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200 radicals attack church service in India; Christian leaders
demand authorities take action
By Anugrah Kumar,
Christian Post Contributor|
Monday, October 11, 2021
A religious cross is captured through some ornamental railings in the Fort Kochi area
in the state of Kerala in South India. | Getty Images
Christian leaders in India are demanding action be taken against a mob of 200 radical Hindu nationalists who left a church damaged and at least three Christian women seriously injured in an attack in India's northern state of Uttarakhand.
The attackers accused the church of "illegally" converting people to Christianity.
The Union of Catholic Asian News reports that a police complaint indicates that the mob attacked the church on Oct. 3 in Roorkee city's Solanipuram Colony and comprised members of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party and radical Hindu nationalist groups associated with the party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.
As the service was about to begin, the mob reportedly barged into the church, thrashed the congregants and vandalized church properties, injuring at least three Christian women who were taken to a hospital in Dehradun city.
Video footage of the damage caused by the attack was posted on social media.
The attackers claimed the church was engaged in illegal conversion activities.
The police complaint acknowledges that 200 people attacked the church, but no one was initially reported to have been arrested. However, a case has been filed against the perpetrators.
"We demand strict action against them and police protection for us," Prio Sadhana Lanse, a leader in the church and who filed the police complaint, was quoted as saying.
Lanse said the church members recognized many individuals in the mob as they had previously threatened to shut down the church.
"The church that was attacked has been active for the past 30 to 40 years," Rev. Titoo Peter, a Methodist pastor, told UCA News. "Christians in Roorkee enjoy good relations with people of other faiths, and this is the first incident of a church being attacked. It is the handiwork of some bad elements who do not want peace and harmony in the area."
While some of these laws existed for decades in some states, no Christian has been convicted of "forcibly" converting anyone to Christianity. These laws, however, enable Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians. Nationalists are emboldened to attack churches under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion.
Hindu nationalists have accused Christians of giving financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity. Anti-conversion laws state that no one is allowed to use the "threat" of "divine displeasure." This means Christians can't talk about Heaven or Hell. Also, if snacks or meals are served to Hindus after an evangelistic meeting, that could be seen as an "inducement."
Christians make up about 2.5% of India's population, while Hindus comprise 79.5%.
India ranks as the 10th-worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. State Department to label India as a "country of particular concern" for engaging in or tolerating severe religious freedom violations.
Open Doors USA warns that since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased.
The group reports that "Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences."
Armed gang kidnaps up to 17 American Christian missionaries,
including children, in Haiti – reports
17 Oct, 2021 10:46
Between 15 and 17 US missionaries and their families are reportedly being held by a gang in Haiti. Although the country is infamous for kidnappings, the abduction of such a large group of foreigners is nonetheless unusual.
The group was kidnapped on Saturday, while traveling on a bus not far from the Caribbean nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, an initial report by the New York Times stated. Citing Haitian officials, the NYT said 17 hostages – among them US missionaries and their family members – had been abducted. At least three children were believed to be with the group, CNN reported. On Sunday, local security sources confirmed to the AFP news agency that at least 15 Americans had been kidnapped, and said they were being held by an armed gang.
The group had reportedly been heading to the airport after visiting an orphanage, when one of its members had posted an SOS message in a WhatsApp group. Cited by the Washington Post, it read, “We are being held hostage. They kidnapped our driver. Pray, pray, pray. We don’t know where they are taking us.”
No further details about the missionaries or their church is currently available, but news of their abduction was disseminated among other religious aid groups via a “special prayer alert” sent out by Ohio’s Christian Aid Ministries, which is said to have direct knowledge of the incident. It said a field director of the mission whose members have been kidnapped had been staying at a base in Haiti at the time of the incident and was now working with the US Embassy there to try to resolve the crisis.
No official statement has so far been issued by the embassy, while the US State Department said it was “aware of these reports,” but did not provide any further details.
Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil for years. The security and economic situation has worsened over the past several months, however, after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his residence in July, and an earthquake hit the country in August, killing more than 2,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
Kidnappings have recently become much more common in the country, often happening in broad daylight. Those abducted include schoolchildren, pastors, police on patrol and even poor street vendors. Estimated to be the highest recorded per-capita kidnapping rate in the world, the number of abductions this year has spiked dramatically and already exceeds 600. According to the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, a civil society group based in the capital, at least 628 kidnappings, including 29 of foreigners, have taken place since January. In 2020, 234 abductions were reported to the police, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.
Where's Rodrigo Duterte when you need him!
Please pray for these Christians and please pray for Haiti. Nothing barring a series of miracles can save that hapless and hopeless country.
Over 300 Incidents of Christian Persecution Have Occurred
across India in 2021
Milton Quintanilla |
Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com |
Monday, October 25, 2021
A street in India, Pastor beaten in India for refusing to help pay for tribal rituals
According to a recent report by human rights groups in India, more than 300 incidents of Christian persecution have taken place in the country in just the first nine months of 2021.
