India: Fact-Finding Mission Suggests Christmas Violence was Preplanned
Emerging facts indicate that India’s largest spate of anti-Christian violence, which has rendered thousands homeless in Orissa’s Kandhamal district, was preplanned.
Christian Persecution – Asia
Pakistan Christians Losing Hope As Ballot Is Postponed After Assassination
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf announced Wednesday, January 2, that Britain will assist in an investigation into the assassination of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who Pakistani Christians described as "the only hope" to end religious persecution.
Turkey: Police Arrest Suspect Plotting to Kill Pastor
Turkish police authorities over the weekend arrested a young suspect allegedly plotting to assassinate a Christian pastor in Antalya during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
New Year’s Day Attacks On Christians In India
There were new reports of attacks by suspected Hindu militants against Christians in India on New Year’s Day, shortly after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to protect the country’s minority Christians in a letter to the widow of an Australian missionary killed nine years ago.
India Christians Hiding In Orissa Jungles As Violence Continues
Over one thousand Christians, including priests, nuns, women and children, have fled to the jungles of India’s Orissa State where deadly anti-Christian violence entered its seventh day, a church official told BosNewsLife Sunday, December 30.
Fourteen Churches Burned In Deadly Violence In India
Indian church leaders on Thursday, December 27, appealed to authorities to intervene after Hindu extremists attacked dozens of Christian institutions, including churches, in the religiously volatile eastern state of Orissa over Christmas, reportedly killing up to three people and injuring many others.
Hindu Militants Attack Christmas Service In India
Several people were injured when a Hindu mob attacked a Christmas worship service in India’s religiously volatile eastern state of Orissa Monday, December 24, destroying a crib as well as light and sound equipment, Christians told BosNewsLife.
Pakistan Couple And Children Threatened With Death For Embracing Christ
A Pakistani Christian couple said Tuesday, December 18, they have gone into hiding in Pakistan’s northeastern city of Sargodha because Muslim relatives threaten to kill them and their children for embracing Christianity.
Indonesia Police Prevents Attack On Church
Indonesian security forces have prevented an attack by about 50 Muslim militants on the troubled Pasundan Christian Church in West Java Province, the second act of violence against the Protestant congregation in two weeks, a well-informed Christian rights group said Thursday, December 13.
Pakistan Church Leader Kidnapped; Christians Killed
A search continued Thursday, December 13, for the General Secretary of the Churches of Pakistan, Dr. Rejinald Humayun, who was kidnapped last week following clashes in the country involving Islamic militants that killed at least three Christians.
Hundreds Of Attacks Against India Missionaries
An advocacy group representing churches and mission organizations says Hindu militants backed by political parties and groups have carried out at least 500 attacks against mainly Christian missionaries in the past 23 months, and urged the central government to halt the violence.
Indonesia: Islamic Groups Secure Closure of Two Churches
Attacking the house of a Baptist pastor and protesting the presence of a Catholic temple, radical Muslim groups got authorities to close down two churches in the past two weeks.
Pakistan: Christians on Front Lines of Democracy Struggle
Pakistani Christians have played a prominent role in the struggle against harsh emergency laws established by the country’s president this month. And many of have paid the price.
India: Church Attacked in Chhattisgarh; Young Man Killed
A mob allegedly led by a Hindu extremist group demolished a house church and beat the pastor and believers on November 19 in Chhattisgarh state’s Bastar district. The following day, a young relative of the pastor allegedly kidnapped by the extremists was found dead in a nearby jungle.
Indonesia Church Destroyed By Muslim Militants In West Java, Christians say
Hundreds of Muslim militants stormed and destroyed a Protestant church in Indonesia’s province of West Java amid growing religious tensions in the region, a Netherlands-based Christian rights group reported Tuesday, November 27.
India Pastors Released Amid Hindu Crackdown On “Forced Conversions”
Two Indian evangelical pastors were free on bail Tuesday, November 27, after being detained over the weekend for allegedly “forcing” Hindus to accept Christianity, amid reports that India’s most influential Hindu organization has stepped up efforts to crackdown on devoted Christians.
Indonesia Muslim Militants Attack House Church, report
Dozens of Islamic militants raided a house church in the Indonesian province of West Java on Monday, November 19, the latest in a series of attacks against perceived “illegal” places of worship, local Christians reportedly said.
North Korean Christians Arrested; Current Status Unknown
In a highly unusual press conference in Pyongyang in September, the National Security Service of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced the arrest of “foreign spies” and “native citizens working for a foreign intelligence service.” The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), a ministry serving Christians in restricted nations who are persecuted for their faith, announced today that those arrested in North Korea were in fact Christian believers and not spies.
Pakistan Police Detain and “Torture” Christian Activists
After reports emerged of a bloody crackdown on Christians and other activists, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf pledged Sunday, November 11, that he would organize elections before January 9, next year.
India: Hindu Extremists Free to Attack Christians in Thane District
A rash of violence in Maharashtra state last weekend, Christian leaders say, is typical of a growing history of unchecked, Hindu extremist crimes against Christians in Thane district.