night and mercilessly thrashed them," he said.

Rajamani told Morning Star News the extremists threatened to kill them.

"The extremists were telling me not to conduct worship again, and they were also discussing among themselves whether they should simply kill us or take us to the police station," he said.

India has seen an increase in Hindu violence against Christians

The next morning, the intolerant Hindus took the two Christians to the Khandwa police station, where a mob was waiting.

"As the two Christians got down from the Jeep, the angry mob shouting anti-Christian slogans ran towards them, pushed them down to the ground and pounded on them," Sugumaran of FMPB said.

The extremists brought two people to the police station who gave false statements that Rajamani was converting people to Christianity by allurement, Sugumaran said.

"There was no case of forceful conversion," he said. "The Hindu extremists forced two people who do not even know Pastor Rajamani to falsely witness against him of forceful conversion."

The man who requested prayer, identified only as Kannaiah, said that he was healed from his illness by Jesus and that Rajamani did not force or allure him to convert to Christianity, Sugumaran added.

Rajamani's wife, Sita Rajamani, tried to contact the pastor by mobile phone throughout the night, but to no avail. The next morning, their landlord told her that police had arrested her husband.

"She rushed to the police station and found her husband and evangelist Shikaria squatting inside the lock-up with bruises all over their bodies and wearing only underwear," attorney Masini said.

Christians protesting the increasing violence against them in India

As Christian women were consoling the pastor's wife at her home later that day, Hindu extremists surrounded the house and began shouting anti-Christian chants.

Rajamani and Shikaria were sent to Khandwa Jail later that evening.

"We were not able to eat food till Sunday, as our heads and necks were too painful after the attack," Rajamani said.

Hindu nationalists believe that all people in India are Hindu by virtue of being born in the country, though many tribal people are raised in tribal religions. They also feel that Christianity is a "foreign" faith that threatens their caste-based religion. India's population is 74.3 percent Hindu, 14.2 percent Muslim, 1.9 percent Sikh, 0.82 percent Buddhist, and 5.8 percent Christian, according to Operation World.

Expelled

In the eastern state of Orissa, Hindu extremists in Bhalutangara village, Kankadahada block, near Dhenkanal, became furious when a Christian family refused to pay fees for festivals involving idol worship.

The Rev. Christodan Takri, a church leader in Amar Jyoti, told Morning Star News the Hindu extremists on March 1 beat the family of Rabinarayana Marandi, took their mobile phone and drove them from the village.

The Christians submitted a police complaint, and police and administrative officials arranged for the assailants to meet with the church members on March 8 to work out a "compromise." The Christians agreed to contribute payment for social welfare programs and refused to give anything toward the Hindu festival idols, but the extremists insisted that village tribal law required them to contribute to all local Hindu festivals.

Threatening to withdraw government benefits, local authorities ordered the Christians to comply with Hindu extremist demands for payment and to take part in all village religious activities, rituals and rites.

Another Pakistan shocker: After being acquitted of blasphemy, the case against Christian teenager, Rimsha Masih, is to be reopened

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Following the recent savage violence against Christians in a poverty-stricken Lahore ghetto on Saturday, March 9, 2013, during which a frenzied Muslim mob of about 3,000 people burned down about 200 homes and two churches, comes more shocking news.

Rimsha Masih's original arrest picture

It is that we learned that the blasphemy case against Rimsha Masih, an illiterate 14-year-old Christian girl from a suburb of Islamabad, who was arrested on August 16, 2012 (and later acquitted earlier this year) is to be reopened.

A neighbor had accused Rimsha of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, in breach of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, but on September 22, 2012, police investigating the case declared prayer leader Khalid Jadoon Chishti guilty, adding that there was no evidence against Rimsha and that he had framed her.

Then on January 16, 2013, Pakistan's Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a so-called final appeal against Rimsha in her blasphemy case, which was supposed to have effectively ended all legal proceedings on the issue.

