Morrison announces $55 million for security at religious premises and warns against “tribalism”

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Scott Morrison has warned against “tribalists” hijacking policy
arguments, declaring the migration issue “must not be appropriated as a proxy debate for racial, religious or ethnic sectarianism”.

In his address in the wake of the New Zealand attack, on the theme of managing differences, Morrison said it was not a matter of “disagreeing less, but disagreeing better”.

“When we disagree better, we engage with respect, rather than
questioning each other’s integrity and morality,” he told the
Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne.

“Tribalists constantly seek to appropriate legitimate policy issues and public concerns as a tool to promote their separatist and exclusive agendas. To contort and misrepresent disagreement in the worst possible terms,” the Prime Minister said.

He announced A$55 million for religious organisations to increase
security at their premises, including schools, and places of worship and assembly.

Grants will range from $50,000 to $1.5 million for enhancements
including CCTV cameras, lighting, fencing, bollards, alarms, security systems and public address systems.

On two charged and divisive political debates, Morrison stressed that dealing with population growth was a “practical policy challenge”, and claimed “I have never sought to question the compassionate motives of those who hold different views about the best way to manage Australia’s borders”.

He said that in Australia as in many other countries the “ties
that bind us are under new pressures and are at risk of breaking.

“If we allow a culture of ‘us and them’, of tribalism, to take hold; if we surrender an individual to be defined not by their own unique worth and contribution but by the tribe they are assigned to, if we yield to the compulsion to pick sides rather than happy coexistence, we will lose what makes diversity work in Australia,” he said.

“As debate becomes more fierce, the retreat to tribalism is
increasingly taking over, and for some, extremism takes hold.

“Reading only news that we agree with, interacting with people only we agree with, and having less understanding and grace towards others that we do not even know, making the worst possible assumptions about them and their motives, simply because we disagree with them.

“This is true of the left and the right. And even more so from those shouting from the fringes to a mainstream of quiet Australians that just want to get on with their lives.

“Hate, blame and contempt are the staples of tribalism, it is
consuming modern debate, egged on by an appetite for conflict as
entertainment, not so different from the primitive appetites of the colosseum days, with a similar corrosive impact on the fabric of our society”.

Morrison said tribalists sought to take over legitimate policy issues and public concerns, using them to promote their separatist agendas, contorting and misrepresenting disagreement.

A discussion of the annual migrant intake was “not a debate about the value or otherwise of multiculturalism or the economic contribution of migration,” he said.

“It must not be appropriated as a proxy debate for racial, religious or ethnic sectarianism.

“Just because Australians are frustrated about traffic jams and
population pressures encroaching on their quality of life, especially in this city, does not mean they are anti-migrant or racist,” he said.

“For the overwhelming majority of Australians concerned about this
issue, this is not and never would be their motivation”.

He said the worst example was “the despicable appropriation of
concerns about immigration as a justification for a terrorist
atrocity.

“Such views have rightly been denounced. But equally, so to must the imputation that the motivation for supporting moderated immigration levels is racial hatred.

“As Australians we need to stand against the militant and lazy group think that distorts our public debate, stand up for our individualism and seek to think better of each other”.

He said “extremism, or in a different form fundamentalism, is simply an inability to tolerate difference.

“It is to feel threatened by others who do not conform to your world view.

“And it takes many forms: religious extremism, secular extremism, and political extremism.

“Every terrorist attack has at its core a hatred of difference and a hatred about the choices and lives of others”.

Morrison said last week “mindless tribalism” ended the lives of 50
people in New Zealand.

“Tribalists always want to separate us, divide us, set one Australian against another.

As Prime Minister I want to continue to bring Australians together, not set them against one another”.

“I believe, not in a tribalism that divides, but in an us that unites.”

Morrison took up Jacinda Ardern’s phrase when she said of Muslims
“they are us”, and applied it to Australia.

He said:

• Indigenous Australians are us

• Immigrant Australians from all nationalities and backgrounds,
  including Chinese, Lebanese, Greek, Indian, Turkish, Vietnamese, just to name a few, are us

• Muslim Australians are us

• Christian Australians are us

• Jewish Australians are us

• Hindu Australians are us

• atheist Australians are us

• LGBTIQ Australians are us

• whoever you vote for – us

• older Australians are us

• young Australians are us

• female Australians are us

• male Australians are us

• regional Australians are us.

“From the bottom of Tasmania to the tip of Cape York, from Byron to Broome, all 25 million Australians are us.

“We belong to each other. We stand with each other. We must love and respect each other more. That’s what we must affirm today to fight the forces that will otherwise weaken our nation”.

Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Pastor, Church Official Shot Dead in Nigeria

Muslim militants of Boko Haram blamed for killings in Borno state.

JOS, Nigeria, June 10 (CDN) — Muslim extremists from the Boko Haram sect on Tuesday (June 7) shot and killed a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) pastor and his church secretary in Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state.

The Rev. David Usman, 45, and church secretary Hamman Andrew were the latest casualties in an upsurge of Islamic militancy that has engulfed northern Nigeria this year, resulting in the destruction of church buildings and the killing and maiming of Christians.

The Rev. Titus Dama Pona, pastor with the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Maiduguri, told Compass that Pastor Usman was shot and killed by the members of the Boko Haram near an area of Maiduguri called the Railway Quarters, where the slain pastor’s church is located.

Pona said Christians in Maiduguri have become full of dread over the violence of Boko Haram, which seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) on northern Nigeria.

“Christians have become the targets of these Muslim militants – we no longer feel free moving around the city, and most churches no longer carry out worship service for fear of becoming targets of these unprovoked attacks,” Pona said.

Officials at COCIN’s national headquarters in Jos, Plateau state, confirmed the killing of Pastor Usman. The Rev. Logan Gongchi of a COCIN congregation in Kerang, Jos, told Compass that area Christians were shocked at the news.

Gongchi said he attended Gindiri Theological College with Pastor Usman beginning in August 2003, and that both of them were ordained into pastoral ministry on Nov. 27, 2009.

“We knew him to be very gentle, an introvert, who was always silent in the class and only spoke while answering questions from our teachers,” Gongchi said. “He had a simple lifestyle and was easygoing with other students. He was very accommodating and ready at all times to withstand life’s pressures – this is in addition to being very jovial.”

