A Christian preacher in India was attacked recently by 20 Hindu activists and arrested for allegedly forcing people to convert to Christianity. In a separate incident, 50 Hindu extremists raided a Catholic girls’ school.

Rev. Bhaskar John Poojappa, a Pentecostal minister of Holy Mountain of God, was attacked in Doddaballapur, Bangalore by some 20 Hindu fundamentalists, who broke into his home last Wednesday and beat up the pastor, his wife Divya, and their two daughters, aged 4 and 2.

Global Council of India Christians said the fundamentalists “ruthlessly beat up all the members of the family, slapped them and kicked them all over the body, and didn’t even spare the two-year-old little child,” Christian Today reported.

The attackers, who are with the Sangh Parivar activist faction, dragged Poojappa to the police station and pressured the police inspector into arresting the pastor on false charges. He was later set free, and then rearrested the following day, Christian Today said.

Poojappa, 30, was again released from jail after the second arrest. He has been a Christian for 15 years, and also heads an orphanage for girls.

St. Joseph’s Convent School

In a separate development the Belgaum district’s St. Joseph’s Convent School for Girls was attacked last Monday by 50 Hindu extremists, who stormed the academy and threatened the nuns, teachers and management because two girls were denied admission to the school.

The group of Hindu extremists, led by Basangouda Sidramani (who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party), said that they would destroy the school building if the two young girls (who are the children of a friend of Sidramani) were not granted admission to the academy.

The extremists left the school premises upon the arrival of the police, who were summoned by some parents and Sister Thankam, the school principal.

“People must know that the majority of the population has been the main beneficiary of our educational facilities,” Archbishop Bernard Moras, president of the Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops Conference, told AsiaNews.

“The situation is serious for two reasons. First, the attack was aimed at a school that never discriminated on the base of caste or creed,” Moras told AsiaNews.

“Second, the attackers went after nuns, women and girls, who were certainly weaker than them.”

There are some 20,000 Catholic educational institutions in India catering to some six million students. Sixty percent of the schools are located in the countryside. Only 23 percent of the total cumulative student population is Catholic.

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A mentally ill man in Pakistan was picked up recently by local police and charged with blasphemy for “injuring religious feelings” in order to save him from the wrath of a mob led by Muslim clergy who had gathered in front of his house.

Babar Masih, 25, was picked up by police in his home in the town of Chichawatni, Punjab Province, and was charged with violating the dreaded blasphemy law which carries the death penalty, BosNewsLife reported.

Summary Justice

The incident began when clerics led a mob of irate men to the Masih family residence on May 2. Angrily, they demanded that Babar be brought out of the house and given to them so that they could render justice to the alleged blasphemer, Pakistan Christian TV said.

While this was taking place police entered the house through a back door at about 10 p.m. that night, picked up Babar and whisked him away in a police car. The family of Babar handed him over to the police because the clerics and others in front of their house threatened to “do justice” by killing him, BosNewsLife said.

As the police cars drove away, someone in the angry crowd spotted the vehicles and the mob chased them, chanting slogans and demanding that Babar be given to them for justice, Pakistan Christian TV said.

As the crowd followed the police vehicles, the Masih family escaped from their home and went into hiding, Pakistan Christian TV said. There are three families who are related to Babar Masih, and they comprise the only Christian families within the area,
BosNewsLIfe said.

The Chichawatni, Sahiwal District, Punjab police filed a blasphemy case against the mentally-ill Babar “for offending the religious sentiments” of Muslims, AsiaNews.it said.

However, Babar’s brother Amjad Masih told media men that Babar has been mentally ill for the last seven years, and has fits of rage that are unprovoked. Sometimes he speaks abusively, BosNewsLife reported.

Amjad said Babar is not worried about food or clothes. All these have made him a vulnerable target to Muslim religious leaders, who have been coercing people to make trumped up charges against him, AsiaNews.it said.

Amjad added that Babar’s mental status is well known in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Christian leaders have tried to talk with the local imam to see if the charges can be withdrawn, but the extremists said they do not intend to do so, AsiaNews.it reported.

Amjad told Pakistan Christian TV that neighbors have told him that the local clerics are trying to coerce them to give false testimony against Babar so that the case against him can be registered in a First Information Report.

It is alleged that Babar was walking down the road where a mosque is situated and insulted the prophet. A local cleric claimed to witness the event, but the FIR was registered by a man who is not from the mosque but is instead a dairy farmer who lives on the same street as the Masih family, Pakistan Christian TV said.