But now, her counsel Abdul Hameed Rana has told The Lahore Times on telephone that Rimsha's complaint has filed an application in the apex court to review the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

"According to the sources, Malik Ummad, Rimsha's accuser, sought to re-open Rimsha's case through his lawyer who filed an appeal against the lower court's acquittal," said a story in The Lahore Times.

Prosecutors were trying to reopen the case to get the Christian girl convicted.

The bench that made the "final decision", included the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhtar Muhammad Chaudhary, Justices Sh. Azmat Saeed and Justice Gulzar Ahmad and sources say that they are beginning to hear the case again today (Friday, March 22, 2013).

At the time of writing, it was not decided yet who will represent Rimsha in the apex court.

ANS Pakistan correspondent, Shamim Masih, who has been following the case now for us, said, "It is doubted that if this case is not handled properly, it may open new chapter in the history of blasphemy cases in Pakistan."

An angry mob gathered after burning Christian houses and churches in Lahore, Pakistan

In the other case against Sawan Masih, a 35-year-old Christian street sweeper, and the subsequent attacks on Christian homes and churches, so outraged Pakistani Christians that decided that they had had enough of the constant persecution they have suffered for many years and took to the streets of Lahore (and other cities in the country,) to protest against the terrible violence they had suffered.

The complainant, Imran Shahid, is said to have been Sawan's close friend during the past eight years. On the basis of his complaint, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against Sawan at the Badami Bagh Police Station (where the violence erupted) and he is being held in police custody.

"Initially the police held Sawan's father, Chaman Masih, and beat him severely, but he was then released after his constant denial of the accusations. 

Following these events, Sawan was finally handed over to the police on Friday, March 8th - a day prior to the attack," said a source.

Sawan Masih is accused of blasphemy

LEAD (Legal Evangelical Association Development) Chief Advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill said, "Christians are feeling insecure in Pakistan and remain always under threats of a religious mindset, especially due to the misuse of blasphemy laws against them."

He went on to say, "Almost every person I have talked to condemned the brutal terrorist attack on Christians."

Now, with this latest news of the possible retrial of Rimsha Masih, Pakistan-watchers are wondering when these constant attacks on Pakistan's beleaguered Christian community will end. Surely, they are saying, it is now time for the government of Pakistan to step in and ensure that these travesties of justice be halted, and thus restore the reputation of their country.

Egytian Muslims Accuse Priest of Using Black Magic on Muslim Girl

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

EGYPT (ANS) -- Hundreds of Muslims marched for the second day through the street of the Egyptian town of El-Wasta, 90 kilometers south of Cairo in Beni Suef Province.

According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih of the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), they were protesting the disappearance of a Muslim girl, Rania Shazli, 19. They accused the priest of St. George's Church in Wasta of using black magic to lure her to Christianity.

AINA said the girl's uncle lead a group of Muslims to force the Copts in town to close all their businesses until the girl is brought back to her family. Coptic owners who refused were forcefully shut down.

The Shazli family, supported by local Salafists, threatened to kidnap a Christian girl if their daughter is not brought back and vowed to destroy the church after prayers on Friday, March 22nd.

AINA said during the march, a number of Muslims hurled stones at St. George's church. They had intended to stage a sit-in in front of the church, but were persuaded by some Muslim elders to leave.

AINA said they also threw small rocks stones at Coptic-owned homes. The demonstrators roamed the streets of the city starting from the home of the girl and chanted, "Why are you keeping silent. Is she not like your sister?"

AINA said the church instructed Copts to close their businesses after a delegation of Muslims and Christians went to the police department after security failed to find the girl.

Security Directorate in Beni Suef had sent forces to secure the church, after threats to the priest and the Copts were received from the girl's father, Hatem Kamal El-Shazly. Rania, a college student, disappeared three weeks ago.

Her father accused the priest, Father Makkar, to be behind his daughter's Christianization through "black magic," by means of some special Bible readings and smuggling her out of the country. The priest was threatened through loudspeakers all over town.

