The Underground » christians http://theundergroundsite.com Not your average Christian mag Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:39:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Five Christians Slain in Another Assault in Kaduna, Nigeria http://theundergroundsite.com/2011/12/24/five-christians-slain-in-another-assault-in-kaduna-nigeria-18131 http://theundergroundsite.com/2011/12/24/five-christians-slain-in-another-assault-in-kaduna-nigeria-18131#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:27:23 +0000 CompassND http://theundergroundsite.com/?p=18131 Local Islamists and Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked a Christian community in Kaduna state on Monday (Dec. 19), killing five people and wounding six, area sources said, just nine days after a deadly attack on a Christian community in Kukum Gida in the same local government area. The Muslim assailants, brandishing firearms and machetes, attacked Christians [...]]]> Local Islamists and Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked a Christian community in Kaduna state on Monday (Dec. 19), killing five people and wounding six, area sources said, just nine days after a deadly attack on a Christian community in Kukum Gida in the same local government area.
The Muslim assailants, brandishing firearms and machetes, attacked Christians in Ungwan Rami village of Kaura Local Government Area at 10 p.m. in a manner consistent with other religiously motivated assaults in the state, which saw Christians killed last month as well, the sources said.
Ungwan Rami resident Kumai Yanet told Compass that local Muslims and some Muslim Fulani herdsmen first attacked Christians stationed to keep watch over the village.
“These Muslims attacked our community members who had assembled in the house of my elder brother, Zakka Yanet,” Yanet said. “A few minutes later, they attacked my house, which is near my brother’s house. None in my house was hit by a bullet, but as you can see, there are bullet holes all over my house.”
Ungwan Rami, with about 800 residents who are all Christians, has four church denominations: Roman Catholic, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), and Cherubim and Seraphim. The five Christians killed were members of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, as are those who were injured. The wounded, including a 3-year-old  girl cut with a machete, were being treated at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital in Jos, Plateau state.
The five Christians killed were Matthew Yusuf, 28; Joseph John, 30; Innocent Abba, 33; Mathias John, 35; and Didam Zakka, 19. Those injured were Linda Emmanuel, 3; Emmanuel Zakka, 28; Gabriel Zakka, 20; Deborah Emmanuel, 19; Dominic Daniel, 25; and Gideon Anthony, 30.
Catholic priests from the archdiocese of Kaduna held funeral service for those killed on Wednesday (Dec. 21) in Ungwan Rami.
The Rev. Francis Dauda Nni told those gathered not to despair in the face of the onslaught, as God predestined them to shed blood to help build the Kingdom of Christ, and their sacrifice was not in vain.
“The death of these five is a sacrifice and a blessing to us,” he said. “Know this, the dead of a martyr is a blessing to God’s people.”
He urged Christians in the community never to contemplate vengeance for the attack.
“No one amongst you should think of avenging the attack on you, because when we avenge there would be no end to the crisis in this country,” Nni said. “Therefore, depend on God, for He is the only one who can protect you and avenge for you.”
He said the Nigerian government is neglecting protection for Christians in such remote areas.
“There is the need for me to call the attention of the Nigerian government to the fact that security is being provided in cities and towns to ward off attacks, but the rural areas and villages are being left unprotected,” he said. “The government should ensure that security agencies are well equipped to patrol the villages too, so that the killing of innocent Christian villagers would end.”
The Rev. Richard Angolia, parish priest of St. Joseph’s, expressed sadness that within a span of two weeks, two attacks have been carried out against two Christian communities in the area, resulting in six deaths and eight injured Christians; on Dec. 10, a Muslim villager in Kukum Gida allegedly helped Muslim Fulani herdsmen attack the village, killing 50-year-old Kunam Musa Blak (seewww.compassdirect.org, “Christian Woman Killed in Nigeria’s Kaduna State,” Dec. 20).
Florence Aya, chairperson of the Interim Management Committee of Kaura Local Government Council, told Compass that those attacked in Ungwan Rami included “a pregnant woman and a 3-year-old girl. The girl was cut with a machete.”
Aya said those killed had gathered to patrol and keep watch over their village as a result of attacks on Christian communities in the area.
“They were not aware that already the attackers had hidden themselves in bushes around the village,” she said.
During the funeral service, Aya said the attack was unprovoked, with the victims having committed no crimes except being Christian.
“I urge you all, my brethren, to have faith in Christ Jesus,” she said. ‘God will avenge these killings for us. Security is in the hands of God, so, if we depend on him, He will protect us.”
Kaduna Under Siege