Gongchi described Usman as “a pastor to the core because of his humility. I remember he once told me that he was not used to working with peasant farmers’ working tools, like the hoe. But with time he adapted to the reality of working with these tools on the farm in the school.”

Pastor Usman was excellent at counseling Christians and others while they were at the COCIN theological college, Gongchi said, adding that the pastor greatly encouraged him when he was suffering a long illness from 2005 to 2007.

“His encouraging words kept my faith alive, and the Lord saw me overcoming my ill health,” he said. “So when I heard the news about his murder, I cried.”

 

Motives

The late pastor had once complained about the activities of Boko Haram, saying that unless the Nigerian government faced up to the challenge of its attacks, the extremist group would consume the lives of innocent persons, according to Gongchi.

“Pastor Usman once commented on the activities of the Boko Haram, which he said has undermined the church not only in Maiduguri, but in Borno state,” Gongchi said. “At the time, he urged us to pray for them, as they did not know how the problem will end.”

Gongchi advised the Nigerian government to find a lasting solution to Boko Haram’s violence, which has also claimed the lives of moderate Muslim leaders and police.

The Railway Quarters area in Maiduguri housed the seat of Boko Haram until 2009, when Nigerian security agencies and the military demolished its headquarters and captured and killed the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, and some of his followers.

The killing of Pastor Usman marked the second attack on his church premises by the Muslim militants. The first attack came on July 29, 2009, when Boko Haram militants burned the church building and killed some members of his congregation.

On Monday (June 6), the militants had bombed the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, along with other areas in Maiduguri, killing three people. In all, 14 people were killed in three explosions at the church and police stations, and authorities have arrested 14 people.

The Boko Haram name is interpreted figuratively as “against Western education,” but some say it can also refer to the forbidding of the Judeo-Christian faith. They say the word “Boko” is a corruption in Hausa language for the English word “Book,” referring to the Islamic scripture’s description of Jews and Christians as “people of the Book,” while “Haram” is a Hausa word derived from Arabic meaning, “forbidding.”

Boko Haram leaders have openly declared that they want to establish an Islamic theocratic state in Nigeria, and they reject democratic institutions, which they associate with Christianity. Their bombings and suspected involvement in April’s post-election violence in Nigeria were aimed at stifling democracy, which they see as a system of government built on the foundation of Christian scripture.

Christians as well as Muslims suffered many casualties after supporters of Muslim presidential candidate Muhammudu Buhari lost the April 16 federal election to Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian. Primarily Muslim rioters claimed vote fraud, although international observers praised the polls as the fairest since 1999.

Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is almost evenly divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.

Report From Compass Direct News
http://www.compassdirect.org/

 

Nepal Church Bomber Faked Repentance

Imprisoned chief of Hindu militant group used Christianity to cover up extortion, terror.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, April 4 (CDN) — The chief of a militant Hindu extremist group sought to disguise his extortion and terror activities from behind bars by claiming he had repented of bombing a church in Nepal and showing interest in Christianity, according to investigators.

The revelation emerged when Nepal’s premier investigation agency foiled a plot to explode a series of bombs devised by Ram Prasad Mainali, former chief of the Hindu militant outfit Nepal Defence Army (NDA), in the capital city of Kathmandu. Police on March 4 arrested six cohorts of Mainali carrying powerful “socket bombs” – home-made, hand grenade-type weapons made from plumbing joints – and high-explosive powder, to be used as part of a plan to extort money from industrialists, The Himalayan Times reported.

In an interview last year, Mainali had told Compass that his interaction with Christians inside jail in Kathmandu’s Nakkhu area had led him to repent of his deeds and read the Bible (see “Bomber in Nepal Repents, Admits India Link,” Jan. 4, 2010). Mainali was arrested on Sept. 5, 2009 for exploding a bomb in a Catholic parish in Kathmandu, Our Lady of the Assumption, which killed a teenager and a newly married woman and injured more than a dozen others on May 23 of that year.

Prior to the Compass interview, Mainali had sent a handwritten letter from the prison to a monthly Christian newsmagazine in Nepal, Hamro Ashish (Our Blessing), saying he regretted having attacked Christians.

A local Christian worker who had known Mainali said the church bomber used Christianity to evade police surveillance.

“I was disheartened when I recently learned that Mainali had threatened some pastors with violent attacks, demanding protection money from them,” he told Compass on condition of anonymity.

The source said Mainali threatened him and pastors he knew by phone. He suspected that a fellow prisoner, Jeevan Rai Majhi, previously considered a convert to Christianity, had given the pastors’ phone numbers to Mainali. Majhi, formerly a notorious criminal, had allegedly accepted Christ inside the prison, and jail authorities made him the prison leader. He also led a Bible study group in the prison.

“Some prisoners who attend the Bible study in the Nakkhu Jail told me that Mainali shared the extortion money with Majhi, which aroused jealousy among other prisoners, who reported it to the jail authorities,” the source said.

Around 150 prisoners attend the Nakkhu Gospel Church inside the prison premises, though Majhi is no longer leading it. Both Mainali and Majhi were recently transferred, Mainali to the Dilli-Bazaar Jail and Majhi to the Mid-Nepal Central Jail.

Deputy Inspector General of Police and Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Director Rajendra Singh Bhandari told The Kathmandu Post that the arrest of Mainali’s men was a “tremendous achievement” that averted “mass casualties” in the capital.

“It seems that Mainali had filled the arrestees’ minds with dreams of earning quick bucks through terror,” the daily quoted another investigation official as saying.

The Christian source said he still hoped for genuine repentance in Mainali and Majhi.

“Mainali and Majhi must have at least some knowledge of the Bible,” he said. “So I am still hopeful that they would reflect on who God is and truly repent of their ways as they spend their time in prison cells incommunicado [prohibited from speaking with any outsider].”

According to The Kathmandu Post, the CIB had been observing Mainali following complaints that he had demanded large sums of money from businessmen and others.

“He had been making phone calls and sending demand letters to them,” the daily reported on March 4.

Compass requested an interview with Mainali at the Dilli-Bazaar Jail, which officials refused.

“We have orders not to allow Mainali to meet anyone,” said one official.

