(RAMADAN Sep 1 – Sep 30)
September 14
Ahmadey
Somali Christian Murdered for Asking for Translation
October 21, 2008r 21, 2008
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin Somalia (International Christian Concern)- Islamic extremists shot and killed a Muslim convert to Christianity on September 14, 2008r 14, 2008
English: World English Bible - WEB
WP-Bible plugin in Afgoye, a town 18 miles away from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. His name was Ahmadey Osman Nur, and he was 22 years old.
On September 14, Nur had been invited to attend a Muslim wedding in his neighborhood. The wedding ceremony was conducted in the Arabic language, a language no one among the attendants of the ceremony understood except the Sheik who conducted the ceremony.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Nur requested the Sheik to summarize the message in the Somali language, the mother tongue of all the people present at the wedding. Almost all the guests verbally agreed with Nur’s request. But the Sheik, who was a recent recruit of the Muslim militant group Al Shabab, was offended and asked one of his armed body guards “to silence the apostate.” As a Christian who converted from Islam, Nur was considered by the Sheik to be an apostate. Muslims consider Arabic to be ‘holy’ language; a language they claim to be spoken in Paradise.
Some of Nur’s Muslim friends advised him to leave immediately, fearing for his life, but the bodyguard, who was armed with a handgun, shot and killed Nur as he exited the house.
According to the Muslim groom who invited Nur to the wedding, Nur will be most remembered for his compassion to the elderly in the neighborhood where he lived.
Nur’s pastor said that the martyr will also be remembered as the first Somali Christian in Afgoye district to memorize the entire book of the Acts of the Apostles—a book he loved more than any other.
Recently, Islamic extremists have intensified their attacks against Christians in Somalia. In the past nine months alone, six Christians, including Nur, have been martyred for their faith. The other five martyrs are: Sayid Ali Sheik Luqman Hussein, David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali, Da’ud Ali, Mohamed Yusuf and Hassan Mo’alim.
Please pray for Christians in Somalia as they go through this difficult time. For more information on how to help Christians in Somalia, please contact ICC.
15th October 2008 – Orissa, INDIA
India: Orissa – violence against Christians continues unabated
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Hindu extremist violence against the Christian community in Orissa State, India, which started on 24 August (see previous articles : 12/09/2008, 01/09/2008), has continued almost unabated since then. At least 50 Christians have been murdered, some cut to pieces and others burnt alive. Many fear that the death toll is even higher, with one estimate suggesting that 120 Christians have been killed. About 18,000 people have been injured, many of them severely; numerous Christian women have been raped; some 4,400e 4,400
English: World English Bible - WEB
WP-Bible plugin homes have been destroyed; 300 villages have been cleansed of all Christians; and several orphanages and hundreds of churches and church buildings have been torched and razed. Relief camps, where Christians have fled for safety and shelter, have been attacked and drinking water has been poisoned.
Over 50,000r 50,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin Christians are thought to be homeless, and around 30,000, more than half of them children, are hiding in the jungle, many without any food and water. Starvation is a very real danger for many of them, especially for the children, the elderly and the sick. Christians wanting to return to their homes have been told by the Hindu extremists: “Come back as Hindu or don’t come back at all.” Many who dare to return to their villages are forcibly converted to Hinduism. Sometimes the Hindu extremists pour petrol over the Christians and then ask them to convert; if they refuse they will be burnt.
And still the government shows itself reluctant to act. Although there has been talk of banning the Bajrang Dal, one of the Hindu nationalist groups responsible for the gruesome acts, and of imposing presidential rule over Orissa, no action has been taken. Additional police and a helicopter have been sent to the area, which has helped to improve conditions in at least some districts, but officials still advise journalists and members of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) not to go into the affected areas as they cannot provide protection.
