Karnataka – Basándose en una denuncia de conversión forzada sentada por extremistas hindúes contra cristianos, oficiales de Karnataka clausuraron un orfanatorio cristiano el 16 de junio en Karwar. El Concilio Global de Cristianos Indios reportó que oficiales estatales visitaron la escuela en el orfanato y lanzaron un orden de clausura al Orfanatorio y Centro de Capacitación en Artes Vocacionales Vertiente de Esperanza, el cual tiene 61 estudiantes tribales. El hogar viene funcionando por cuatro años en una zona ocupada por mucho tiempo por cristianos de la tribu Siddi. En el momento de la redacción, líderes cristianos del área tomaban medidas para resolver el conflicto.
Orissa – Extremistas hindúes el 8 de junio atacaron brutalmente a un cristiano y amenazaron con matarlo en Nuapada. El Concilio Global de Cristianos Indios reportó que seis extremistas hindúes armados con cuchillos y palos invadieron la casa de Bhakta Bivar, de 19 años, mientras sus padres asistían a una reunión de oración. Los extremistas verbalmente abusaron a Bivar por su fe y empezaron a golpearlo. Lo arrastraron hasta un templo hindú, donde le ordenaron negar a Jesús mientras continuaban golpeándolo, le forzaban comida ofrecida a los ídolos y amenazaron con matarlo a él y sus padres si no se convertían al hinduismo. Los extremistas quemaron cuatro Biblias que habían sacado de su casa y, forzándolo a vestirse en ropa color azafrán, simbólica de la religión hindú, lo arrastraron hasta la calle, anunciando falsamente que él había retornado al hinduismo. Los extremistas lo dejaron después de amenazarlo con matarlo si él continuaba creyendo en Cristo, ya que ellos habían prohibido la existencia del cristianismo en el área. Después de registrarse una denuncia con la policía, cinco de los extremistas hindúes fueron arrestados el día siguiente.
Compass Direct News – A Christian woman who was kidnapped, forced to marry a Muslim farmer and told to convert to Islam amid a dispute over a loan said today she has returned home after weeks of “captivity and torture.” Sania James, 33, was kidnapped April 5 by armed men who stormed her parents’ house in the small town of Rawat, just outside Rawalpindi, neighbors confirmed to Compass. The gunmen allegedly told her father that he would see his daughter again only if he paid off a loan to his employer of 250,000 rupees (US$2,930) plus 30 percent interest, though they had previously agreed upon a rate of 15 percent. James said the armed men took her to her father’s employer, farmer Mohammad Shahbaz Ali, and forced her to marry him. She refused to convert to Islam and was continuously tortured, James said without elaborating. Shahbaz Ali reacted angrily when asked about the alleged incidents. “I refuse to say anything,” he told Compass. Local Pastor Faraz Samson said he had gone to Shahbaz Ali to end the injustice, but that he wouldn’t listen. “I am shocked that a daughter of a poor man has been kidnapped, and the law can’t do anything,” Pastor Samson said.
GUJRANWALA, Pakistán (Compass Direct News) – Un cristiano quien acusó a un musulmán de violar a su hija de 12 años de edad, ha huido de su pueblo en la Provincia de Punjab con su familia después de amenazas de muerte y presiones por parte de la policía de abandonar el caso. Citando “amenazas continuas” de quitarle la vida, Zafar Masih abandonó el pueblo predominantemente musulmán de Nai Abadi Tatlay Aali en Gujranwala 10 días después de acusar a Ali Ahmed, un comerciante de 28 años de edad, de golpear y violar a su hija el 12 de mayo. Su hija, cuyo nombre se reserva, dijo a Compass que su empleador, Ahmed, la golpeó y la violó cuando ella fue a su casa, donde trabajaba como sierva doméstica. Su padre dijo que inmediatamente fue a la estación de policía de Tatlay Aali para registrar cargos, pero el Inspector Oficial de la Oficina de Estación, Iqbal Ojjhra, se rehusó a hacerlo y empezó a presionar a Masih a retirar la acusación. Un poderoso político local junto al propietario de terrenos más importante del área, Imtiyaz Kharral, luego amenazaron con matar o mutilar a Masih, dijo él. “Yo me rehusé a retirar la petición, a pesar de que ambos hombres musulmanes principales me presionaban inmensamente,” dijo Masih. “Y el Inspector Ojjhra presentaba un nuevo pretexto cada día por no registrar el caso.” El Inspector Ojjhra negó todas las alegaciones en su contra. Dijo a Compass que declinó registrar un caso de violación porque no quería dañar la dignidad de la niña cristiana, entonces había recomendado que trataran de resolver el conflicto en una reunión pública o “punchayat.” En la reunión en la casa campestre de Kharral, el propietario de terrenos no permitió al cristiano hablar y dijo a Masih que él tenía que abandonar la denuncia de violación o él y todas las familias cristianas del área tendrían que relocalizarse.