The report, titled "Christians Under Attack in India," was published by United Against Hate, the United Christian Forum and the Association of Protection of Civil Rights. The groups also held a joint press conference in Delhi last week detailing the findings.
"The brutal attacks have taken place across 21 states. Most of the incidents are taking place in northern states, and 288 instances were of mob violence," A.C. Michael, the National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum, said at the press conference.
As reported by International Christian Concern, the continued attacks on believers may result in the highest incidents of Christian persecution recorded in a single year.
"This is a scary situation, raising critical questions over the role and the position of the National Human Rights Commission and the Home [Interior] Ministry and their failures in stopping this violence," Michael added. "Over 49 FIRs [police complaints] have been registered, too, but no substantial action has taken place."
India is ranked 10 on Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience persecution.
Since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, Christians and other religious minorities have faced increasing incidents of persecution. According to The Christian Post, Hindus comprise about 80 percent of radical nationalists, while Christians only make up 2.3 percent of the population.
Across India, nine states have enacted anti-conversion laws which have permitted radical Hindus to persecute Christians with impunity.
Earlier this month, a mob of some 200 radical Hindu nationalists ravaged a local church, which left at least three Christian women seriously injured. The attackers, who were associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed that the church was "illegally" converting Hindus to Christianity.
Michael, however, denied the mob's claims of forced conversions.
"The fears which are being fueled of Christians converting Hindus are baseless," he contended.
Seven Pastors arrested on anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh
The Voice of the Martyrs (Canada)
1 d ·
Seven pastors were arrested on October 10th in the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, India. They were accused of violating the state's anti-conversion legislation, and subsequently charged with "illegal assembly."
The pastors had gathered together for a prayer meeting when they were detained. Fifty other Christians were also detained at the time but later released, including two Catholic nuns who were merely waiting at a nearby bus stop and had no connection with the gathering. At last report, the pastors remained in custody, but their lawyer was working on obtaining bail.
Anti-conversion laws have been widely abused throughout India. Hindu nationalists frequently accuse Christians to justify harassment. In the words of one pastor: "Police officials often don't bother to record our complaints. This further emboldens our attackers and we have to bear the brunt." More information on the persecution of Christians in India has been made available here: https://vomcanada.com/india.htm
17 Coptic Christians go missing in Libya, fears rise
over possible abduction by terrorists
By Anugrah Kumar,
Christian Post Contributor|
Monday, October 25, 2021
At least 17 Egyptian Coptic Christians have gone missing in Libya, and it's feared an armed group might have abducted them in the north African country where 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded by ISIS in 2015.
The Coptic Christians, who were living in an Egyptian neighborhood in Tripoli, have either been detained by the authorities or taken by an armed group due to their Christian faith, friends and family believe, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, which says that they have been missing since Sept. 30.
The Copts had work visas for labor work in Libya, “but they failed to get work opportunities and the costs of renewing the visas are high and it’s likely that “the police of Libya detained them from September 30 until now,” a lawyer and friend of one the missing Copts was quoted as saying.
“The Copts were staying in the Gargash District in Tripoli,” he added. “In this residency, they were surrounded by so many persons of other countries like India and Bangladesh. So the action of detaining 17 Copts only is such a mysterious action! We are fearing of repeating an incident like the one who did by ISIS. We are contacting the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to intervene in the situation.”
Numerous Coptic Christians cross over to Libya in search of work despite knowing that they will face severe persecution, including death.
The Sunday Times quoted a Coptic Christian as previously saying: “We know it is more likely we will die than live in Libya but we don't have a choice. … More and more people are going to Libya because of the economic crisis here. You can't get work, you can't make money in Egypt. We are aware of the dangers, particularly as Christians.”
Getting work in Egypt is more difficult for a Christian than other demographics. An economic crisis just exacerbates the problem.
In 2017, Libya’s interior ministry said they had found a mass grave with the bodies of 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded by the Islamic State two years earlier.
“The heads are separated from the bodies clad in orange jumpsuits, hands bound behind the back with plastic wire,” said the ministry’s unit for fighting organized crime in the city of Misurata at the time, according to Agence France Presse.
The authorities came to know about the mass grave near the one-time Islamic State bastion of Sirte, 280 miles east of Tripoli, after an ISIS prisoner confessed to the group's killings.
ISIS had kidnapped the Copts in separate incidents in Libya throughout December 2014 and January 2015. The terrorist group then released the video of their execution on Feb. 15, 2015, showing the Christian men in orange jumpsuits kneeling on the sand as the terrorists stood behind them, ready to carry out the executions at a beach near Tripoli.
ICC earlier reported that the victims' family members took pride in how their loved ones stood up to the Islamic radicals and refused to deny their faith despite the imminent threat of death.
One wife said that her husband “kept the faith, and was martyred in the name of Christ. His faith was very strong. I'm proud of him. He has lifted our heads up and honored us and all the Christians.”
Could you do that? Would you do that?
Another family member said: “I’m very happy that my brother is in Heaven with Jesus now. I loved my brother when he was alive on the Earth, but now I love him more than before. He was martyred in the name of Jesus Christ.”
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