Christian Persecution – Asia

A pastor who was beaten by suspected Hindu militants and prevented from holding church services by local police was to face a court in the Indian state of Karnataka Tuesday, June 19, in a case that underscored growing concern about attacks against church leaders and missionaries.

A mob of Hindu extremists on Friday (June 8) beat a pastor and tried to set him on fire before parading him naked in the suburbs of Bangalore, capital of Karnataka state.

Active Christians in rural areas of India, including pastors and evangelists, faced another potentially dangerous day Monday, June 11, after reports that two Christian workers were killed by suspected militants in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh while elsewhere Hindu extremists threatened to burn alive church leaders.

Three Indonesian women who were serving a prison sentence for including Muslim children in a church program in West Java, Indonesia, were released early Friday, June 8, amid international pressure, BosNewsLife learned.

A tense calm returned Saturday, June 9, to the Galas district of the Philippines’ Quezon City after a seminarian was stabbed to death there by a lone assailant, police said.

Televised attacks on Christian workers and a spurt in persecution in various parts of the country point to a renewed attempt to win support for Hindu nationalistic goals, Christians say.

Police in Vietnam publicly torture and kill Degar Montagnard Christians in the country’s Central Highlands as a warning to house churches to stop their activities, a major advocacy group alleged Wednesday, June 6.

A pastor and two associates from Mt. Carmel Theological College in Kandy, Sri Lanka, were arrested on May 27 and charged with destroying Buddhist statues.

Suspected Hindu militants have threatened to kill a native missionary and to attack dozens of evangelical Christians in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a major mission group has said.

Marching to the front of an evangelistic service, about 50 religious extremists–most of them women–forcefully attempted to disrupt the meeting. The extremists snatched the microphone from the speaker’s hands and began shouting anti-Christian remarks through the sound system.

Indian police detained at least 4,000 Christians from across the country in the largest such operation in a decade, a major human rights group and Indian Christian leaders said Wednesday, May 30.

A Pakistani court has sentenced a Christian man, Younis Masih, to death on charges of blasphemy against Islam and its Prophet Muhammad, an official involved in the case confirmed to BosNewsLife Thursday, May 31.

An 84-year-old Pakistani Christian who faced the death penalty on charges of blasphemy was released on bail Tuesday, May 29, and rushed to a secret location, officials defending him told BosNewsLife.

Vietnamese security forces have tortured and killed at least two Christian Degar Montagnards in Vietnam’s Central Highlands in recent months and allegedly murdered relatives of religious prisoners, representatives said Monday, May 28.

Anti-Christian activists from two Hindu radical groups — Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bajrang Dal — attacked a Pastor and an elder of a church in Bangarpet in Kolar district of Karnataka on May 21 2007 for distributing gifts at a VBS (Vacation Bible School).

The trial of an 84-year old Christian accused of blasphemy was to start Saturday, May 26, amid fears he could face the death penalty, the group defending him told BosNewsLife.

A report of an advisory panel favoring affirmative action benefits for Dalit converts to Christianity has raised the hopes of India’s 16 million lowest-caste believers as they await a Supreme Court hearing in July.