“The sheer scale of the ongoing anti-Christian violence in Orissa, and the reluctance of federal, state and local authorities to act and protect the Christians is a serious and deeply disturbing development in Indian society,” says Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund. “The Indian Christian community, not only in Orissa but also in other Indian states, is facing one of its worst crises. The attempt by Hindu extremists to turn India into a Hindu state and drive out Christianity by whatever means must be stopped. We must stand and pray with our brothers and sisters through this dark time, and offer them all the help we can.”
Barnabas Fund is helping
Barnabas Fund is currently helping to get emergency aid to the Christians worst affected by the violence. Thousands are in urgent need of food, medical help, clothes, blankets and temporary shelter. It costs £25 (US$43; €32) to provide one family with a food parcel of rice, lentils and cooking oil, which is sufficient for at least a month. A major concern is that winter is coming and Christians hiding in forests and refugees in other places are ill-equipped to face rain and cold weather. We hope also to provide temporary shelter of a reasonable standard. The next stage will be to help with rebuilding houses and churches and to enable Christians who have lost their livelihoods to become self sufficient.
Please help us to help our brothers and sisters
If you can help, please click this link to donate online using our secure server (Please quote project reference 21-723).
If you prefer to telephone, dial: 0800 587 4006 from within the UK or +44 1672 565031 from outside the UK (Please quote project reference 21-723).
If you prefer to send a cheque by post: Click this link for addresses of our regional offices. (Please quote project reference 21-723).
13th October 2008 – IRAQ
Iraqi Christians flee Mosul as Islamic extremists launch campaign against them: “We left everything behind us. We took only our souls.”
Thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled the city of Mosul in northern Iraq over the past week after Sunni Muslim extremists launched a deadly campaign to remove the Christian community from the city. “We left everything behind us. We took only our souls,” said Ni’ma Noail (50), a civil servant who had to abandon his home in Mosul and is now living in a church.
At least seven Christians were murdered between 4 and 8 October, killed execution-style by gunmen. Other estimates suggest the number of Christians killed is as high as 25 or even 40. Christian houses have been blown up, and at least 744 Christian families (approximately 3,750 people) have left their homes to find refuge with relatives or in churches and Christian centres in seven towns and villages to the north and east of Mosul. Some are sleeping in their cars. They are in desperate need of food, clothes, bedding, items for personal hygiene and other basic necessities.
Leaflets have been distributed in Mosul, threatening Christians with death unless they convert to Islam or pay the Islamic jizya tax that marks them as second-class citizens. The leaflets, which are an effective tactic used before in Baghdad and elsewhere, have been condemned by the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq. One source reports that last Thursday, 9 October, extremists drove around the Mosul neighbourhood of Sukkar, shouting through a loudspeaker that Christians would be attacked unless they left the city.
Northern Iraq is the historic centre of Christianity in Iraq. Many Christians from Baghdad and Basra had fled to the north for safety in recent years. The estimated Christian population of Mosul is now 50,000w 50,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrana zbirka WEB ne vsebuje vpisane knjigeMesto:
WP-Bible plugin.
It is believed that the extremists behind the campaign are linked to al-Qaeda. The attacks follow on the heels of another blow to the Christian community when Parliament agreed on 24 September to remove Article 50 from the Provincial Election Law. The Article had guaranteed a specific number of seats for minorities, including Christians, on the Regional Councils (see previous article).
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, comments:
“The situation in Iraq is extremely grave. Sunni Muslim extremists are moving north, now that they have successfully managed to intimidate and drive out most of the Christians from the cities of Basra in the south and Baghdad in the centre of Iraq. I appeal to the Iraqi government and the US army to intervene urgently to prevent the elimination of the indigenous Christian community of Iraq. I also appeal to Christians around the world to help meet the practical needs of their Iraqi brothers and sisters at this time through the ministry of Barnabas Fund.”
Please help our brothers and sisters in Iraq:
Barnabas Fund is helping to provide practical aid such as food and blankets to Iraqi Christian families who had to flee their homes for fear of their lives in this recent Islamist campaign to drive out the Christian community from Iraq.
If you can help us to support our Iraqi brothers and sisters at this difficult time please click this [Link] to donate online using our secure server. (Please quote project reference 20-227.)