Mainali had earlier told Compass that he formed the NDA with the support of Hindu nationalists in India in 2007 to re-establish the Hindu monarchy, which fell after a decade-long armed struggle by former Maoist guerrillas peaked in 2006, when all political parties joined protests against King Gyanendra.

The NDA is also believed to be responsible for bombing mosques and killing Muslims and Christians, including the Rev. John Prakash Moyalan, a Catholic priest who was principal of the Don Bosco educational institution in eastern Nepal, in June 2008. While Christians in Nepal faced persecution at the hands of the Hindu monarchy until 2006, non-state actors have been attacking them since the country began transitioning to a secular democracy.

“Several incidents of religiously incited violence directed at minority religions and their property have been recorded since the signing of the peace accord [between the interim government and the Maoists in 2006],” a local Non-Governmental Organization, Informal Sector Service Sector (INSEC), noted last year.

“Although moves have been made to promote religious tolerance and a climate of peace and cooperation, this area must continuously be monitored,” stated an INSEC report, “Commitment versus Reality,” which mentioned attacks on Christians by Mainali’s outfit.

Of the roughly 30 million people in Nepal, only .5 percent are Christian, and more than 80 percent are Hindu, according to the 2001 census. The actual number of Christians, however, is believed to be much higher.

Report from Compass Direct News
http://www.compassdirect.org

Recent Incidents of Persecution

Tamil Nadu, India, September 30 (CDN) — Police detained evangelist V.K. Williams and seven other Christians after Hindu extremists disrupted their evangelistic meeting on Sept. 29 in Theni, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians. The extremists filed a complaint against the Christians of “forceful conversion” and pressured police to arrest them, and officers took the eight Christians to the station for questioning. At press time, area Christian leaders were trying to free them.

West Bengal – On Sept. 26 in Purulia, Hindu extremists stopped a worship service and dragged Christians out, saying no more prayer or worship should take place in the village. A source in Kolkata reported that the extremists were threatening to kill the Christians if they did not convert to Hinduism. The Christians reported the matter to the Kenda Police Station. Officers summoned both parties to the police station, but the extremists threatened to kill the Christians if they went.

Karnataka – Hindu extremists belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bajrang Dal attacked Gnanodya Church at Yellapura, Karwar district, on Sept. 26. The All India Christian Council reported that the assailants broke into a church worship service after having filed a complaint against Pastor Shiva Ram of “forcible conversions.” In the presence of the police, the attackers started to vandalize the church, pulling down calendars and breaking furniture. Church members said their pastor was targeted because of his social service works. Police took the pastor into custody and jailed him.

Karnataka – Karnataka police on Sept. 26 arrested a Pentecostal pastor, Shivanda Siddi, on false charges of “forceful conversions” in Mundgod. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at about 11 a.m. five Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal stormed the church building while Christians were praying and began arguing with the pastor. They beat him, stripped him of his clothes and took Bibles from those present. The extremists later telephoned police in Yellapur, about three kilometers away (less than two miles), and an inspector arrived and took the pastor, seven women and two young children to the police station. The extremists continued to threaten the Christians in front of police, who watched in silence. With GCIC intervention, police released the women and children without charges, but Pastor Siddi was charged with “defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.” He was put in Uttar Kananda’s Sirsi prison.

Karnataka – On Sept. 19 in Santhemarnalli, police led by Inspector Madhava Swamy threatened a pastor with harm if he did not stop alleged “forceful conversion” activities. The All India Christian Council reported that police threatened Pastor Mhades of Good Shepherd Community Church after Hindu extremists filed the complaint against him. Police barged into his church, questioned him and told him that they would take action against him if he did not stop trying to convert people. Area Christian leaders claimed that there was no case of forceful conversion, and that Christians were only conducting their regular worship services.

Andhra Pradesh – Police on Sept. 17 arrested a Christian convert from Islam, Sheik Magbool, after Muslim extremists filed a complaint against him of uttering derogatory remarks against the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, in Kurnool. A source reported that Maqbool organized a three-day, open air Christian meeting and distributed some tracts that allegedly contained comparisons between the teachings of Jesus Christ and those of Muhammad. The Muslim extremists accused Maqbool of making derogatory remarks against Muhammad, threatened to kill him and filed a police complaint against him. Area Christian leaders maintained that the tracts did not contain any hateful remarks against Muhammad; they asserted that the Muslim extremists reprinted the tracts after adding some lines insulting to Muhammad in order to fabricate a case against the Christians. Maqbool was put in a jail cell, with the Down Court rejecting his petition for bail on Sept. 21.

Chhattisgarh – On Sept. 15 in Raipur, Hindu extremists misrepresenting themselves as journalists barged into a prayer meeting led by Pastor Kamlakarrao Bokada and accused him of “forceful conversion,” verbally abused him and falsely accused him of dishonoring their idols. They ordered the pastor to video-record the prayer meeting, but he refused. The pastor, who visits Christian homes in the Khorpi area, was ordered not to do so again. Police refused to register a complaint by Christians.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists in Vizianagaram on Sept. 13 attacked a pastor’s wife, injuring her head, and told the church leader to leave the area, according to the All India Christian Council. The attack came after Pastor Y. Caleb Raj of Good Shepherd Community Church requested that youths playing loud music before the idol of Ganesh near his church not disturb the Sept. 12 worship service. As the pastor was speaking to organizers of the Ganesh event, Hindu extremists gathered and some tried to manhandle him. They told him to close down the church and leave the village. When Pastor Raj was out on ministry work the next day, the same group of Hindu extremists came and struck his wife with a wooden club. Pastor Raj filed a police complaint, but no arrests had been made at press time.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists in Raigarh on Sept. 12 beat evangelist Robinson Roat and ordered him to stop all Christian activities. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that about 25 extremists barged into the worship meeting in Roat’s home. They told him he would face further harm if he left his house. The Christian did not venture out for two days.

Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists in Satna on Sept. 12 accused Pastor V.A. Anthony of “forceful conversion” and of carrying out the funeral of a non-Christian in a local Christian cemetery. Based on the complaint of the Hindu extremists, the inspector general of police summoned Pastor Anthony and a high-level inquiry is pending, reported the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). The son of a local church member had died under mysterious circumstances earlier this year, and the pastor and church members had buried him in the Christian cemetery according to the wishes of his parents and other relatives, according to the GCIC.

