DECEMBER 2021 – REFORMADVOCATE.COM NEWS/VIEWS, Toronto, Canada Jeffrey S. Ram, Editor, December 1, 2021
On October 30, India’s Prime Minister Modi invited Pope to visit India. Still, it did not stop anti-Christian violence by his supporters.
Three human rights organizations presented a report on October 21, which provided details of 305 attacks on Christians, their churches, and institutions in the first ten months of this year. Police recorded only 30 reports. It is shameful that 1,331 Christian women were injured in these violent incidents.
On November 7, Hindu extremists attacked a Christian prayer hall in Maratha Colony in Belgavi (formerly Belgaum) and locked in the worshippers. Another attack on a Sunday church service took place in Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan. Both attacks involved false allegations of conversions.
On November 8, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman made a surprise inspection in a Catholic girls’ only hostel in Intkheri in Sagar Diocese, without the legally required female staff. Five of the nineteen girls were Christian who had Bibles with them. NCPCR publicized this as a conversion attempt and sent the girls home.
On November 10, ten Christians, including six pastors, were arrested on false allegations of conversion in the BJP ruled state of Madhya Pradesh. Christians are being terrorized and forced to convert to Hinduism.
On November 10, a mob of over one thousand BJP activists attacked to destroy a hundred-year-old grotto of Mother Mary in Thandla in Jhabua District Catholic Diocese. Prompt police action saved it, but the Christians are apprehensive about the future.
On November 13, police filed a case against 16 pastors. They had accompanied a pastor whose church was attacked, but he was asked to see the local magistrate. This incident took place in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
On November 29, a video went viral on social media which showed women arguing with Bajrang Dal members who had stormed their church. The Hindu mob stopped prayers and forced people out. The attack took place at Belur city in Hassan district of Karnataka state.
Over 50 churches stopped holding worship services in November after authorities banned Christian gatherings in the Jhabua District of Madhya Pradesh state. The orders were made on the complaints of Modi’s supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad group.
The number of attacks on Christians is much higher, but only a few are reported. Details at:
https://thewire.in/communalism/bajrang-dal-activists-storm-christian-prayer-meet-in-karnatakas-belur
INDIA-ELIMINATION OF NON-HINDUS IS THE GOAL OF RSS AND BJP ACTIVISTS
The Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) is the ideological parent of Prime Minister Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). On November 27, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said at a function, “If Bharat has to remain Bharat it has to remain Hindu and if Hindus want to remain Hindus then Bharat must be made ‘Akhand’ (undivided).” The RSS and BJP leaders repeatedly promote such hatred. The mindset that all Indians should be Hindus motivates RSS and BJP supporters to attack and terrorize Christians and Muslims. Recently they used fake social media accounts and attacked the agitating Sikh farmers by calling them “Khalistanis,” “terrorists,” and “anti-nationals.” Details at:
U.S. - THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS TWO SETS OF TEETH, ONE TO SHOW ANOTHER TO EAT. USCIRF PROPOSES, THE STATE DEPARTMENT DISPOSES
Violence against Christians and false cases against Christians for allegations of conversion increased in India since BJP, led by Prime Minister Modi, won the national and many provincial elections in 2014.
In 2020, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended the State Department label India as a "country of particular concern (CPC)." The State Department rejected this recommendation. President Trump rubbed salt in the wounds of India's Christians by presenting Prime Minister Modi the highest degree Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit award on December 21, 2020.
In April 2021, USCIRF recommended that India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) based on religious freedom conditions in 2020. On November 17, the U.S. Secretary of State released the State Department's annual report that included Russia but not India in the CPC list. By giving a "No Objection Certificate," the U.S. government granted a license to Hindu victimizers to continue attacks on the microscopic Christian minority in India.
Even though the atrocities against Christians have increased in Nigeria, the State Department removed it from the CPC list just one day before Secretary of State Antony Blinken's three-nation tour of Africa. Only one day earlier, on November 16, International Christian Concern (ICC) had identified Nigeria as the world's worst persecutor of Christians. According to ICC, 50,000 to 70,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2000.
On November 26, militant herdsmen killed 10 Christians in an overnight raid in Nigeria. They burned over 100 homes. The victims included children who were 4, 6, and 8 years old.
In the Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians face persecution, Nigeria and India rank ninth and tenth, respectively, the worst countries globally. Details at:
PAKISTAN- THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITIES (NCM) IS TOOTHLESS AND POWERLESS
This government formed this body 20 years ago, but it has existed without any budget or power to act. Consequently, it has failed to protect the interests of Christian, Hindu, and Sikh religious minorities.
NCM exists in name only because lack of funds and authority prevent it from probing into the concerns of religious minorities. Minorities' grievances are about coerced conversion to Islam, vilification of non-Muslims and their religions in the school syllabus, and bogus blasphemy allegations.
Forced conversion to Islam and making false blasphemy allegations are not crimes in Pakistan. Therefore, there are no consequences for such wrongdoings. The Pakistani human rights activists hope that parliament will pass bylaws and provide NCM with the required resources and power to make it practical and useful. Details at:
PAKISTAN- POVERTY PREVENTS MINORITIES FROM SEEKING JUSTICE
The Legal Needs Survey of Karachi's Legal Aid Society (LAS) found that prohibitive costs and lack of helpful resources prevent religious minorities from seeking legal remedies. Religious minorities also feel that the judicial system does not provide justice to them because of their religion. This survey interviewed Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs from eight districts of Sindh province.
LAS research manager Dawer Hameed said, "If the minorities feel that their rights are being violated, then it is the state's responsibility to make corrections. The state-civil society partnerships can go a long way in helping minorities to access justice."
The Religious Minorities project of LAS has assisted minority communities' members with free legal aid. It plans to organize awareness clinics for non-Muslims, especially females.
Details at:
PAKISTAN- PROTEST PLANNED AGAINST FORCED CONVERSIONS AND UNDER-AGE MARRIAGES
In Pakistan and many other countries, Christians will observe “Black Day” on 10th December to protest against the kidnappings, rapes, forced conversions, and marriages of thousands of Hindu, Sikh, and Christian minor girls in Pakistan every year. The abductors are generally 40 years of age or older, many of whom have a criminal record. Such abducted girls are also forced to become sex workers in Pakistan or other countries.
The religious minorities were saddened when the Council of Islamic Ideology forced the government to withdraw the “Protection of Minorities Rights” bill.
The Netherlands-based Action Committee for Minorities Rights (Int) is coordinating the protest outside Pakistan. Details at:
REUSE THIS CONTENT/ SHARE THIS POST THE MOST CERTAIN TEST BY WHICH WE JUDGE WHETHER A COUNTRY IS REALLY FREE IS THE AMOUNT OF SECURITY ENJOYED BY ITS MINORITIES. ----- Lord Acton [Toronto, Canada-based, ReformAdvocate.com encourages the Christian minorities, immigrants, women, youth, elderly, and other weaker groups to empower themselves. Only one blog per month. The subscription is free but not necessary. Please visit ReformAdvocate.com and subscribe. THANKS] PLEASE PRAY FOR THE WORLD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY TO TAKE STRONG ACTION AND STOP THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIAN MINORITIES.
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