If you prefer to telephone, dial: 0800 587 4006 from within the UK or +44 1672 565031 from outside the UK. (Please quote project reference 20-227.)
If you prefer to send a cheque by post: Click this [link] for addresses of our regional offices. (Please quote project reference 20-227.)
1st September 2008 – Orissa, INDIA
India: Renewed Upsurge of Anti-Christian Violence by Hindu Extremists in Orissa
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We have to report a shocking new outbreak of violence against Christians in the Indian state of Orissa, which has continued for several days.
 A destroyed Christian Orphanage |
On Saturday 23 August the Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates were assassinated. Saraswati, who was a senior figure in the nationalist VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), had called for India to become a Hindu nation, and strongly opposed the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. The police and state officials have blamed the attack on suspected Maoist rebels, and Christian leaders in India have clearly condemned it. But the VHP and its allies alleged in inflammatory speeches that Christians were responsible, and they called a protest that rapidly escalated into violence.
The media have very limited access to Orissa at present, and reports from the region are still somewhat confused. But it is already clear that damage to property is extensive. Scores of church buildings have been demolished, and hundreds of homes destroyed. Other Christian institutions, including schools, offices and prayer houses, have been vandalised, looted or burned. Buses and other vehicles have been torched.
Many Christians have been attacked, especially in rural areas where mobs are attacking whole villages. Church leaders have been beaten up and women raped, and as many as 10,000 believers may have fled into the jungle for safety, without food or protection from the monsoon rains. Current reports of the death toll range from 12 to 36.
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Some of the stories emerging from the area are truly horrific. A young woman attempted to stop the extremists from attacking the children at a Christian orphanage, and was thrown alive into the burning building, where she died. A paralysed man in another village was unable to escape from a fire and was burned to death. A pastor was killed and his body cut in pieces.
The response of the state government appears to have been patchy at best. At first the rioters blocked roads to hinder the progress of government forces. Later it was reported that curfews had been imposed, but these have not been consistently enforced. Additional protection has been provided in the towns, but not in the countryside. Christian leaders have appealed to the national government for help, and thousands of Christian schools and colleges have been closed in protest.
Please help our brothers and sisters in need:
Last Christmas Hindu extremists launched a large-scale and violent attack on the Christian community in Orissa. On that occasion too, many churches and homes were burned and several people killed. Many of those who fled at the time are still living in a refugee camp, and much of the necessary rebuilding is still to be done.
Barnabas Fund has been assisting Christians in Orissa since that time. A total of £58,150 (US$104,873, €71,611) has been sent to provide food aid, clothes, replacement bedding, medical expenses, trauma counselling and school materials for children, and to help repair churches. Sadly these needs have once again become immediate and urgent.
 A relief camp for refugees of the violence |
Donate today
If you can help, please click this link to donate online using our secure server. (Please quote project reference 21-723)
If you prefer to telephone, dial: 0800 587 4006 from within the UK or +44 1672 565031 from outside the UK. (Please quote project reference 21-723)
If you prefer to send a cheque by post: Click this link for addresses of our regional offices. (Please quote project reference 21-723)
Orissa, India
September 3 (aprox)
100 Martyrs of Orissa
Orissa: thousands of refugees and new victims, massacre of Christians continues
by Nirmala Carvalho
At least 10,000st 10,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin people are asking for help at the shelters, while just as many are seeking refuge in the forests to escape the violence of the Hindu fundamentalists. According to “reliable sources” presented by a Christian activist, there are “at least 100 dead”.
Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) – One week after the beginning of the violence in Orissa, thousands of people, most of them Christian, are still hiding in the forests or have found refuge in the shelter camps set up by the government.
According to the latest figures, there are at least 6,000st 6,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin people in the refugee camps, and 5,000 hiding in the forests around Kandhamal, but the number of refugees could soon reach 10,000h 10,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin. Today, in Bhubaneswar, a protest demonstration is planned in front of the state government headquarters in Orissa, organized by the activists of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), following the closing of Catholic schools yesterday all over India. About 25,000 institutes closed their doors, while the students and teachers marched peacefully through the streets of the country calling for an end to the violence against Christians.
