Christian Persecution – Asia

Animist worshipers of nature in a village in Jharkhand state this week humiliated and drove out a local family for becoming Christians.

Vietnamese troops continued to surround several villages of predominantly Christian Montagnard Degar people Monday, May 22, amid fresh concerns over a government crackdown against this ethnic group, their representatives said.

Amid widespread criticism of the Rajasthan anti-conversion bill by Christian and human rights organizations, Rajasthan Gov. Pratibha Patil on Friday (May 19) refused to sign it into law, saying its provisions would violate religious freedom.

Hindu extremists yesterday vandalized an independent church in Gauri Nadi village, about 12 kilometers (seven miles) from Jabalpur city in the north-central state of Madhya Pradesh. The mob beat a church member and lodged a police complaint against a pastor for ‘;forcibly converting’ Hindus.

Police in Indonesia announced Wednesday (May 10) that suspected Islamic terrorists have confessed to beheading three Indonesian schoolgirls in Poso, on the island of Sulawesi, in October 2005.

Unruly mobs have attacked three churches over the past fortnight, in one incident setting car tires on fire in front of a Methodist church to prevent people from entering for Sunday worship.

A woman in the city of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh state, has accused six of her uncles and their pastor of trying to forcefully convert her to Christianity.

Police in India’s northeastern state of Punjab have urged Christians to remain calm and promised protection after a house church in Bhatinda district was attacked by Hindu extremists during an Easter service, news reports said Tuesday, May 9.

Radical Muslims in mid-April forced three churches to cease services in North Jakarta and the provinces of West Java and Tangerang, claiming the meetings were disturbing Islamic communities.

Sri Lanka’s Parliament has appointed a 19-member committee to review a bill that would outlaw “forcible” conversion, before it is presented for a final vote.

Family members and human rights activists urged the international community Saturday, April 22, to pressure North Korea not to execute a Christian man who has been accused of “betrayal” and “espionage” by the Communist government.

Evangelical missionaries in East Timor warned Monday, April 24, of new bloodshed after troops dismissed from the armed forces threatened to wage a new guerrilla war in the troubled Southeast Asian nation.

Police backed by Hindu extremists arrested Avinash Lal, an independent Pentecostal pastor from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh state, and six other Christian leaders last night (April 18) on charges on ‘fraudulent conversion.’

India’s Supreme Court confirmed Monday, April 17, it granted the founder of a major evangelical mission organization “relief from an outstanding arrest warrant” for alleged anti-Hindu activities and ordered a hearing before a court in the tense state of Rajasthan Friday, April 21, officials said.

Samuel Thomas, the leader of one of India’s main evangelical mission organizations, remained jailed Thursday, April 13, on charges of anti-Hindu activities, after a court denied him bail, but his wife told BosNewsLife she is not giving up hope, yet.

An anti-conversion bill passed by the Rajasthan state assembly last Friday (April 7) is unconstitutional and could lead to an “explosive situation” in the state, Christians say.

A local Christian leader in rural Laos who refuses to abandon his faith in Christ has been detained and shackled in hand and foot stocks as part of a fresh crackdown by Communist authorities on Christian villagers, missionaries said Thursday, April 13.

Extremists attacked two Christian schools and a private Christian gathering last week in Madhya Pradesh state and accused several Christians of carrying out “illegal conversions.”

Hindu leaders attending a centenary celebration of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) last weekend converted at least 344 tribal Christians to Hinduism. Although police were present, they took no action to enforce Orissa state anti-conversion laws that require official permission for such events.