The state has suffered a rash of attacks in recent months. On Nov. 10, Muslim Fulani herdsmen assaulted another Christian village, Apiokashi, in the Jema’a Local Government Area, killing village leader Bulus Adamu, 40, and his wife, Ladi Bulus.
Apiokashi village has about 300 Christians, all of them members of either the local ECWA church or the Catholic church.
Obadiah Adamu, 16, oldest of the eight children the slain couple leaves behind, told Compass that the Muslims sneaked into the village at night. His sister, Asabe Bulus, said that the family was asleep when the Muslim Fulani herdsmen arrived.
“They stoned the windows of our rooms,” she said. “Our dad went out to find out who was stoning the windows, and then he was shot. The sound of the gunshots forced our mother to run out of her room to find out what was going on, only for her too to be killed.”
A young Christian man in the village, Samson Joshua, sustained injuries when he was shot by the attackers, source said.
Ayuba Simon, 42, acting village head, told Compass that the Muslim Fulani herdsmen again invaded the village on Dec. 15, but villagers keeping watch repelled them.
“We know these Muslims who have been attacking us – they also do so in company of Fulani herdsmen, and they currently reside at Dangoma village, a Muslim settlement about seven kilometers south of our village,” Simon said. “Security agencies know this, but they have not done anything to arrest them.”
Asabe Bulus said the Nigerian government must find ways to stem the assaults.
“As Christians, we have been living peacefully with these Muslims, but we do not understand why they should now attack us,” she said.
Explosions
With these attacks on Christian communities, Christians in Kaduna are increasingly restless as dozens have been killed and hundreds displaced in recent months.
After an explosion in Kaduna city on Nov. 7, Chukwuma Nwaejiaka, a 32-year-old Christian and member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, said he thought the world had come to and end.
The businessman stood and watched as his warehouse went up in flames after it was bombed alongside shops owned by his fellow Christians, he said.
“I saw people being rescued out of the destroyed buildings,” he said. “Some of them had burns all over their bodies. There were dead bodies that littered the place, and everywhere was burning.”
A young Christian man identified only as Onyeka had plans to get married a week before he died in the blast, Nwaejiaka said.
Nine people lay dead when rescue workers ended their rescue operations – members of Roman Catholic, Anglican and Living Faith Church congregations. At press time the death toll from the blast had risen to 16 persons, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.
“No one sold gas in this building complex, so the claim by the police that the explosion was caused by gas is false,” Nwaejiaka said. “I think the police are making this claim just to calm frayed nerves over the unending bombings going on in the country that have left the police helpless.”
Peter Ozoemena, a Christian with a shop fewer than 50 meters from the bombed shops, said the nine shops with 15 apartments attached to them were affected.
“The shops were bombed when two men came on a motorbike and parked in front of the shops,” he said. “One of the men whom we believe was a Muslim extremist, probably a member of Boko Haram, went to speak to one of three Christian teenagers. A few minutes later, the Muslim suddenly bolted, and then a loud explosion occurred. One of these two Muslims had the bomb concealed in a carton. It exploded and killed the bearer of the carton, while the second was injured.”
In the midst of the commotion that followed, colleagues of the injured Muslim whisked him away, he said.
Ozoemena said his wife, Peace Ozoemena, was walking towards the building at the time of the explosion.
“She was thrown away by the impact of the bomb,” he said. “We were all shaken by the attack. Fire was burning all over those buildings, and the entire place was pulled down.”
He was bitter that police would misinform the public about the cause of the explosion.
“We are not happy about the lies the police commissioner has been telling the people,” he said. “How can they say that the explosion was caused by gas when no traders sell gas in these shops?”
Ismail Muhammad, 30, a Muslim phone card seller who owns a shop near the bombed Christian shops, told Compass that he saw eight bodies of Christians who were killed.
“A Christian woman who is a street sweeper was injured in the attack,” he added. “She had a baby strapped on her back, so both were critically injured and were taken to Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital here in Kaduna.”
A female Muslim student lived in one of the homes behind the shops, he said.
“Her name is Khadijat, she is a student of the Kaduna Polytechnic, she was trapped in the house and she died too,” Muhammad said, adding that a teenage Muslim boy named Abdulateef also died and a Muslim named Suleiman was injured. He also refuted police claims that the explosion was due to ignited gas canisters.
“How can police make such claims when there was no gas sold here?” he said. “In fact, what I saw are small refill-canisters of car air-conditioner. These canisters cannot cause this kind of destruction even if they explode.”
The bombing of these Christian-owned shops came on the heels of similar bombings of businesses and church buildings in Yobe state.
 
Leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have called on the Nigerian government to confront the growing terrorism. CAN President Ayo Oritsejafor urged police in Nigeria to properly investigate the explosion instead of spreading false information to the public.
CAN also urged Nigerian security agencies to put aside religious bias in order to end the destabilization of the country.
Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2011/12/24/five-christians-slain-in-another-assault-in-kaduna-nigeria-18131/feed 0 Legal Status Foreseen for Christianity in Buddhist Bhutan http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/04/legal-status-foreseen-for-christianity-in-buddhist-bhutan-14380 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/04/legal-status-foreseen-for-christianity-in-buddhist-bhutan-14380#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:28:29 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/11/legal-status-foreseen-for-christianity-in-buddhist-bhutan-14380 Country’s religious regulatory authority expected to consider recognition before year’s end.

NEW DELHI, November 4 (CDN) — For the first time in Bhutan’s history, the Buddhist nation’s government seems ready to grant much-awaited official recognition and accompanying rights to a miniscule Christian population that has remained largely underground.

The authority that regulates religious organizations will discuss in its next meeting – to be held by the end of December – how a Christian organization can be registered to represent its community, agency secretary Dorji Tshering told Compass by phone.

Thus far only Buddhist and Hindu organizations have been registered by the authority, locally known as Chhoedey Lhentshog. As a result, only these two communities have the right to openly practice their religion and build places of worship.

Asked if Christians were likely to get the same rights soon, Tshering replied, “Absolutely” – an apparent paradigm shift in policy given that Bhutan’s National Assembly had banned open practice of non-Buddhist and non-Hindu religions by passing resolutions in 1969 and in 1979.

“The constitution of Bhutan says that Buddhism is the country’s spiritual heritage, but it also says that his majesty [the king] is the protector of all religions,” he added, explaining the basis on which the nascent democracy is willing to accept Christianity as one of the faiths of its citizens.

The former king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, envisioned democracy in the country in 2006 – after the rule of an absolute monarchy for over a century. The first elections were held in 2008, and since then the government has gradually given rights that accompany democracy to its people.

The government’s move to legalize Christianity seems to have the consent of the present king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who is respected by almost all people and communities in the country. In his early thirties, the king studied in universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigmey Thinley is also believed to have agreed in principle to recognition of other faiths.

According to source who requested anonymity, the government is likely to register only one Christian organization and would expect it to represent all Christians in Bhutan – which would call for Christian unity in the country.

All Hindus, who constitute around 22 percent of Bhutan’s less than 700,000 people, are also represented by one legal entity, the Hindu Dharma Samudaya (Hindu Religion Community) of Bhutan, which was registered with the Chhoedey Lhentshog authority along with Buddhist organizations a year ago.

Tshering said the planned discussion at the December meeting is meant to look at technicalities in the Religious Organizations Act of 2007, which provides for registration and regulation of religious groups with intent to protect and promote the country’s spiritual heritage. The government began to enforce the Act only in November 2009, a year after the advent of democracy.

Asked what some of the government’s concerns are over allowing Christianity in the country, Tshering said “conversion must not be forced, because it causes social tensions which Bhutan cannot afford to have. However, the constitution says that no one should be forced to believe in a religion, and that aspect will be taken care of. We will ensure that no one is forced to convert.”