Uttar Pradesh – Hindu nationalists from the extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Sept. 5 beat a pastor in Sarva village in Babina, Jhansi district. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that three Hindu extremists led by Surendra Yadav and armed with wooden clubs barged into the church building after Sunday classes and beat Pastor Anil Masih on his back and legs, kicked him and verbally abused him. The assault went on for about 30 minutes. The next day, Masih’s father informed Babina police. Masih received hospital treatment for a broken left leg. GCIC sources told Compass that after Masih’s discharge from the hospital on Sept. 10, he filed a complaint against the extremists at the Babina police station on Sept. 13. At press time, no arrests had been made.

Karnataka – Police on Sept. 1 stopped a pastors’ meeting in Mysore, claiming that they were being trained to “convert people,” though conversion and persuading to convert is legal in India. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the Mysore Pastors Association organized a two-week pastoral training program with about 50 local church leaders and evangelists in attendance. Police arrived and ordered the organizers to vacate the premises by the next day. Even though such trainings are legally permitted in India, the Christians called off the meeting.

Rajasthan – Hindu extremists attacked two Christian workers, damaged their vehicles and seized evangelistic literature from them on Aug. 26 in Udaipur. The All India Christian Council reported that evangelists Charlie John and V.M. George were distributing gospel tracts when a group of Hindu extremists suddenly came and began objecting. The extremists blocked their vehicle and beat the two Christians, leaving them with serious injuries. Police came to their rescue and suggested they file a complaint against the extremists, but the Christians said they chose to forgive their attackers.

Report from Compass Direct News

Azerbaijan refused to register Evangelical communities

Due to legislative innovations and ensuing bureaucratic obstacles many religious communities in Azerbaijan failed to re-register within the prescribed period before January 1, 2010, reports The Institute of Religious Freedom. As a result, most of them have been banned from conducting any of the religious activities and threatened with liquidation the status of “juridical entity”, said the Institute of Religious Freedom, Kyiv based on the documents obtained from city Baku.

According to the IRF, the official refusal to renew the registration in order to comply with the new edition of the Azerbaijani “Law on Religion” was issued to the “Nehemiah” Church, "Cathedral of Praise” Church in Baku as well as the Seventh Day Adventists, Baptist and Pentecostal Churches in Azerbaijan.

The biggest obstacle to religious freedom in Azerbaijan became the new procedure of state registration of religious communities. The amendments into the Law made it overly cumbersome and now it consists of more requirements to the founders, than ever before. From now on a religious community must submit a certificate of the date of its occurrence, information about religious education and relations toward secular education.

Moreover, it is prohibited for a religious community to use for its official registration a personal address of a believer. Legislative changes have also limited a congregation’s activity to only the territory where it is officially registered.

However under Article 12 of the Azerbaijani “Law on Religion” religious communities can conduct their activities only at the legal address. Such a rule is often used by the State Committee of Azerbaijan on Relations with Religious Organizations to prohibit a church to perform it’s activity in leased premises. As a result, the religious communities which do not own premises for worship remained outside the law.

A striking example of infringement of religious freedom in Azerbaijan on the basis of the new “Law on Religion” is the situation with the "Cathedral of Praise" Evangelical Church in city Baku.

This religious community provided all the necessary documents for re-registration in time. However in May 2010 it received a copy of an official refusal adopted by the State Committee two months ago. Other Christian Protestant communities also faced similar situation.

The "Cathedral of Praise" Evangelical Church was the first one to object and file an appeal against the refusal of registration in the judiciary. However, representatives of the authorities referred to the formal inconsistency of information about the founders of the community with the data submitted during the initial registration in 2001. On the 30th of July to the utmost surprise of believers, their appeal was turned down. In spite of the complete absence of the necessary documentary evidences the court supported the position of the authorities.

Following on January 2010 the place where the "Cathedral of Praise" Church in Baku worshiped was completely destroyed by fire.

Prior to this in the end of 2008, the building of the Protestant community which was purchased by the believers was confiscated. This happened without any compensation and as a result of a rather questionable trial in favor of the local oil refinery “Azerneftyag”.

The "Cathedral of Praise" Evangelical Church was founded in Baku in 1994 and currently has about 1000 members. At the same time according to official data the majority of Azerbaijan’s population confesses Shia Islam along with its other developments.

In February 2010, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted the deteriorating situation in Azerbaijan during the past five years. These legislative changes, hastily adopted in Azerbaijan in May 2009, were particularly alarming for experts and defenders.

Report from the Christian Telegraph

Recent Incidents of Persecution

Karnataka, India, June 1 (CDN) — Hindu nationalists on May 27 falsely accused a pastor of forcible conversion in Rajanpura village, Hassan district, after disrupting a worship service. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the intolerant Hindus also warned the Christians not to worship in the area. Manjunath Shastri led a mob of 20 area Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh extremists that barged into the rented home of Pastor Siddanagowda Barmanagowda as he led a house
church service affiliated with the Karnataka Evangelical Association. The extremists forced the pastor to the Hiriseve police station, where they filed a complaint about the alleged forcible conversions and warned him against conducting worship services in the village, according to the GCIC. A GCIC coordinator told Compass that police told Pastor Barmanagowda to vacate his home and leave the area. –

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh damaged a church building and installed an idol of the Hindu god Hanuman inside it on May 23 in Tadipatri, Anatapur. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that at about 9 a.m. the extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) attacked India Pentecostal Church’s Holy Spirit Prayer House, which was under construction. Pastor Venugopal Reddy approached Tadipatri police, but officers refused
to help him. After local Christian leaders’ intervention, police questioned the attackers. AICC reported that Pastor Reddy had acquired government permission to build the church building. –

Karnataka – Police on May 19 arrested Christians on a false complaint of forcible conversion in Mandya district. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Shanth Kumar and Pastor Nagesh Kumar had jointly organized a three-day Vacation Bible School for 35 to 40 children near Netkal village when nearly 30 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal stormed the premises and forced the pastors along with two teenage students to the Belakawadi police station. Police charged the
pastors with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting religion or religious beliefs,” while the students were sent home without charges. The pastors are locked up Mandya Jail at press time. –