SARGODHA
Compass Direct News – Hindu nationalist organizations in Madhya Pradesh state have declared their intentions to rid Mandla district of all Christian influence by starting preparations for a large “reconversion” event next year. A similar event in Dangs district, Gujarat state in 2006 was filled with Christian hate speech. As a result of anti-Christian sentiment stirred at the April 22 ground-breaking ceremony for the Madhya Pradesh “reconversion” rally to be held next February, Hindu nationalists attacked a house church in the district’s Bamhni Banjar village on May 2, Christian leaders said. Hindu leaders reportedly announced a list of objectives to be achieved before the festival, with one prominent agenda item being to drive away Christian pastors, evangelists and foreign aid workers from the district. The leaders pledged to “cleanse Mandla of Christians” by means of the Feb. 10-12 event. A week after the ground-breaking ceremony, around 40 Hindu nationalists from the Bajrang Dal surrounded the home of Pastor Bhag Chand Rujhiya during a house church service and accused him of forceful conversion as they shouted anti-Christian slogans. Using abusive language, they pelted his house with stones as about 60 people were attending a worship service, Pastor Rakesh Dass said. “The mob was carrying deadly weapons like knives and rods,” he said. Police forced the pastor and his wife to sign statements that they would no longer lead Sunday worship or pray with friends or relatives inside their house, and that they would not evangelize again in the area.
NUEVA DELHI (Compass Direct News) – Organizaciones de nacionalistas hindúes en el estado de Madhya Pradesh han declarado la intención de erradicar toda la influencia cristiana en el distrito de Mandla al iniciar preparativos para un gran evento de “reconversión” el próximo año. Un evento similar en el distrito de Dangs, estado de Gujarat, en 2006 estuvo lleno de lenguaje de odio contra los cristianos. Como resultado del sentimiento anticristiano provocado el 22 de abril en la ceremonia inaugural de la convocatoria de “reconversión” en Madhya Pradesh que se llevará a cabo el próximo febrero, nacionalistas hindúes atacaron una casa de culto en la aldea de Bamhni Banjar del distrito el 2 de mayo, dijeron líderes cristianos. Líderes hindúes, según informes, anunciaron una serie de objetivos para lograr antes del festival, siendo un punto prominente de la agenda expulsar a pastores, evangelistas y socorristas extranjeros cristianos del distrito. Los líderes juraron “limpiar Mandla de los cristianos” mediante el evento del 10 al 12 de febrero. Una semana después de la ceremonia inaugural, aproximadamente 40 nacionalistas hindúes del Bajrang Dal rodearon la casa del Pastor Bhag Chand Rujhiya durante un servicio de casa de culto y lo acusaron de la conversión forzada mientras gritaban eslóganes anticristianos. Con lenguaje abusivo, arrojaron piedras contra su casa mientras aproximadamente 60 personas participaban en el culto de alabanza, dijo el Pastor Rakesh Dass. “La muchedumbre airada llevaba armas mortales como cuchillos y varas,” dijo. La policía obligó al pastor y a su esposa a firmar una declaración, en la que no dirigirían más el culto dominical, ni orarían con amigos o parientes dentro su casa, ni que evangelizarían más en la zona.