AINA said Watani newspaper reported that Rania has sent an open letter to her family, which she posted online, explaining that she ran away from home because of family problems. They included reported sexual abuse by her uncle some years ago, and because she was to be forcibly married to someone she did not want to marry. She added that she left Egypt and is married to a Muslim man.

AINA reported that Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Hodeib, head of Beni Suef Security, said the girl has contacted her father more than once to inform him that she is out of the country and married to a Muslim man named Ahmed.

He added that security forces are stationed in front of the church buildings, and warned against rioting, saying he would deal firmly with any violation of the law.

Nigeria - Kano bus bomb prompts religious leaders to joint call for urgent measures

At least 25 dead and 60 injured in Christian enclave of largest city in North

 A car bomb attack in a Christian enclave of Kano, the largest city in mainly-Muslim Northern Nigeria, has heightened religious and ethnic tensions throughout the country.


At least 25 people have been killed and at least 60 others injured, following the 18th March suicide bomb attack in a bus station in the Christian district of Sabon Gari. The bus station is primarily used by passengers heading for the mostly Christian South of the country. Five buses were destroyed, one reported to be full of people.


No group has yet claimed responsibility. The manner of attack is, however, similar to previous ones by the Islamist Boko Haram group. Its scale prompted Christian, Muslim and political leaders to urge the federal government to take urgent measures to avert a major crisis.


The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and its main Muslim counterpart Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI (Society for the Victory of Islam) in separate reactions expressed deep concern. JNI’s President, the Sultan of Sokoto is spiritual leader of Nigeria’s 70 million Muslims and has huge power and influence.


The country’s two religious leaders noted the Kano suicide attack was capable of threatening the unity of Nigeria, if such attacks continue.

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Copyright 2013 World Watch Monitor

Libyan human-rights official flees country after death threats

Attacks, detentions and arson continue to pressure Christian minority

The head of the Libyan Parliament’s Human Rights Committee has resigned and fled to London, saying he’s received death threats. Hassan Al Amin, prominent for his long opposition to the Gaddafi regime, recently spoke out against armed gangs and militias in his Misrata area. His self-imposed exile comes as hostilities against Libya’s Christian minority, many by armed groups in the east, have increased in recent months.

On March 14, in Benghazi, eastern Libya, as-yet publicly unidentified arsonists set fire to the main Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. Pictures - notably by Libya’s Herald (‘The New Independent Libya Daily’) - show the windows of the church blackened by smoke. No casualties were reported, but reports say the fire produced more damage inside the two-storey building.

Witnesses of this second targeting of the church in recent weeks said they suspected the arsonists were militia members. On Feb. 28, armed men had attacked Rev. Paula Isaac, a priest of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and his assistant. The Libyan foreign ministry has condemned the attack on church and the aggression towards the cleric and his assistant by ‘the irresponsible armed men’, AFP news agency reported.

There is growing pressure on the Christian community in a country where more than 97 percent of the 6.5 million inhabitants are Muslims. However, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers come from neighboring countries such as Egypt, many of them Christians from its large Coptic community. Other Christians in Libya are tiny numbers of American, European and other expatriate workers.

The lack of freedom of religion in Libya was notorious under the rule of the late President Muammar Gaddafi. During his 42 years’ regime, the situation for Christians was described by human rights groups as extremely harsh. His greatly feared secret police imposed severe restrictions on Christian organizations and their activities. Distribution of Christian literature was banned and evangelism was criminalized.

The fall of Gaddafi’s regime, following the 2011 popular uprising, did not bring any significant change. The tiny minority of Christians continue to experience various forms of pressure, mainly from armed groups. In its 2013 report, Human Rights Watch pointed out the failure of Libya's now-governing General National Congress, elected in July 2012, to disband armed groups responsible for numerous abuses across the country.