Meanwhile, the number of victims of the violence continues to increase: “We have received authentic information that the death toll is 100″, says Dr Sajan George, national president of the GCIC, “and more butchered bodies and burnt corpes are being found”. The Christian activist is also calling for the resignation of the entire government of Orissa, which is incapable of stopping the massacres against the Christian community. He provides an example: “In Bakingia, two families of seven Christians – Daniel Naik and Michael Naik and their families – were tortured and killed, their bodies were found with their heads pulped and smashed, they were recognised by their clothes. Bakingia is about 8 kilometers from Raikia police station”.
The decision to close all of the Catholic schools yesterday and call for demonstrations – although peaceful – has raised attention, with serious new accusations being issued by the Hindu side. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the leading opposition party in India, heavily influenced by the fundamentalists, has condemned yesterday’s school strike and accused the Catholics of “forcing non-Christian students to participate in the protest marches”. Some institutes used “coercive means” – according to the BJP – against the “non-Christians, who were obliged to march with their classmates”.
Meanwhile, raids continue outside of Orissa as well. Yesterday, in Madhya Pradesh, fanatics attacked five schools and a church, in retaliation against the closing of the buildings. The attacks took place in the districts of Gwaliar (three schools and a church) and Barwani (two schools), and only the swift intervention of the police was able to prevent serious damage to the buildings, or new victims. Security forces have, on the other hand, blocked a peaceful demonstration of the students from the school of St. Francis, for unspecified reasons of “public safety”, although they were informed about the demonstration beforehand.
The Indian bishop of Vasai, Thomas Dabre, a member of the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue, confirms instead the “total paralysis” in the activity of the schools of his diocese. “Thousands of young people”, the prelate emphasizes, “ended their march in front of the buildings of the bishop’s residence. I told them to promote interreligious dialogue, and to and trust themselves completely to the protection of the Virgin Mary”.
September 20
India
Iswar and Purinder
Two Christians killed in Orissa; churches destroyed in Madya Pradesh, Kerala; missionaries targeted
by Nirmala Carvalho
The bodies of the two victims were cut into pieces and thrown into a pond. Some churches from the 1600′s and from the Middle Ages attacked. Sisters and priests forced to conceal their identity in order to escape persecution and reconversion to Hinduism. At a meeting in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), the government is being asked to outlaw radical Hindu groups.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – No end to the attacks and violence against Christians. In Orissa, where for more than three weeks a pogrom against Catholics and Protestants has been underway, two more killings have been recorded. Iswar Digal and Purinder Pradhan were murdered and cut to pieces. Iswar Digal, was from the the village of Gatringia in the district of Kandhamal; he was stopped on September 20 by a group of Hindu extremists while he and his wife were trying to escape to a refugee camp. Their home was burned. The other victim was from Nilungia. His body was cut to pieces, put into a jute sack, and thrown into a pond.
The new wave of violence began last August 23, in the district of Kandhamal, after the killing of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati, a radical Hindu leader. Hindu fundamentalist organizations accuse the Christians of killing him, although the police of Orissa suspect that the authors of the assassination were Maoist militants. The pogrom to “kill all Christians and destroy their institutions” is motivated in part by the accusations according to which Christians are coercing tribals and Dalits to convert through force or bribery.
According to estimates from the All India Christian Council, 37 Christians have been killed in the state of Orissa alone, including 2 Protestant pastors; more than 4,000 homes belonging to Christians have been burned; and more than 50,000 faithful have been forced to flee. Of these, only 14,000 are believed to be in refugee camps provided by the government. Tens of thousands are hiding in the forest.
The primary targets of the Hindu radicals are the priests, the sisters, and their families. They are attacked, and often forced to convert to Hinduism. Even in the camps, the persecution is strong, and the police check to make sure “that there are no conversions”. Priests and sisters present in the camp must conceal their identity.