The government’s willingness to recognize Christians is partly aimed at bringing the community under religious regulation, said the anonymous source. This is why it is evoking mixed response among the country’s Christians, who number around 6,000 according to rough estimates.

Last month, a court in south Bhutan sentenced a Christian man to three years of prison for screening films on Christianity – which was criticized by Christian organizations around the world. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Christian in Bhutan Imprisoned for Showing Film on Christ,” Oct. 18.)

The government is in the process of introducing a clause banning conversions by force or allurement in the country’s penal code.

Though never colonized, landlocked Bhutan has historically seen its sovereignty as fragile due to its small size and location between two Asian giants, India and China. It has sought to protect its sovereignty by preserving its distinct cultural identity based on Buddhism and by not allowing social tensions or unrest.

In the 1980s, when the king sought to strengthen the nation’s cultural unity, ethnic Nepalese citizens, who are mainly Hindu and from south Bhutan, rebelled against it. But a military crackdown forced over 100,000 of them – some of them secret Christians – to either flee to or voluntarily leave the country for neighboring Nepal.

Tshering said that while some individual Christians had approached the authority with queries, no organization had formally filed papers for registration.

After the December meeting, if members of the regulatory authority feel that Chhoedey Lhentshog’s mandate does not include registering a Christian organization, Christians will then be registered by another authority, the source said.

After official recognition, Christians would require permission from local authorities to hold public meetings. Receiving foreign aid or inviting foreign speakers would be subject to special permission from the home ministry, added the source.

Bhutan’s first contact with Christians came in the 17th century when Guru Rimpoche, a Buddhist leader and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state, hosted the first two foreigners, who were Jesuits. Much later, Catholics were invited to provide education in Bhutan; the Jesuits came to Bhutan in 1963 and the Salesians in 1982 to run schools. The Salesians, however, were expelled in 1982 on accusations of proselytizing, and the Jesuits left the country in 1988.

“As Bhutanese capacities (scholarly, administrative and otherwise) increased, the need for active Jesuit involvement in the educational system declined, ending in 1988, when the umbrella agreement between the Jesuit order and the kingdom expired and the administration of all remaining Jesuit institutions was turned over to the government,” writes David M. Malone, Canada’s high commissioner to India and ambassador to Bhutan, in the March 2008 edition of Literary Review of Canada.

After a Christian organization is registered, Christian institutions may also be allowed once again in the country, given the government’s stress on educating young Bhutanese.

A local Christian requesting anonymity said the community respects Bhutan’s political and religious leaders, especially the king and the prime minister, will help preserve the country’s unique culture and seeks to contribute to the building of the nation.

END

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/04/legal-status-foreseen-for-christianity-in-buddhist-bhutan-14380/feed 0 Pakistani Muslim Tortures, Accuses Christian Who Refused Slavery http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/03/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-13-14358 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/03/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-13-14358#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:15:41 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/11/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-13-14358 Land owner falsely charges young man with illicit sex, calls villagers to beat, burn him.

SARGODHA, Pakistan, October 29 (CDN) — A Muslim land owner in Pakistan this month subjected a 25-year-old Christian to burns and a series of humiliations, including falsely charging him with having sex with his own niece, because the Christian refused to work for him without pay.

Fayaz Masih is in jail with burns on his body after No. 115 Chitraan Wala village head Zafar Iqbal Ghuman and other villagers punished Masih for refusing to work as a slave in his fields, said the Rev. Yaqub Masih, a Pentecostal evangelist. The village is located in Nankana Sahib district, Punjab Province.

Sources said neither Fayaz Masih nor his family had taken any loans from Ghuman, and that they had no obligations to work off any debt for Ghuman as bonded laborers.

Yaqub Masih said the young man’s refusal to work in Ghuman’s fields infuriated the Muslim, who was accustomed to forcing Christians into slavery. He said Ghuman considered Masih’s refusal an act of disobedience by a “choohra,” the pejorative word for Christians in Pakistan.

