Two Pastors arrested in Rajasthan
Police arrested Pastor Philip Abraham from Noida and Pastor Jacob Kunjumon from Mumbai in Ganga Nagar, Rajasthan on March 23, 2007 with the charges of alleged force conversion and insulting Hindu gods.
Christian Persecution – Asia
Assam Pastor Beaten
A Gospel for Asia missionary working in Assam, India, was badly beaten on March 21 during what appears to be a robbery attempt. GFA missionary Bansi Samoun, along with staff members from a GFA Bridge of Hope center and their driver, had traveled to a neighboring village with plans to distribute school supply bags to children when the incident occurred. Upon their arrival in the village, a group of known militants approached them, demanding the key to their vehicle.
Indonesia Militants Imprisoned For Beheading Christian Girls
An Islamic militant began serving a 20-year jail sentence Thursday, March 22, on charges of plotting the 2005 beheadings of three Christian girls on Indonesia’s volatile Sulawesi island. Two other militants involved in the crime were sentenced to 14 years.
Indian Hindu Militants Burn Down Church, Attack Pastors
Christians in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, March 14, were preparing to rebuild their church, hours after it was burnt down by Hindu militants, while elsewhere in the country several Christian leaders were recovering from injuries following violent attacks against them.
Four Christians Missing In Sri Lanka As Fighting Intensifies
There was mounting concern Tuesday, March 13, about the whereabouts of an evangelical Sri Lankan pastor, his two sons, and another Christian young man who disappeared this month amid intense fighting between Sri Lanka’s government forces and the independence seeking Tamil Tiger rebels, Christians said.
Vietnam Releases Christian Activist But Human Rights Lawyer Remains Detained
A Christian pro-democracy activist was released by Vietnamese authorities Tuesday, March 13, after spending over 12 hours in police custody, but the whereabouts of a human rights lawyer remained unknown, dissidents told BosNewsLife.
India: Pastor Tied, Beaten with Wooden Clubs
Police officers and members of a Hindu extremist group in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday (March 11) lured a pastor into a remote forest, where the extremists tied his hands and feet and beat him with wooden clubs as they accused him of offering money for Hindus to convert to Christianity.
India: Dubious ‘Reconversion’ Movement Expands
Hindu extremists have extended to the northern state of Himachal Pradesh a movement to bring Christian converts back to the Hindu fold through dubious “reconversion†events.
Salem Voice Ministries Missionary Attacked in Kashmir
A Salem Voice Ministries missionary in Jammu and Kashmir was attacked on March 6 in Kupwara in Jammua and Kashmir, India.
Vietnam Pastor And Wife “Brutally Beaten” As Part Of Crackdown
A prominent Mennonite pastor and his wife were recovering Sunday, March 11, from “brutal” beatings by Vietnamese security forces as part of a government crackdown on dissidents, a key activist told BosNewsLife.
Vietnam Launches “Worst Crackdown” In Dissidents “In 20 Years”
A major human rights watchdog accused the Vietnamese government on Friday, March 9 of “flouting” its commitments on human rights by launching “one of the worst crackdowns on peaceful dissidents,” including Christians, “in 20 years.”
Vietnam Detains House Church Leader
There was mounting concern Monday, March 5, about the whereabouts of a key leader of an indigenous house church in Vietnam’s Central Highlands after Vietnamese security forces reportedly raided a village and detained several Christians.
India Militants Massively Attack Bible College; Christians Injured
“Many Christians” were injured when hundreds of suspected Hindu militants on Wednesday, February 28, raided a Christian college in the Indian state of Orissa and beat staff members and students, investigators told BosNewsLife.
India: ‘Anti-Conversion’ Laws Linked to Higher Persecution
With the governor of Himachal Pradesh approving an “anti-conversion†bill last week, India now has seven states with legislation banning unregistered or unethical religious conversions — to the glee of Hindu extremists who arbitrarily invoke them to quash Christian growth.
India: Young Pastor Found Dead in Andhra Pradesh
The body of a 29-year-old pastor was found with stab wounds on February 20 in a canal in Krishna district of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Vietnam Secret Police “Lies” About Fate Jailed Dissidents
Vietnam’s secret police has apparently “lied” about the release of key dissidents who were still detained late Wednesday, February 21, dissidents and BosNewsLife established.
Sri Lanka: Churches Increasingly Targeted in Civil War
Following a renewed outbreak of civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), churches in the northeast are fast becoming another war casualty.
India Militants Beat Bible College Students; Five Injured, group says
Five young men studying at a Bible college run by mission group Gospel for Asia (GFA) in the Indian state of Maharashtra were reportedly recovering from “severe injuries” Tuesday, February 20, after they were beaten by an angry anti-Christian crowd.
India: Panel Denies Christian Persecution in State
The Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Commission claims that reports of Hindu extremists persecuting Christians in the state are “baseless,†angering the small Christian community.
India Militants Kill Christian Public Servant; Violence In Other States
Suspected militants have killed a 58-year-old practicing Indian Christian and former public servant because of his faith in Christ, a senior human rights official told BosNewsLife Monday, February 12.