A sister at the camp in Raikia (district of Kandhamal) tells AsiaNews:
“I am here as part of the medical team; if the authorities find out we are nuns, we will be sent away. I am here dressed in ethnic clothes, wearing bangles, earrings and even the ‘tikka’, in this way we are disguised. The women are in severe trauma, unfortunately, we can only talk to them about their medical problems, we cannot even counsel them, we are continuously being watched, but there is such despair and fear among the women, they have lost every material possession and sadly even hope is lost”.
“This is my tenth day at the camp and even now, I cannot hold back my tears. I have never seen a sight like this before in my life. Yes, I have seen natural calamities like tsunamis, earthquakes and cyclones, but nothing as horrifying as this. The intent of the radicals to destroy humanity is so intense – brutality has no limit, the torture and devastation has stooped to levels beyond imagination”.
From Orissa, the pogrom has spread to other states: Chhattisghar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala.
Yesterday, the church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Bangalore was attack by vandals. Rocks were hurled at a statue of the Virgin Mary. The day before, on September 20, also in Bangalore, the church of St. James was ransacked. The vandals desecrated the Eucharistic species and destroyed the furniture and pews. The windows were damaged at a church in Siddapura (district of Kodagu).
In Kerala, two of the oldest churches in India were vandalized. Yesterday, a statue of Christ in the church of Protasius and Gervasius (17th century) was broken and thrown down from its pedestal. The church belongs to the faithful of the Syro-Malabar rite. The nearby cathedral of the Jacobites, the Mar Sabore Afroth Church, was damaged: its windows were broken, and some relics of St. Paulos Mar Athanasius were destroyed. The church of the Jacobites was built in 825.
On September 20 in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), the All India Christian Council (AICC) held a meeting to condemn the violence against Christians. It was attended by more than 15,000 people from various faiths: Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, and even moderate Hindus.
Sam Paul of the AICC criticized the central government for its inability to stop the attacks, and called for a ban against all Hindu radical organizations, like Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bajrang Dal, and Sangh Parivar.
All of these extremist organizations take their political guidance from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Some experts note that the new wave of violence began after the national meeting of the BJP in Bangalore, which was intended to design the strategy for the upcoming national elections, which will be held next March.
September 3
Orissa: after his calvary Father Thomas willing to go back to serve those who hurt him
by Thomas Chellan
He was among the first Christians targeted by the fury of radical Hindus. For the first time since he was attacked he speaks out. After being seized, beaten, wounded and stripped he was almost burnt alive. It took police two days to free him. AsiaNews correspondent in Mumbai Nirmala Carvalho was able to talk to him.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Fr Thomas Chellan, 57, was one of the first victims of the anti-Christian pogrom launched by the Vishva Hindu Parishad after the assassination of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati last 23 August. Only after being beaten, abused, wounded, stripped, was he rescued by the police at the end of his calvary. A nun was subjected to the same violence, perhaps treated with even greater brutality. The Pastoral Centre in Kandhamal was one of the first Christian institutions to be destroyed, torched.
Father Thomas, who is now recovering in hospital, has agreed for the first time to talk about his ordeal. Forcing himself to speak, he is still hard pressed to describe the fury that hit him; in his words, “savage” is not enough to convey the sense of it all. “The manner in which they were beating us with axes, spades, crowbars; it was as if we were not humans. These attackers, I am sure, were paid by others to torture and beat us.”
Father Thomas now has only one concern: the thousands of people on the run (perhaps 50,000ps 50,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin) hiding in the forest. “Right now there is not a single priest or nun in Kadhamal district; everyone has fled. Plundering goes and people are hunted down. In my agony I pray for the Christians in the forest. But even that is not a safe place. If my bishop sends me though, I am willing to return.”