‘‘Non-Libyans from sub-Saharan Africa, mainly migrant workers, are particularly vulnerable to abuse, facing harassment, arrests, ill-treatment in detention, forced labor and no regulated access to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’’.

Attacks against religious minorities since Gaddafi lost his grip on power started in October 2011, and have intensified.

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Copyright 2013 World Watch Monitor

Beijing Shouwang Church Continues With Its Outdoor Worship Services despite Police Arrests and Harassment

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

BEIJING, CHINA (ANS) -- The extraordinary battle between the Chinese authorities and the Beijing Shouwang Church (shouwang means "to keep watch", is continuing unabated with the embattled Chinese House Church, the biggest of about 3,000 of such congregations in the city, holding its latest outdoor worship service of 2013.

Members of the Shouwang Church during an outdoor worship service

This evangelical House Church group, were kicked out of their previous location, a restaurant, nearly two years ago, when the landlord of the venue was ordered by the authorities to cancel their lease.

In a posting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/prayforshouwang), a member of the beleaguered church, which has been forced to change headquarters more than 20 times, and was prevented from buying or renting a church building, shared about their latest "illegal" gathering.

The message said, "Dear brothers and sisters:

"Peace in the Lord! On this past Sunday, we held the eleventh outdoor worship service of 2013. It was a cloudy day with haze. As far as we know, two sisters were taken to be detained at a hotel separately on Friday and Saturday, and at least nineteen believers were taken away from locations near the platform or from their homes.

More than 100 church members were taken away when they tried to hold an outdoor service

"Some of them were released soon after they were taken away, and the rest of them were detained at three police stations, including Zhongguancun Street police station. They all got released around noon on Sunday.

"We have held outdoor service for nearly two years now. Although we don't know how much longer this journey will take, we believe that what we have experienced in this journey, with the permission of God, is not in vain."

The message concluded with, "Peace be to the brothers,[a] and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible." (Ephesians 6:23-24)

The church was founded in 1993 by Jin Tianming, a chemical engineering graduate of Tsinghua University. Since then, the number of its members has increased from 10 to 1,000 as of June 2011.

To start with, the Shouwang Church's services are conducted at members' homes or in rented conference rooms; its other activities include 40 biblical reading groups, choir practice and catechism. Shouwang members typically belong to the middle and upper classes, and include professors, doctors, lawyers, students and even Party members.

Not even a snowstorm was able to stop this pastor preaching

Like other house churches, the Shouwang Church has been subject to constant harassment by the Chinese authorities, who disapprove of religious groups that are not subject to state control.

The only state-sanctioned Protestant Church officially allowed in China is the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or TSPM, but the House Church Movement, including the Shouwang Church, refuses to register with what they consider an atheistic government and so are considered by the government to be illegal.

The House Churches claim that registration brings government restrictions on evangelism, Sunday School, baptizing teens and children and other activities. In addition, ChinaAid's founder and president, Bob Fu, says government-appointed leaders, many of whom are Communist Party members, are at the helm of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Because of their location in the capital city of China, the Shouwang Church appears to have been especially singled out by the authorities who have tried to shut them down, but despite constant arrests, they have so far failed.

Persecution of this particular church intensified in the context of the general 2011 crackdown on dissidents, following an announcement by church leaders that they would begin holding Sunday prayer meetings in public, if they were not allowed to acquire premises.

As of June 2011, several dozen Shouwang followers were detained every week and forced to sign a disavowal of their spiritual leader before being released, and six church leaders were placed under house arrest at that time.

According to the German weekly Die Zeit, on one occasion, Beijing police used around 4,500 officers to provide surveillance of Zhongguancun Square and of the homes of about 500 church members, to prevent the church from congregating, but despite this, they are still meeting and being arrested.

"The Chinese Communist Party is always afraid of any form of organization independent from the control of the central government," said Mark Shan, news analyst for ChinaAid, a group that monitors religious freedom and has chronicled Shouwang Church's struggles.