SLAYING, Compas Direct News – The gruesome nature of the May 2 murder of an evangelist in Bihar state who had no enmity with anyone has led area Christians to suspect anti-Christian motives. The mutilated body of Ravi Murmu, 32, was found in Jamalpur, Munger district, with the right hand nearly severed by means of a sharp weapon, and the jaw and neck were similarly slashed. “Efforts were made to chop off his hand and neck, trying to separate it from his body,” Shekhar Kumar, a member of his church, told Compass. Police are investigating but have made no arrests so far. “All his belongings were intact, which included his motorbike, Bible, cell phone, wristwatch and some cash,” Murmu’s brother-in-law, Shiv Kumar, told Compass. “This seems to be a planned murder. That is why Ravi was targeted when he was alone. To me the motive seems to be anti-Christian.” Murmu’s pastor, Yunus Mandal of Bethel Brethren Assembly in Jamalpur, agreed. “The intention behind the murder evidently is not robbery,” Mandal said. “I am suspicious that Hindu fundamentalists have done this, but this could also be the handiwork of the Naxalites [Maoist rebels].” About a year and half ago, Murmu was attacked along with others in another part of Bihar state, the Newada area, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) from Jamalpur, Pastor Mandal said. “Ravi at that time was also beaten up and sustained injuries on the face and to his teeth,” he said. “They would have killed us, but they found money in our possession worth about 180 U.S. dollars, and so they looted it and fled.”
Compass Direct News – Four Christian families in southeastern Bangladesh left their village under mounting pressure by Buddhist extremists to give up their faith in Christ. Sources told Compass that 20 to 25 Buddhists brandishing sticks and bamboo clubs in Jamindhonpara village, 340 kilometres (211 miles) southeast of Dhaka, began patrolling streets on Friday (April 30) to keep the 11 members of the Lotiban Baptist Church from gathering for their weekly prayer meetings. On Saturday, the Buddhist extremists captured four men and beat one woman who had gathered in a home, threatening to kill them if they did not become Buddhists within 24 hours. Yesterday, the Buddhist extremists attacked the homes of the Baptists two hours before their 1 p.m. worship service, sources said. “Just two hours before our church service, a group of people swooped into our houses and drove all of us out so we could not attend the church service,” said one church member who requested anonymity. The Christians captured Saturday night were released after the extremists, who ripped crosses off the walls of their homes, threatened to kill them if they continued praying and worshipping in the area. After yesterday’s attacks, all Christians in Jamindhonpara fled, taking shelter in another village, source said. Jamindhonpara is located in the Lotiban area, Panchari sub-district of Khagrachari district. “When they come, they do not listen to us,” said the church member. “They arbitrarily do whatever they like. The situation is indescribable – they hunt us down the same way that one hunts down a mad dog to kill it.”
Barnabas Fund. A Christian man has been burned to death in front of a police station in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, for refusing to convert to Islam. Rashid Masih received burns to 80% of his body and was hospitalised but tragically lost his fight for life. Hundreds of people attended his funeral on 24 March. Rashid had been employed as a driver for a prominent local businessman since 2005; his wife worked as a maid for the same employer. The couple lived with their children (aged 4 to 12) in the servant quarters where they worked. In January, the businessman and religious leaders requested that Rashid and his family convert to Islam. When Rashid refused and offered to resign from his job, he was reportedly threatened with “dire consequences”. Tensions rose after the employer filed charges for theft of 500,000 Pakistani rupees (£4,000; US$6,000; €4,500) against the couple; sources say that the businessman had offered to drop the case if the family converted to Islam “or else they both would not see their children again”.