“Along with my physical wounds, Christ is healing by emotional scars; I feel no bitterness or anger; I am even prepared to serve those who attacked us. [. . .] I am glad to be part of the rich history of persecution of the Catholic Church in India.” (NC)
For the past seven years I have served as the director of the Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre (in the diocese of Cuttack- Bhubaneshwar). The Orissa State Armed Police (OSAP) had agents in front of our Centre for more than a month because of a number of incidents in Tumbudhibandth after a cow was killed.
When I saw the news on TV of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati’s murder I called the OSAP for protection. They told me not to worry: “We are here.” I was reassured. But around 4.30 pm on 24 August a huge crowd came to our gate shouting slogans.
Fearing for our lives, I, a fellow priest and a sister tried to escape jumping over the back fence of the property. We could hear people shout, doors breaking, windows shattering . . . . After a short while we saw smoke and flames.
Feeling unsafe we fled into the forest and stayed there for a few hours. Around 8 pm we reached the house of Prahlad Pradhan in K. Nuagaon village; he was kind enough to accommodate us giving us food and shelter.
Around 9 am on 25 August, from my room window I saw a crowd tear down a small church.
Realising the danger Prahlad hid me in an outhouse and locked me from the outside. At about 1.30 pm a group of 40 to 50 people came, broke open the door and pulled me out. Outside I saw that the sister was already standing with the crowd; they had caught her first. Immediately they began hitting me all over, forcefully removing my shirt and banyan (vest or undershirt).
They kept asking me: “Why did you kill the Swamiji? How much money did you give the killers? Why are you conducting so many meetings at the Pastoral Centre?”
Pushing and pulling us, the crowd led us to the Janavikas Building on the other side of the road.
They were armed with lathis (long canes tipped with a metal blunt), axes, spades, crowbars, iron rods, sickles etc. and continued beating us inside the building.
They tore off the sister’s blouse and began assaulting her. When I started to object I was beaten with an iron rod on my right shoulder.
They took me out, poured kerosene on me and were set to strike some matches to burn me. At that point one of them suggested they take me into the middle of the road to burn me there. They dragged us to the road where they made me kneel for ten minutes. Someone searched for a rope to tie us together and burn us alive. Then they decided to parade us through Nuagaon, half a kilometre from there. We were paraded half naked. They told us to fold our hands and walk. They tried to strip away our remaining clothes, but somehow both of us managed to resist. As we walked people showered us with blows. Someone hurled insults at us in Malayalam.
When we got to Nuagaon at 2.30 pm there were a dozen OSAP agents on the side of the road. “Sir, please help us!” I told one of them. Once I spoke someone from the crow struck me for asking help. As for the policemen he just stood there, looking on. There were no police personnel at the Nuagaon outpost.
The crowd forced us to sit by the road side. Someone kicked me in the face. Then someone I knew very well, a shopkeeper in Nuagaon, went to pick up used tires to burn us.
At one point the crowd told us to go K. Nuagaon; along with one of the officers we were taken to a police outpost. There I was stitched up, bandaged and had some ointment applied on my wounds.
Around 9.00 pm an inspector from Balliguda and a team of policemen took us to Balliguda. One of the people from the crowd that attacked us remained at the police outpost until we left for Balliguda, watching all our movements. Once in Balliguda we were sheltered at a police bungalow; people there were very helpful.
At 9 am on 26 August we were taken to the local police station where the chief inspector asked us whether we wanted to file a complaint. When we said yes he told us to be quick because he was preparing to move us to Bhubaneshwar (280 kilometres from Nuagaon).
We filed three complaints, one for the attack against the pastoral centre; one for the attack against me and for the attack against the nun.
At 4 pm we were put on a comfortable bus and with other passengers were brought to Bhubaneshwar. We got off around midnight on 27 August, a few kilometres after Nayagarh. Some friends were waiting for me and took me away in their car. At 2 am we reached one of our centres in Bhubaneshwar.
