Event in India Shows Extent of Fear of Christianity
Christianity is a major threat to Indian nationalism, organizers of a “reconversion” rally held last weekend in Gujarat indicated yesterday during the closing ceremony.
Christian Persecution – Asia
New Tribes Missionary Returns To Papua New Guinea Amid Deadly Violence
A staff member of the American mission group New Tribes Mission (NTM) has returned to his home in the dense jungles of Papua New Guinea to ease tensions following bloodshed in the region, missionaries said Friday, February 10.
Christians in Pakistan Fear More Violence Over Cartoon Row
Christians in Pakistan feared more attacks against them Sunday, February 5, after at least one church was attacked by militants as anger spreads throughout the Muslim world over Prophet Mohammad cartoons in European media.
Philippines Christians Mourn Believers Killed in Muslim Violence
Christian believers in the Philippines on Sunday, February 5, mourned 6 Christians, including an infant, who were killed by Muslim militants shortly after a missionary couple died in an ambush.
Villagers Brutally Beat Christians in Orissa State, India
Extremists encouraged Hindu residents of a village in Malkangiri district, Orissa state, to attack Christian residents on January 24. At least 10 Christians were injured and two were hospitalized.
India Hindu Militants Attack Orphanage, Children and Pastors Injured
Indian Hindu militants attacked a Christian orphanage of Hopegivers International (HI), one of India’s leading mission organizations, injuring orphans and three pastors, its president confirmed Thursday, February 2, following a weeklong investigation.
India: Serial Violent Attacks on Christians Leave Several Needing Hospital Treatment
Three separate attacks on Christians in Madhya Pradesh, central India, have occurred within a period of four days, leaving a number of people needing hospital treatment. Latest reports suggest that yet more attacks on Christians have since taken place in the communally tense state.
India Christians Injured As Hindu Violence Rocks State
At least 18 Christians, including children, were injured when Hindu militants armed with sticks, rods and other sharp weapons broke up a Christian seminar in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the fourth such incident in as many days, a Christian news agency reported Monday, January 30.
Two Churches Attacked in Sri Lanka
Two churches in Sri Lanka were attacked last weekend as threats from Buddhist monks continued amid tensions between the government and Tamil rebels.
Major Rise in Attacks Against Christians in India State, Survey shows
A US-based religious rights group said Friday, January 27, that violence against the tiny Christian minority in India’s north-central state of Madhya Pradesh increased by 45 percent during the last two years.
Christians Attacked, Houses Burned in Orissa, India
A pastor and his cousin charged with attempted forced conversion in Matiapada village, Orissa state, were released on bail yesterday, while five Hindu villagers charged with assault and setting fire to the pastor’s house are still in custody.
Indonesian Court Rejects Legal Intervention for Jailed Teachers
Judges at Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on January 17 ruled that the Child Protection Act is in line with the constitution and should not be amended. The Rev. Ruyandi Hutasoit had challenged Article 86 of the Act, used as the basis for sentencing Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun to three years in prison on September 1, 2005. The Christian Sunday School teachers were arrested in May 2005 after members of a local Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI or Muslim Clerics Council) in West Java accused them of trying to convert Muslim children. Judge Jimly Asshiddique said Rev. Hutasoit had no right to contest the Child Protection Act, since he had not experienced any ‘direct losses’ under it.
India Local Government OK’s ‘Anti-Christian’ Weapons Distribution
The government of India’s largest northwestern state, Rajasthan, has withdrawn criminal procedures against most militants of an influential Hindu nationalist organization involved in the massive distribution of ‘tridents’, three-sponged spears that have reportedly been used to intimidate the Christian minority, BosNewsLife learned Monday, January 23.
Romance Leads to Communal Hatred in Assam, India
At this time last year, Noor Jehan Ahmed, 55, lived peacefully in the village of Nagaon, in the northeastern state of Assam. She and her extended household of 29 people formed their own Christian enclave within the majority-Muslim community.
Christians in India Attacked at Bus Stand and at House
Hindu extremists attacked Christians in two incidents in the same district of Andhra Pradesh state on January 12 and 13, in one case dragging a pastor from a child’s birthday party and kicking him unconscious.
Eight House Churches Shut Down in West Java, Indonesia
Local government officials in Bandung, West Java, have ordered eight house churches in the Rancaekek Kencana housing complex to cease meeting in private homes starting last Sunday (January 15).
India Christians Attacked, Church Destroyed Amid Hindu Conversions
Christians in several tense Indian states were weighing their options Tuesday, January 17, after churches were attacked and believers apparently pressured to return to Hinduism.
Pakistani Drops ‘Blasphemy’ Charge in Sangla Hill Case
A Pakistani Muslim in the Punjabi town of Sangla Hill dropped formal charges last week against a Christian he had accused of setting fire to pages of the Quran.
Burma Army Attacks Christian Villages, 1,200 Displaced
Burmese government forces attacked villages of the Karen and Karenni people, displacing 1,200 villagers, as part of a “slow genocide” against these predominantly Christian ethnic groups, a religious rights group said late Thursday, January 5.
Itinerant House Church Pastor Murdered in Laos
In a shocking display of brutality, Aroun Voraphorn, an itinerant evangelist, pastor and father of four children, was murdered in southern Laos the week before Christmas.