On Oct. 3 Ghuman and 11 of his men abducted Masih from his home at gun-point and brought him to Ghuman’s farmhouse, according to Yaqub Masih and Yousaf Gill, both of nearby village No. 118 Chour Muslim. Gill is a former councilor of Union Council No. 30, and Yaqub Masih is an ordained pastor waiting for his denomination to assign him a church.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/03/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-13-14358/feed 0 Recent Incidents of Persecution http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/03/recent-incidents-of-persecution-13-14357 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/03/recent-incidents-of-persecution-13-14357#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:15:38 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/11/recent-incidents-of-persecution-13-14357 Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/11/03/recent-incidents-of-persecution-13-14357/feed 0 Recent Incidents of Persecution http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-14294 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-14294#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:55:51 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/recent-incidents-of-persecution-14294 Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-14294/feed 0 Recent Incidents of Persecution http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-2-14299 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-2-14299#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:55:51 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/recent-incidents-of-persecution-2-14299 Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-2-14299/feed 0 Recent Incidents of Persecution http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-4-14307 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-4-14307#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:55:51 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/recent-incidents-of-persecution-4-14307 Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-4-14307/feed 0 Recent Incidents of Persecution http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-6-14315 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-6-14315#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:55:51 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/recent-incidents-of-persecution-6-14315 Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-6-14315/feed 0 Recent Incidents of Persecution http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-8-14325 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-8-14325#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:55:51 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/recent-incidents-of-persecution-8-14325 Karnataka, India, October 29 (CDN) — Police arrested Pastor Muthyalan Paul on Oct. 26 in Nelamangala, Bangalore, after Muslim radicals barged into a prayer meeting, accused him of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and damaged household items. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that police, alerted by the Muslim extremists, charged the pastor with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of others.” A judge sent the pastor to Nelamangala Sub-Jail, but with area Christian leaders’ intervention he was released on bail the next morning.

Karnataka – Hindu nationalists on Oct. 20 burned down a house church in Bellakatte village, near Chitradurga. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Pastor Mallappa Hanumanthappa Andrew of Samadhana Prayer House and his brother were walking on a village road when six area extremists waylaid them and began slapping the pastor, falsely accusing him of forcible conversion. They also slapped and shoved his brother when he tried to come to Andrew’s aid. Cursing, the extremists then burned down the house used for worship. Baramasagara police arrested four extremists identified only as Manjunath, Parashuram, Ramanna and Devaraj, charged them with unlawful assembly and released them after two hours.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/recent-incidents-of-persecution-8-14325/feed 0 Pakistani Muslim Tortures, Accuses Christian Who Refused Slavery http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-14296 http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-14296#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2010 02:51:21 +0000 http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-14296 Land owner falsely charges young man with illicit sex, calls villagers to beat, burn him.

SARGODHA, Pakistan, October 29 (CDN) — A Muslim land owner in Pakistan this month subjected a 25-year-old Christian to burns and a series of humiliations, including falsely charging him with having sex with his own niece, because the Christian refused to work for him without pay.

Fayaz Masih is in jail with burns on his body after No. 115 Chitraan Wala village head Zafar Iqbal Ghuman and other villagers punished Masih for refusing to work as a slave in his fields, said the Rev. Yaqub Masih, a Pentecostal evangelist. The village is located in Nankana Sahib district, Punjab Province.

Sources said neither Fayaz Masih nor his family had taken any loans from Ghuman, and that they had no obligations to work off any debt for Ghuman as bonded laborers.

Yaqub Masih said the young man’s refusal to work in Ghuman’s fields infuriated the Muslim, who was accustomed to forcing Christians into slavery. He said Ghuman considered Masih’s refusal an act of disobedience by a “choohra,” the pejorative word for Christians in Pakistan.

On Oct. 3 Ghuman and 11 of his men abducted Masih from his home at gun-point and brought him to Ghuman’s farmhouse, according to Yaqub Masih and Yousaf Gill, both of nearby village No. 118 Chour Muslim. Gill is a former councilor of Union Council No. 30, and Yaqub Masih is an ordained pastor waiting for his denomination to assign him a church.

Be Sociable, Share!
]]> http://theundergroundsite.com/2010/10/29/pakistani-muslim-tortures-accuses-christian-who-refused-slavery-14296/feed 0