August 25
Rafani
Pressures on Indian president to stop anti-Christian violence in Orissa
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – A delegation representing civil society groups met Indian President Shrimati Pratibha Patil this morning, presenting her with a memorandum and calling on her to do something to stop anti-Christian violence in Orissa. The group asked India’s head of state to have the Union government take legal action against various radical Hindu groups which have fomented anti-Christian hatred. In Orissa though, violence continues; yesterday four churches were in fact set on fire and destroyed. Police has intensified its controls and extended the curfew to three more districts, but instead of slowing the anti-Christian campaign has spread to Madya Pradesh and Karnataka.The delegation that met President Patil included people from the world of culture and the entertainment industry. There were also Catholic lawmakers as well as prelates like Mgr Raphael Cheenath, archbishop of Cuttack–Bhubaneshwar; Mgr Vincent Concessao, archbishop of New Delhi; and Fr Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference.
In the memorandum submitted to the president, the delegation called for legal action against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal. In the last few days these groups have not stopped accusing Christians in the assassination of Swami Laxmanananda on 23 August.
Even though the police believes that the assassination was the work of Maoist guerrillas, VHP Secretary General Praveen Togadia told a foreign journalist that the “Church killed the swami.”
RSS spokesman Ram Madhav told CNN-IBN that “Christians are behind the murders.”
For his part Bajrang Dal national leader Subhash Chavan said that the “police are trying to hide the truth by blaming the Maoists.”
All of them however could be charged under Indian law with “creating enmity between communities and religions”.
The delegation instead called on the president to exercise her power to send security forces to Orissa where the local police and government seem incapable of coping with the situation.
In the last few days Orissa police extended the curfew to three other districts, in addition to the nine already under its mandate. Clashes with Hindu radicals continue however—at least four more churches and tens of homes have been set on fire.
At the same time the anti-Christian (and anti-conversion) campaign is spreading to other parts of the country. In Madya Pradesh (central India) local Christians fasted for three days in support of their fellow Christians in Orissa whilst Bajrang Dal groups burnt missionaries in effigy. Scuffles with Christian students broke out but the intervention of the police prevented anyone from getting hurt.
Yesterday in Chitradurga (Karnataka), a Protestant clergyman, Rev N Kumar, from the Church of Sharon, was beaten up right after Sunday service. A group of Hindu radicals entered the church and applied “kumkum”, a red holy powder, on the foreheads of those present as a sign of re-conversion to Hinduism. The police, which was present, did not intervene.
(In photo: Father Edward, who runs an orphanage in Bargarh, in his hospital bed. On 25 August the clergyman was beaten up till he lost consciousness and was left in the building that was set on fire. During the fire an aide, Rafani Majhi, was burnt to death)
Source: AsiaNews
August 17
Mosalikunta, India
Fr. Thomas
More martyrs: a Carmelite priest is massacred in Andhra Pradesh
by Nirmala Carvalho
38 year old Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil, was assassinate don the night of August 16th on his way to a village to celebrate Sunday mass. His body showed signs of torture, with wounds to his face, his hands and legs broken and his eyes pulled from their sockets. The bishop of Hyderabad denounces the growing climate of “violence against Catholics” in the country.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “Father Thomas is a martyr: he sacrificed his life for the poor and marginalised. But he did not die in vain, because his body and his blood enrich the Church in India, particularly the Church in Andhra Pradesh”. Those are the words of Msgr. Marampudi Joji, archbishop of Hyderabad and secretary of the bishops’ conference of Andhra Pradesh (a state in South East India), commenting the barbarous killing of the Carmelite priest Thomas Pandippallyil, 38, assassinated on the night of August 16th in Mosalikunta, on the road between Lingampet and Yellareddy, 90 km from the regional capital.
On the night of August 16th his body was found on the roadside by a group of people, not far from the village of Balampilly; the body of the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate carried wounds to the face while the hands and legs had been crushed and the eyes gouged out. His motorbike was found one kilometre on from the body. According to witnesses, Saturday afternoon Fr. Thomas celebrated mass in Burgida, before setting out for another village in the district where he was to have celebrated Sunday mass. The last people to have seen him alive were religious sisters from Lingapetta convent, where the priest had stopped for supper before continuing his journey.