Karnataka – A mob of Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal attacked an evangelist and three women on May 18 in Hubli. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that at about 6:30 p.m. Edward Bellary and three women from Mayer Memorial Church were visiting a family at their invitation to pray for a woman who was ill when the extremists barged in, accused them of forceful conversion and of deceiving the family with false hopes, and beat Bellary. Later, Elish Mulur of the same
church came to aid Bellary, but the Hindu extremists badly beat him, according to EFI. Mulur sustained injuries, and his left eardrum was damaged. The extremists dragged Bellary to a police station and pressured officers to arrest him. Police held him for about eight hours, and he was later released without charges. –

Chhattisgarh – On May 13 in Maroda, Bhilai, Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sena (Religious Army) attacked a prayer meeting and accused Christians present of forceful conversion. A source told Compass that at 7:30 p.m., about 100 Hindu extremists shouting Hindu slogans gathered near the house of Dwarika Dewangaon, site of the prayer meeting. Accusing the Christians of forceful conversion, they locked the door from the outside and continued to shout anti-Christian slogans.
Police came and took the homeowner, Dewangaon, to the police station for questioning. They detained him for about four hours and warned him not to conduct further Christian meetings in his home. With area Christian leaders’ intervention, Dewangaon was released without charges, and the area superintendent of police informed the Christians that he would look into the matter. –

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists on May 9 attacked a pastor who goes by the single name of Devasahayam, of Yehova Nissi Prardana Mandiram church, on May 9 in Nellore, sources said. A member of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) identified only as Babu barged into the worship service, verbally abused the pastor for his faith and manhandled him. The pastor stopped the meeting, and the assailant left the premises. Some 30 minutes later, the sources said, Babu died in
his home of a heart attack. That afternoon, a furious crowd of RSS members gathered near the pastor’s house and threatened to burn him and his home. The pastor took the matter to the police, but they refused to help, the sources said. The pastor has relocated as a safety measure. –

Uttar Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal attacked a church meeting, beat a pastor and threatened to kill his infant son on May 6 in Kanpur. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that about 40 Hindu extremists accused the Christians of forceful conversion and verbally abused Pastor Dalayu Sonam before dragging him out to the street. They accused his wife of running a brothel inside the church building and threatened to kill his 1-year-old son. The attacks were
carried out in the presence of media, reported EFI. –

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on May 2 disrupted worship in K.R. Nagar, Mysore district, verbally abused the Christians present and filed a false complaint of forcible conversion against the pastor. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at around 10:30 a.m. nearly 20 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal stormed the rented home where the Indian Christian Revival Mission church met and drove away worshipers. The intolerant Hindus forced Pastor Elisha Gangadhar to the
K.R. Nagar police station. Pastor Gangadhar told Compass that police officials questioned him for nearly three hours, and then released him without charges on the condition that he vacate his home and conduct no future prayer meetings in the area. No services were held the next two weeks. –

Madhya Pradesh – On May 2 about 60 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal disrupted a house church service in Mandla, and then threatened to kill a pastor after filing a complaint against him of forceful conversion. A source told Compass that the extremists were shouting Hindu slogans when they barged into the worship meeting of Bethel Prartna Church at 11:15 a.m., having already filed a complaint of forceful conversion against Pastor Bhagchand Rujhiya at Banhani Banger police station.
The extremists dragged the pastor out to the street and threatened to kill him if he continued to lead worship meetings there. Church members came forward to defend the pastor against the Hindu extremists, but police arrived and took him in for three hours of questioning. The intolerant Hindus gathered at the police station shouting that they would wipe out Christians from the area. Police forced the pastor to write a statement that he would conduct no future worship meetings, refrain from praying and visit no
church members at their homes. Area Christian leaders submitted a memorandum to government officials to take action against the attackers. –

Karnataka – As if religious conversion or manifesting one’s faith were illegal in India, Hunsur town police on May 1 arrested four Christians including a woman on charges of “attempted conversion,” reported the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). The Christians were part of a group led by preacher Robin Paul, of Rolls Park Church, who were distributing pamphlets and brochures related to Christianity, reported the Deccan Herald. GCIC reported that at around 11:30 a.m. some 30
members of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal stopped the Christians, accused them of “conversion activities” and called police, who arrived and took them into custody. After questioning, the Christians were charged with “hurting religious sentiments.” Paul and two other Christians were sent to K.R. Nagar jail, while a female Christian, Soundary Sandaman, was sent to Mysore jail. With GCIC intervention, all four were released on bail on May 3. –

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on April 29 attacked a gospel meeting, where they accused Christians of forceful conversion in Mahaboobnagar. The All India Christian Council reported that the extremists angrily barged into the meeting and manhandled the pastor who organized the event and a guest pastor. The Hindu extremists accused them of forceful conversion and damaged furniture and the sound system. Police arrived on the scene but only watched
as the Hindu extremists ransacked the site. The following day, the extremists went to the home of the event organizer, identified only as Pastor Daniel, and beat him. They warned the badly bruised pastor not to conduct further Christian meetings.

Report from Compass Direct News

Muslim Youths in Nigeria Destroy Church Buildings, Pastor’s Home

Attacks in Kano state said to stem from hostility by converts to Islam, land dispute.

LAGOS, Nigeria, May 21 (CDN) — Scores of Muslim youths on Wednesday (May 19) besieged church property in Kano state in northern Nigeria, destroying two church buildings and a pastor’s residence. 

One of the buildings and the pastor’s house were set ablaze on the premises of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) at Kwasam, in the Kiru Local Government Area, while another building under construction was demolished. Youths reportedly numbering more than 100 in the predominantly Muslim area stormed the church grounds.

“The problem started when some Christian youths of ECWA church were converted to Islam,” the Rev. Lado Abdul, chairman of ECWA district in Kano, told Compass. “They swore that the ECWA church would not remain in the area, as they would do everything possible to chase Christians out from Kiru.”

The ECWA pastor whose house was demolished, Gambo Mato, has found shelter in another Christian’s home.

No life was lost during or after the incident as police and State Security Service officers intervened, and traditional rulers, religious leaders and government officials held an urgent meeting to quell potential skirmishes and establish security.

Abdul, however, lamented the denial of rights to Christians in Kano by area Muslims.