Babar Masih was charged with blasphemy under Section 298 of the blasphemy law, for “uttering words…with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings,” and under Section 298-A for “use of derogatory remarks…in respect of holy personages,” BosNewsLife reported.

Babar’s lawyer, Attorney Khurram Shehzad Maan from the European Center for law and Justice in Pakistan noted that the FIR clearly states that Babar was talking to the stars when he allegedly spoke against the prophet and other holy people of Islam, BosNewsLife said.

Maan told BosNews Life, “It means that the police must have come to know since the beginning that Babar was not a sane person, who was addressing stars, and also Babar never meant to injure feelings of any Muslims,” BosNewsLife reported.

Pakistan has long been under international fire to repeal the blasphemy law which punishes defamation of the prophet Muhammad with life imprisonment or death. Critics of the law say Muslims use it to incite violence against minorities, while others use it to settle personal scores.

Recently Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in Pakistan’s cabinet, and Punjab governor Salman Taseer were assassinated by Muslim extremists because they sought to amend the blasphemy law.

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A newly released report says that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, and violence against Christians continues to rise.

The 2010 report on religious freedom by Aid to the Church in Need said that religious freedom has declined globally and faces greater threat today than two years before—especially for Christians, according to Rome Reports.

The ACN, a Catholic organization, publishes a religious freedom report every two years. Its 2010 report said seven out of ten people, or some 200 million, are affected, Rome Reports said.

Social, political persecution

The ACN report includes information from 195 dossiers covering 194 countries, 21 of which have hardly any freedom of religion at all. Two kinds of religious persecution were noted: First, social persecution by members of other religions, and second, persecution by political policy, Rome Reports said.

Peter Sefton Williams, CAN chairman said social persecution is acute in some Muslim majority countries, mentioning “Places like Saudi Arabia where it’s impossible for any Christian or any non-Muslim group to organize and to have open public prayer. We think of places like Somalia, or we think of Sudan,” according to Rome Reports.

Williams said political discrimination and oppression of Christianity and other minority faiths prevails in China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba, all communist countries, to name a few, according to Rome Reports.

Asia

The report cited a 2009 rise in both ethnic and religious violence in India. There is greater discrimination however in Pakistan, where the blasphemy law is used by Muslim fundamentalists against Christians and other minorities AsiaNews said.

Under the blasphemy law it is illegal to speak against the Quran or Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Most of those charged with blasphemy are poor and cannot pay for their defense. Penalty can range from imprisonment to death, according to Rome Reports.

So far Pakistan’s government has not executed anyone for blasphemy, although radicals have killed defendants extra-legally. But the case of Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi, who was recently sentenced to death, may set dangerous precedence, AsiaNews said.

In Afghanistan, the government cannot effectively promote freedom of religion. In Bangladesh Islam is the state religion and minority attacks have been plentifully recorded with no action taken by local security, according to AsiaNews.

The report said that in officially atheist China, “religious freedom is denied in all its facets,” and information is limited and hard to get. Of record is the arrest and detention in a concentration camp of Mgr. Julius Jia Zhiguo, an underground bishop from Hebei, for 15 months, AsiaNews reported.

Middle East

In Iraq, escalating ethnic cleansing of Christians and their systematic persecution was noted. Other countries mentioned were Lebanon, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, AsiaNews said.

Africa

Northern Africa was noted for both political and social persecution, particularly in Somalia citing this “both in the legislation of the majority of them and in the widespread mentality among the majority of the population,” The Way reported.

In Somalia Islam is the main religion and minority faiths undergo persecution and social marginalization. Another country mentioned for persecution of Christians and faith minorities is Egypt, despite its being a tourist destination, AsiaNews said.

Europe, the U.S.

The report also cited a decline in religious freedom in the U.S. and Europe due to secularism, especially in Spain where religious symbols are not allowed in public places, Rome Reports said.

According to Rome Reports, in France Islamic communities are discriminated against. In Germany, Catholics are discriminated against because of family issues including their prolife stance.

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Christian leaders in Indonesia met recently with the leaders of a Muslim extremist group to censure the plan of a church in the U.S. to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11.

Bishops from Protestant and Roman Catholic churches met with Habib Riezig, the leader of the extremist Islamic Defender Front (FPI) at Cikini II, Central Jakarta to engage in friendly dialogue and to boost understanding, AsiaNews said.