Barnabas Fund. April saw a number of incidents of harassment against Christians in Uzbekistan as they celebrated a birthday, played sport together and cared for the homeless, as reported by Forum 18. On 10 March, a birthday party held in a private home was raided under the pretext of an “anti-terror raid”. Ten women from a registered church were given heavy fines for “violating the procedure for arranging and holding gatherings” and “creating the conditions for conducting unsanctioned meetings”. Each church member was fined 100 times the minimum monthly salary – 3,768,000 Soms (£1,565; US$2,400; €1,800) – an extortionate amount, but especially for eight of those fined, who are pensioners struggling to survive on a meagre state pension. The women appealed against the fines, but on 2 April the judge at Tashkent City in Uzbekistan. .
Barnaas Fund. Christians have come together in Kyrgyzstan to pray for the stability of their country following a bloody uprising in early April. At least 80 people were killed and up to 1,500 injured in violence that broke out in the capital, Bishkek, on Tuesday 6 April, prompted by dissatisfaction over rising prices and allegations of corruption. There was widespread looting of businesses and government premises across the city, leaving a trail of destruction. The country’s president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who came to power five years ago during the Tulip Revolution when then-President Akayev was overthrown, was forced to flee the city. He initially insisted that he would not resign and said that any attempts to arrest him would result in “a great deal of bloodshed which no-one will be able to justify”. However, on 26 April, it was reported that Bakiyev is now in prison, having been detained by Russian law enforcement agencies in Moscow. 
Compass Direct News KATMANDÚ, Nepal — Cuatro años después de que Nepal se volvió oficialmente secular, crecen los temores de que el país podría revertir en el estado hindú que era hasta 2006, cuando el proclamar a Cristo fue una ofensa castigable y muchas iglesias funcionaban en la clandestinidad para evitar ser clausuradas. La preocupación aumentó después de que el destituido Rey de Nepal, Gyanendra Shah, anteriormente considerado como dios hindú, rompió el silencio que ha observado desde Nepal, lo que abolió la monarquía en 2008. Durante su visita a un festival hindú este mes, el antiguo rey dijo que la monarquía no está muerta y podría restablecerse si la gente así lo deseaba. Poco después, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, anterior primer ministro y respetado líder del partido oficialista más grande, dijo que en vez de aprobar una nueva constitución Nepal debería renovar una previa. La constitución de 1990 declaró a Nepal como un reino hindú con monarquía constitucional. Ahora hay cada vez más dudas de que los partidos oficialistas puedan formular la nueva constitución que prometieron para mayo. “Nos sentimos traicionados,” dijo el Dr. K.B. Rokaya, secretario general del Concilio Nacional de Iglesias de Nepal. “La Asamblea Constituyente que elegimos para entregarnos una nueva constitución que fortalecería la democracia y el secularismo ha agotado el tiempo y la oportunidad que se le dio.” El clamor para un estado hindú viene creciendo mientras se acerca la fecha límite del 23 de mayo para la nueva constitución. Cuando un predicador hindú, Kalidas Dahal, llevó a cabo un rito de oración de nueve días en Katmandú este mes, buscando el restablecimiento del hinduismo como la religión estatal, miles de personas fueron en tropel hacía él. La multitud incluía a tres primer ministros anteriores y líderes principales de los partidos oficialistas.
Compass Direct NewsDUBLIN — Authorities in Xinjiang Province recently moved Uyghur Christian Alimjan Yimit from a prison in Kashgar to a prison in the provincial capital Urumqi and allowed the first visit from family members since his arrest in January 2008, sources told Compass. Alimjan (Alimujiang Yimiti in Chinese) was noticeably thinner but in good spirits, the family told friends after their brief visit to him in Xinjiang No. 3 prison on April 20, one source told Compass. They were allowed only 15 minutes to speak with Alimjan via telephone through a glass barrier, the source said. But Alimjan’s lawyers, Li Baiguang and Liu Peifu, were prohibited from meeting with him, despite gaining permission from the Xinjiang Bureau of Prison Management, the China Aid Association (CAA) reported on Saturday (April 24). Officials have now granted Alimjan’s wife Gulnur (Chinese spelling Gulinuer) and other close family members permission to visit him once a month. Alimjan and Gulnur pastored a Uyghur ethnic house church in Xinjiang prior to his arrest in January 2008.