“Here in Kano, nobody gives you land to build a church,” he said. “The old churches built before now are being demolished for reasons no one can easily grasp. We have taken our complaint to Sarki Kano [traditional emir of Kano] Alhaji Ado Bayero, and he assured us that something would be done about it. We are looking to the state government to come to our rescue.”

Kano State Police Commissioner Mohammed Gana said that the attack on the church buildings grew out of a land dispute.

“The old church was a mud house, and the ECWA people wanted to rebuild it with blocks,” Gana said. “In the process, there was a disagreement, but we moved in to ensure peace and order.”

Four suspects have been arrested, and an investigation continues, the police chief said.

Elsewhere in Kano state, in Banaka of the Takai Local Government Area, a Baptist church was reportedly demolished on Saturday (May 15).

Kano state, one of 12 states in Nigeria where sharia (Islamic law) is in effect, has been the site of periodic Islamic aggression against the minority Christian community. Last year, when an Islamic extremist sect known as Boko Haram instigated rioting in Bauchi state that killed at least 12 Christians, the firestorm of violence spread to Kano state as well as Borno and Yobe states.

In 2008, hundreds of Muslims took to the streets of Kano city on April 20, attacking Christians and their shops and setting vehicles on fire based on claims that a Christian had blasphemed Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Thousands of Christians were trapped in church buildings until police could disperse the assailants.

An unidentified Christian was said to have written an inscription on a shop wall that disparaged the prophet of Islam. Muslims at a market in the Sabon Garia area of the city reportedly attacked the Christian, whom police rescued and took to the area police station.

Muslims in large numbers soon trooped to the police station, threatening to set it ablaze unless officers released the Christian to be stoned to death in accordance with sharia, sources said.

Report from Compass Direct News 

Pastor, Wife Killed in Northern Nigeria

Suspected Islamists kidnap, slay couple in Bauchi state.

LAGOS, Nigeria, April 20 (CDN) — Suspected Islamic extremists last week abducted and killed a Church of Christ in Nigeria pastor and his wife in Boto village, Bauchi state in northern Nigeria.

The Rev. Ishaku Kadah, 48, and his 45-year-old wife Selina were buried on Saturday (April 17) after unidentified assailants reportedly whisked them from their church headquarters home on Tuesday (April 13) and killed them. Their burnt bodies were found hours later.

On Jan. 22, suspected Islamic extremists had set fire to their church building days after Christians displaced by violence in Plateau state had taken refuge on the church premises.

“This is yet another case of unprovoked killing of Christians, which we condemn, and demand that the law enforcement agents must fish out the perpetrators of this act,” Bishop Musa Fula, state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Bauchi state, told Compass.

Police have reportedly arrested two suspects and have launched a man-hunt for several other accomplices. Authorities are not releasing the names of the suspects.

Boto is located in the predominantly Christian Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi state, which has a history of Muslim attacks on Christians.

“Police claim they are working on it and we want to believe them,” Fula added. “We need assurance that our people are safe. We will soon meet later on the matter to decide our next line of action on these kind of attacks.”

The murdered couple’s son, Simeon Kadah, said an eyewitness who had come to the church premises to collect some rented chairs saw men dragging the pastor and his wife out of their house. Kadah said the men asked the eyewitness if he was a Muslim, and when he told them that he was, they told him to leave the area and tell no one what he had seen.

The Rev. Ladi Thompson of the Macedonian Initiative, an organization fighting anti-Christian persecution, decried the killing of the pastor and his wife, saying it is an indication of the great dangers Christians are exposed to in the predominantly Muslim north.

“This kind of mindless killing follows the same pattern that we have been campaigning against, which many state governments in northern Nigeria are not paying due attention to,” Thompson said. “The government cannot afford to continue to pay lip service to protecting Christians when some people in the name of religion can take the laws into their hands.

Unless we get to the root of cases like this, there will be no end to it.”

Following attacks on Christians near Jos in Plateau state in January and March, sporadic killings of Christians reportedly continue. Previously hundreds of Christian villagers were struck with machetes and burned to death on March 7 in Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Rastat, three villages in Jos South and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas. 

On March 17, Muslim Fulani herdsmen assaulted two Christian villages in Plateau state, killing 13 persons, including a pregnant woman and children. In attacks presumably over disputed property but with a level of violence characteristic of jihadist method and motive, men in military camouflage and others in customary clothing also burned 20 houses in Byei and Baten villages, in the Riyom Local Government Area of the state, about 45 kilometers (29 miles) from Jos.

On Jan. 17, two pastors and 46 other Christians were killed in an outbreak of violence in Jos triggered when Muslim youths attacked a Catholic church. Police estimated over 300 lives were lost in subsequent clashes, in which 10 church buildings were burned.

Report from Compass Direct News 

Iranian Authorities Release Assyrian Pastor on Bail

Accused of ‘converting Muslims,’ church leader faces trial – and threat of murder.

ISTANBUL, April 5 (CDN) — An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of “converting Muslims” has been released from prison on bail and is awaiting trial.

The Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, was released from Dastgard prison in Isfahan last week. Conflicting reports indicated Issavi was released sometime between Sunday (March 28) and Tuesday morning (March 30).

On Feb. 2, State Security Investigations (SSI) agents arrested Issavi shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan. Along with the accusation of “converting Muslims,” the pastor is charged with not co-operating with police, presumably for continuing to hold such house meetings after police sealed the Evangelical Church of Kermanshah and ordered him not to reopen it.

After his arrest, Issavi was held at an unmarked prison facility in Isfahan and apparently tortured, according to a Christian woman who fled Iran and knows Issavi and his family. The Christian woman, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said Issavi’s wife, Medline Nazanin, visited the pastor at the unmarked facility. Nazanin said it was obvious Issavi had been tortured, the Christian told Compass.

Issavi’s confinement cells were so filthy he contracted a life-threatening infection, Nazanin told the Christian woman.

“They took him to the hospital and then returned him back to the prison,” the woman said.

Friends of Issavi added that he is still dealing with the lingering effects of the infection.

During Issavi’s imprisonment, authorities threatened to execute him, sources close to the case said. The joy of Issavi’s family at his release was tinged with fear as they waited in agony for the possibility of him being killed by Islamic extremists, as is common in Iran when Christians are detained for religious reasons and then released.