The meeting was also attended by Bishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi (president, Inter-religious Commission of the Bishops Conference of Indonesia [KWI]), Rev. Andreas Yewangoe (head, Indonesian Protestant Christian churches of the Synod [PGI]), and Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta (KWI Secretary General), AsiaNews said.

The intention was to hopefully avoid violence that may result from the Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center’s proposal to make Sept. 11, 2010 “International burn a Koran Day.” The move was initiated to protest the attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, AsiaNews said.

Dove’s leader, Pastor Terry Jones, is known for media-grabbing moves including distributing t-shirts that say “Islam is the devil,” and writing on his blog, “Ten reasons to burn a Koran,” AsiaNews said.

The initiative has been condemned by Christians and Muslims all over the world. Last Aug. 27, some 100 Muslims gathered in front of the U.S. embassy, Jakarta and threatened to retaliate severely if Dove burns any Korans, AsiaNews said.

Participants in the meeting noted that what Dove is doing is not representative of Christians, and particularly those Christians who are living in Indonesia. Bishop Mandagi expressed best wishes to Muslims and said he felt “strong regret to have learned of such provocative actions that want to strike our Muslim brothers,” AsiaNews said.

Pastor Yewangoe also condemned the action which he noted was only being done by a small group of Christians in the U.S. Yewangoe exhibited a letter that would be sent to U.S. President Barack Obama, requesting that the initiative is stopped or cancelled, AsiaNews said.

Rizieq said he was grateful for the sympathy that was shown by the Christian churches and called the meeting an important move towards reconciling differences through dialogue. Rizieq said, “Nothing is impossible through dialogue,” AsiaNews said.

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Pope Benedict XVI called recently for the international community to work together in delivering aid to the flood victims of Pakistan.

The pope made his appeal before a general audience of some 2,000 pilgrims in his summer residence in the town of Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, where he is on vacation, the DPA said.

Considered the worst flood devastation in memory, for more than three weeks Pakistan was afflicted with exceptionally intense monsoon rains that destroyed seeds, crops, agricultural machinery; and in its aftermath leaves behind great risk of hunger and disease epidemics, AsiaNews said.

About 1/5 of the country’s land area was affected by the continuing rains with tens of thousands of villages submerged, and rendering some 20 million homeless. Some 1,500 people died from the rains, the AP said.

The pope said, “As I entrust to the merciful goodness of God all those who are tragically gone, I express my spiritual closeness to their families and all who suffer because of this disaster. Our solidarity and the concrete support of the international community must not be lacking to these our sorely tried brothers and sisters,” AsiaNews said.

The pope spoke even as global response to the calamity has been slow in coming. Some aid donors are concerned that the funds may be stolen by dishonest officials, or may be fraudulently funneled to Islamic extremists, the DPA said.

Adding to the people’s plight is the damage that was rendered to roads and bridges that were either washed off by the force of the floods or obstructed by landslides. Some NGOs say emergency aid is needed by at least six million people and as of now, due to communication problems, hundreds of thousands have not gotten any help, AsiaNews said.

The UN estimated last Wednesday that they would need some $459 million for emergency aid, and announced that less than half of the amount has been raised so far, DPA said..

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Christian schools in Mumbai demurred recently a suggestion by the Birhand Mumbai Corporation to introduce Hindu culture into their classes.

Archdiocesan Board of Education General Secretary Gregory Lobo said their 150-odd Christian schools in Mumbai promote respect for all faiths, and there is no need to focus on a particular faith, Christian Today India said.

The BMC also asked missionary schools to increase holidays for Hindu festivals and to remove a ban on students applying mehendi and bindis (decoration marks on the hands and forehead) and bangles, CT India said.

However, Lobo denied that Abe schools have such restrictions and said that students were allowed to wear bindis and bangles.

The ABE is preparing to take legal action against the proposal that is now being considered by the Maharashtra government, CT India said.

The BMC also said Abe schools do not sing the national anthem.  However, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai said, “All our Christian institutions inculcate the values of patriotism and religious harmony and through the apostolate of education, we are serving the country,” AsiaNews.it reported.

The cardinal noted that  some groups are fed by fundamentalist ideologies that create a climate which threatens peace and peaceful coexistence, according to AsiaNews.it.

For this reason Cardinal Gracias said their 2009 activities included seminars for the “Year of peace and harmony” where he spoke about measures to combat extremism and fundamentalism, AsiaNews.it reported.

Most Abe schools are considered prestigious and are known for their academic excellence.  They receive some financial help from the BMC, which is run by a right-wing Hindu coalition comprised of the Shiv Sena party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, BBC reported.

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