Compass Direct News. HO CHI MINH CITY. Suffering severe abuse from villagers and local Vietnamese officials, Hmong Christian Sung Cua Po fled into the forest with his family on March 19. An expulsion order had been issued to his family, an area Christian leader said. Since Compass reported on Jan. 18 that Po, who embraced Christianity in November, received some 70 blows to his head and back after local officials in northwest Vietnam’s Dien Bien Province arrested him on Dec. 1, 2009, he suffered physical attacks by police of Nam Son Commune on Feb. 10 and the confiscation of his motorbike. The Christian leader said that police have threatened that if he did not recant they would beat him till only his tongue was intact. Around the Lunar New Year in mid-February, Po had an altercation with his father over offerings to family ancestors. Hmong Christians see no continuity between the old worship of ancestral spirits and their new faith in Jesus; for them it a spiritual power encounter with no possibility of compromise, and Po held fast to his allegiance to Christ, refusing to sacrifice to his ancestors. On Feb. 20, Nam Son district police were authorized by Dien Bien Dong district authorities to demolish Po’s house if deemed necessary. On Feb. 21, community members backed by police confiscated 40 sacks of paddy rice, the family’s one-year supply. The villagers also took all cooking and eating utensils from the family. Pressure against Po, a member of the Sung clan that has long been resistant to Christianity, comes both from traditionalists in his ethnic community and the government, though the government officials have tried to hide their involvement. Primarily hostile toward the Po family have been Officer Hang Giang Chen of the Dien Bien district police and Officer Sung Boua Long of the Nam Son Commune police.
Compass Direct News ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Local authorities on Monday (April 26) recovered a 14-year-old Christian girl from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) police who allegedly tortured her and her family for five days here as Christian “soft targets” over false theft allegations, sources said.
CIUDAD HO CHI MINH, (CDN) — Una cristiana prisionera de consciencia quien había reclamado libertades democráticas en Vietnam fue liberada a principios de este mes después de servir una sentencia de tres años por “fomentar propaganda para destruir la República Socialista de Vietnam.” La sentencia de la abogada Le Thi Cong Nhan se rebajó un año después de un reclamo internacional sobre la forma de sentenciarla. Fue liberada el 6 de marzo. Todavía pagando una sentencia de tres años de detención domiciliaria, Cong Nhan dijo en una entrevista sorpresivamente franca emitida en la edición de habla vietnamés de la Voz de América el 9 de marzo que no tiene ninguna intención de renunciar a su lucha por un Vietnam justo y libre, y acepta la realidad de que aun podría pagar un precio más alto por esto. Mientras estuvo encarcelada, realizó huelgas de hambre dos veces cuando las autoridades le quitaron su Biblia. *Damos gracias a Dios por la liberacion de Le Thi Cong Nhan y a todos aquellos alrededor del mundo que estuvieron pidiendo por su liberacion.
Barnabas Fund. Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN) has reported that Rev. Wilson Issavi was released on bail on Sunday 28 March after being held in prison for 54 days. He was arrested on 2 February (see Prayer Focus Update March 2010), accused by the Iranian government of “converting Muslims”. It is reported that he is in good spirits and thanks the Lord for his freedom. He awaits further investigation and review of his charges by the court. FCNN has also reported on the arrest of Hamid Shafiee and his wife, Reyhaneh Aghajary, leaders of a church in Isfahan. On 28 February, the couple were handcuffed at their home as officers conducted a search, claiming to have orders from the local court. When Reyhaneh protested against her arrest, the officers verbally insulted and physically assaulted her and squirted her with pepper spray. They confiscated Bibles, books, CDs and computers.
Barnabas Fund. Seven Christians, including two women, died when armed gunmen stormed the offices of World Vision, a Christian aid agency, in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan on Wednesday 10 March. All those killed were Pakistani nationals. Ten masked gunmen entered the compound, threw grenades, opened fire on the staff and detonated a bomb. World Vision had not received any threatening letters ahead of the attack and no group has claimed responsibility, but various news agencies suspected that Islamic militants were behind the assault. Investigations are ongoing.