“Sometimes they release you just to kill you,” the Christian source said.

Issavi has not been informed of his trial date.

Issavi’s friend said that low-key ethnic Christians, such as the Assyrians, are largely unbothered for long periods of time. Active Christians are treated differently.

“When you start evangelizing, then you are in real trouble,” she said.

Iranian authorities have set up a video camera outside Issavi’s church to monitor anyone going in or out of the building, according to the pastor’s friend.

Issavi was one of a few Christians in leadership positions arrested in Isfahan in February during what some Middle Eastern experts described as a crackdown on area church leadership.

Isfahan, a city of more than 1.5 million people located 208 miles (335 kilometers) south of Tehran, has been the site of other anti-Christian persecution. In an incident in July 2008, two Christians died as a result of injuries received from police who were breaking up a house meeting.

On Feb. 28, Isfahan resident Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were arrested at their home.

Police handcuffed, beat and pepper-sprayed Aghajary and then took her to prison. Her husband Shafiee, who was away from the house when police arrived, was arrested an hour later when he returned to the house. Approximately 20 police officers raided the home, seizing Bibles, CDs, photographs, computers, telephones, personal items and other literature.

The couple is still being held. Other details about their detainment are unknown.

Three Christians Released

Elsewhere, three Christians arrested on Dec. 24, 2009 have been released, according to Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN).

Maryam Jalili, Mitra Zahmati, and Farzan Matin were initially arrested along with 12 other Christians at a home in Varamin. Eventually they were transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, though the other 12 prisoners were conditionally released on Jan. 4. 

Jalili, Zahmati and Matin were freed on March 17, though terms of their release were unclear. Jalili is married and has two children.

Iran has a longstanding history of religious repression. Shia Islam is the official state religion and is ensconced as such in Iran’s constitution. Every year since 1999, the U.S. Secretary of State has designated Iran as a “Country of Particular Concern” for its persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

According to the 2009 International Religious Freedom Report issued by the U.S. Department of State, persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Iran continued to get significantly worse.

“Christians, particularly evangelicals, continued to be subject to harassment and close surveillance,” the report states. “The government vigilantly enforced its prohibition on proselytizing by closely monitoring the activities of evangelical Christians, discouraging Muslims from entering church premises, closing churches, and arresting Christian converts.”

Report from Compass Direct News 

Recent Incidents of Persecution

Madhya Pradesh, India, March 31 (CDN) — Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists accompanied by police officials on March 28 disrupted Christian worship in Raksha Nagar, Ranjhi, Jabalpur. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at 10:30 a.m. about 45 extremists from the Bajrang Dal broke into the service shouting Hindu slogans, followed by police, as Pastor Francis Zavier of the Apostolic Christian Assemblies was leading the service. Police took Vinay Ashwaley, Mangal Das Chowdhary, Panchwati Chowdhary, Shailesh Philemon, Mamta Chowdhary and Kanti Bai Chowdhary to the Ranjhi police station. A police official told Compass that the intruders were acting on a written complaint from a known Bajrang Dal activist identified only by his surname, Sonekar, that “conversion activities” were taking place at the church. Conversion and conversion activities are legal in India. After questioning the Christians for nearly three hours, police released them without charges as the allegations were baseless, an officer told Compass. The Fellowship of Pastors subsequently sent a written request for additional police security for Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.

New Delhi – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attacked Pastor Galdwin Masih and another Christian identified only as Pritam on March 25 in the Seema Puri area of New Delhi. The pastor was leading a prayer meeting where three RSS members were present. In the middle of the meeting they alerted other RSS members and, as they began to leave, threatened to beat the Christians. As Pastor Masih and Pritam were returning home, about 25 extremists stopped them on the road and beat them with cricket stumps and hockey sticks, leaving their bodies badly bruised. Pastor Gladwin called police, who rushed to the site as the extremists fled. A First Information Report was filed against the attackers, but no arrests had been made at press time.

Tamil Nadu – Local Hindu villagers in Palladam, Tiruppur, on March 23 filed a complaint against five Christians for carrying brochures depicting Hindu religion and gods as barbaric and glorifying Christianity. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the Christians from Nagercoil village, identified only as Kannian, Pride, Mathew, Paulraj and Vincent, visited Christians in Kullampalaya slum area to provide medical help. A local daily reported that the Christians were carrying brochures favoring Christianity over Hinduism and that their primary aim was “forcible conversion” by offering promises of free homes, money, food and jobs in foreign countries. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that Kama Nayakkampalayam police took the five Christians into custody, but after questioning them found them innocent and released them. They were released with a “soft warning to not indulge in such activities again,” reported the local-vernacular daily.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists in Anakapalli Mandal attacked Pastor Nireekshana Roa and his wife on March 22. Led by village head Ram Naidu, the extremists accused the couple of forceful conversion and beat them for preaching in the area. The couple was earlier attacked for organizing a prayer meeting in the area. Police refused to file the pastor’s complaint, and area Christian leaders were trying to intervene on the couple’s behalf at press time.

Chhattisgarh – About 25 Hindu extremists forced their way into the Sunday worship service of Believers Church of India in Raipur on March 21, threatening and cursing the Christians and seizing Bibles and other literature. An area source reported that at about 2 p.m. the extremists entered and threatened to beat the Christians if they did not leave the area; they also threatened to get a government employee present fired from her job if she continued in her Christian faith. Police detained the Christians for about three hours, during which they also issued threats for them to leave the area. The church members were said to be living in fear.

Chhattisgarh – About 40 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal stopped the Sunday prayer meeting of Ebenezer Church in Kasdol on March 21. A source told Compass that at 3:30 p.m. the extremists angrily barged into the prayer meeting, accused the Christians of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and Christian literature and shut the church. They threatened the Christians with violence if they continued to hold prayer meetings. The extremists alerted police, and officers took some Christian leaders of the church, including Pastor Ravi Bagha, to the police station for about seven hours. Area Christians intervened and they were released without charges. Police refused to take the complaint of the Christians, reported the source.

