Christian Persecution – Asia

One of India’s most influential Hindu groups confirmed Wednesday, June 1, it will train thousands of youngsters to fight Christian missionaries and distribute weapons.

Two bombs, timed to inflict the greatest possible damage, exploded in a refugee village for Christians in Tentena, Indonesia, on Saturday morning, killing 21 people and injuring 49.

Police are currently investigating seven staff members of a Christian mission, the ATMIK Vikas Trust (AVT), in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A group of disgruntled trainees have accused the staff of “running a gang to convert poor Hindus” by promising them employment.

Hindu extremists allegedly “tortured and killed” a native missionary in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh last Thursday, when a court acquitted fellow militants in the murder of another, Australian, missionary and his two children, BosNewsLife learned from local sources Wednesday May 25.

Hindu extremists physically attacked 11 Christian families from Jamanya village in Jalgaon district, Maharashtra state, on May 16, when they refused to give up their faith. Sources said the mob tried to disrobe women in the group; women and children were also beaten by the mob.

India has detained two man and a woman for distributing leaflets of the Bible Society of India (BSI), Christian human rights group Open Doors said Tuesday, May 17.

An angry mob attacked a team of the international Christian organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in India’s southern state of Karnataka and forced them to bow down for an idol in a Hindu temple, BosNewsLife learned Monday, May 16.

An uneasy calm returned to a Protestant church in India’s southern state of Karnataka this Pentecost weekend, after dozens of Hindu militants attacked the congregation, injuring the pastor and his associate, a church official said.

A group of extremists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attacked and beat eight students from Beersheba Bible College, a school affiliated with the Indian Pentecostal Church of God at Maraman, Chettimukku, on May 12.

Human Rights Watch said Friday, May 13, “new evidence” shows Vietnamese security forces continue “to mistreat and arbitrarily detain” Christian minorities, despite reports that a prominent Christian was released after a decade in prison.

A crowd of nearly 500 Hindu villagers attacked the pastor of a house church, his wife and other church members in the southern state of Karnataka on May 1. The attackers sexually molested female church members and burned Bibles and other Christian literature.

Vietnamese authorities released 22-year-old children’s Bible teacher Le Thi Hong Lien from Bien Hoa Mental Hospital yesterday morning.

Pakistani Christian who was shown kindness by his Muslim employer has been attacked and beaten by a gang of Muslims. Shahbaz Masih was attacked by a group of seven or eight Muslims from his village on April 23 and left for dead, with both legs broken, says a report from the Barnabas Fund.

The government of Vietnam is stepping up its persecution of minority Christians, according to detailed accounts received recently by Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom.

Christian leaders in the northeastern state of Manipur held an emergency meeting on April 22 to consider their response to an attack on a church in Thoubal district on April 19.

In recent weeks, details have emerged from Laos outlining a new crackdown on tribal Christians in the southern province of Savannakhet.

Unknown killers kidnapped and brutally killed a Protestant pastor and his driver near the capital of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) last week, apparently in retribution for their evangelizing activities among Muslims.