Chhattisgarh – About 40 Hindu extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) on March 21 attacked Christian students and teachers at Personality Development Centre for Youth, a training center managed by Care for the People of India, in Durg. The extremists verbally abused them, burned Bibles and gospel literature and got them arrested on false charges of insulting the national flag. A source told Compass that at about 2 p.m. the extremists, carrying a national flag on which they had painted a red cross, forcefully entered the center and began beating the students. Later, with the criminally defaced flag as supposed evidence, the extremists filed a complaint of insulting the Indian flag against three teachers of the center. The three Christians were booked for insulting the national flag and were later released on bail. Praful Barrik, head of Care for the People of India, received medical treatment for injuries sustained in the attack.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists from the Dharma Sena (Religious Army) on March 21 accused members of The Pentecostal Church of forceful conversion and beat them in Nandini, Durg. A source told Compass that about 35 extremists forcefully entered the church at about 1:30 p.m., as the Sunday meeting was winding up. At press time area Christian leaders were taking steps to register an FIR against the attackers.

Karnataka – Police arrested a pastor on March 15 after Hindu extremists filed a complaint against him of forceful conversion in Borgunta, Sullai Taluk, Mangalore. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that the incident took place when a Christian identified only as Pastor Valsalan of Bethesda Assemblies of God Church, along with his family, was visiting a church member’s home; about 30 Hindu extremists barged into the house and accused the pastor of forceful conversion. An area Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Legislative Assembly and other extremists pressured police authorities to arrest the pastor. Officers arrived and arrested him, and he was sent to central jail in Mangalore.

Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal in Badwani on March 13 stopped a meeting at a Christian convention and accused those in attendance of forceful conversion. Satsang (Fellowship) Ministry organized the three-day spiritual convention after obtaining permission from local police on March 12. The Christians went to police to say they had obtained permission for the convention, but officers sided with the extremists, telling the Christians to cease attending.

Karnataka – Based on a complaint by an area leader of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad of forcible conversion, police on March 10 arrested Pastor Hanume Nayak of Good Shepherd Community Church and his wife. Officers questioned the couple in Chellur, and they were held in custody the entire night. With the intervention of area Christian leaders and that of a member of the Legislative Assembly, the Christians were released on bail the next day.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena on March 9 attacked a pastor and warned him to leave the Kawardha area. Massing near the Christian’s house, about 20 Hindu extremists called for Pastor Sanatan Masih of The Christian Church to come out of his home, and then they began beating him, reported the Evangelical Fellowship of India. In an earlier incident on Feb. 15, the extremists had threatened to harm the pastor if he conducted any Christian activity. On March 3 they broke into The Christian Church and vandalized it, and police refused to register the complaint of Christians. In the March 9 attack, Pastor Masih sustained injuries to his mouth, back and stomach. At press time, he had relocated as a safety measure.

Karnataka – Hindu radicals in Periyapattinam, Mysore brutally beat Pastor Ravi Chandran, 30, on March 8. The pastor was leading a prayer service at a house in Banavara village, Periyapattinam at 11:30 a.m. when 10 to 15 Hindu extremists forced their way into the house. They hit the pastor with soda bottles and kicked and punched him repeatedly before leaving. Pastor Chandran received hospital treatment for a leg injury and for swelling on his head. A native of Chankeshwara Puram, Periyapattinam, Pastor Chandran has been in church leadership for the seven years and ministers at Gospel in Action Fellowship, with about 35 believers. The attack was reported to Somvarpet police station.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists beat a Christian identified only as Pastor Devaraju of Good Shepherd Community Church on March 7, locked his church building and confined him to his house for several hours in Timmajipet, Mahabubnagar. The All Indian Christian Council reported that the pastor and church members had opposed Hindu extremists trying to bury a body in a Christian cemetery with Hindu rituals on March 5. In response the Hindus retaliated with the March 7 attack. They confined the pastor to his room for nearly a day, threatening to take possession of the church building and turn it into a local community hall. At press time local Christian leaders were trying to help resolve the matter.

Karnataka – Hindu extremists allegedly led by a municipal councilor on Feb. 28 accused Christians in Karwar of forceful conversion and beat them till they fell unconscious on a roadside. Led by Raja Gowda, the extremists at about 6:30 p.m. charged onto the premises of New Life Fellowship Church, where Christians David Lambani and Satish Ambedkar were staying. The extremists verbally insulted them and dragged them out to the street before beating them unconscious. The Christians were rushed to the hospital. Lambani’s left ear drum was damaged, while Satish sustained head injuries and broken bones. Police registered a First Information Report against the attackers, but no arrests had been made at press time. Legal documents for the church site had been obtained, but area village leaders had stopped construction on November 2009 and in February.

Chhattisgarh – State police on Feb. 28 arrested six Christians after extremists filed a false complaint of forcible conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that Pastor Jose Thomas of the Indian Missionary Movement organized a meeting for around 40 Christians at Holy Kingdom English High School in Kawardha district. At around 2:30 p.m., a mob of nearly 50 Hindu nationalist extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh stormed into the school, verbally abused the Christians and made false allegations of forcible conversion. Kawardha police officials came to the school and arrested Pastor Thomas and five Christians, who were also charged with injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class. Police Inspector Surinder Singh told Compass that local resident Chandra Prakash had filed the complaint against the Christians, and that they were released on bail on March 9. Singh denied GCIC allegations that the Christians were beaten inside the police station.

Madhya Pradesh – Police arrested a Christian who goes by this a single name, Adhwan, on Feb. 20 on charges of forceful conversion. A source reported that officers accused the preacher of forceful conversion and had previously arrested him on Jan. 23 for alleged forceful conversion, when he was sent to Champa district jail. Authorities also confiscated his passport. He had been released on bail on Jan. 27. On Feb. 20 police arrested him again on the same charges and released him the next day. Attorney Anurag Nath told Compass that police had no grounds for the arrests.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists on Feb. 15 ostracized an elderly couple for following Jesus in Timmaipet, Mahabubnagar, Hyderabad. The All Indian Christian Council reported that Mullugula Buddaiah, 70, and his 60-year-old wife Pullamma were cast out of the community for their faith in Christ as the extremists ordered the couple to vacate their house and leave the village. An area pastor identified only as Devaraju filed a police complaint, which officers refused to register. Local Christian leaders were taking steps to resolve the matter at press time. 

Report from Compass Direct News