“P. Thomas is a martyr – said Msgr. Marampudi, archbishop of Hyderabad, on hearing of the brutal murder. The Indian Church is shocked and deeply saddened by this barbarous killing, the result of a growing climate of intolerance and violence against Christians in this country”. The prelate immediately made his way to the area where the massacre took place and speaks of a “traumatized” Christian community. He forcefully denies accusations of “proselytism and forced conversions”. Given that there are “five families of Catholic faith” in the parish where Fr. Thomas was murdered.
Msgr. Marampudi Joji maintains the crime is the result of a climate of “jealousy of the Catholic Church”, whose only fault is that of trying to help develop the abandoned rural areas of the country and support and aid those who are “victims of violence and oppression”. “Priests and nuns – continues the archbishop of Hyderabad – have for decades been at the service of the least fortunate in India, and this makes them targets of forces of evil who do not want the marginalized and impoverished to become empowered”.
The remains of Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil will be laid to rest on Wednesday in the Carmelite provincial house in Balampilly: the priest was actively involved in educational field. He joined the Chanda mission of the CMI on 24th June 1987. He was ordained a priest in 2002. He was the rector for the Chanda mission province of the CMI, and also worked as hospital administrator, school manager and mission centre director.
Copyright © AsiaNews 2003, used with permission.
January 17
Peshawar, Pakistan
Pastor William
William was shot and killed by unidentified, masked gunmen on January 17. William, age 29, was on his way home in the city of Peshawar, in Pakistan’s violent Northwest Frontier Province. VOM contacts report that Pastor Sajid was employed by a humanita
rian relief agency and also involved in evangelistic work. Unknown assailants were standing near a bend in the road along William’s route on January 17. Because of the sharp corner, the pastor had to reduce the speed of the car. When the car came close to the attackers, they ordered William to stop the car. When he saw the attackers’ weapons though, William tried to speed past them. The attackers open fired. Three shots were fired. Two bullets missed, but the third hit the pastor’s back and passed through his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. “The world watched following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December. We hope the world will also remember the death of this pastor, killed simply for being a passionate follower of Jesus Christ,” said Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs. “We pray for comfort for his wife and young daughter, and we pray that bold witnesses for Christ will be raised up in Peshawar and throughout Pakistan.” Pastor Sajid had worked with the Assembly of God Church in Peshawar for the past 10 years. He is survived by his wife and an 18-month-old daughter. Pray for his grieving family and church. Ask God to comfort and encourage believers in Peshawar and for opportunities for them to witness to those around them.
Used with permission, © Voice of the Martryrs, Canada, 2008
February 17
Ampara, Sri Lanka
Rev. Samson
Killing of pastor: Motive personal, police act fast
Despite speculation that the killing of the Christian pastor in Ampara could be the work of an organisation which resented conversions to Christianity, within 16 hours police were able to reveal that it was a contract killing ordered by a husband whose wife had been converted.
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| Rev. Edirisinghe. | His daughter in the arms of a relative | The pastor’s motor cycle fallen after the shooting |
Rev. Neil Samson Edirisinghe was the pastor of the new church started in Ampara recently. He lived with his wife Shiromi and their one and a half year old child. According to police, the pastor was returning home last Monday on his motor cycle at around 8.30 p.m. when he became the target of a gunman. He was shot in the back by the assailant who also injured his wife while their child was in shock after witnessing the shooting.
The Ampara child rehabilitation centre president Chamila Kodagoda who had heard the sound of gunfire had informed the Ampara police about the incident. When police arrived on the scene, Mrs. Edirisinghe who was badly injured had requested them to hand over her child to the YMCA before she was admitted to the Ampara hospital, where the pastor was also taken and pronounced dead.
Chief Inspector Asoka Weerakkody ordered an investigation by a special police team. According to police, two security men attached to an NGO had reported that two armed men dressed in uniform similar to that worn by home guards, were seen passing close to the pastor’s house.
Based on this piece of information police had been on the look out for the two suspects. In the wee hours of the next morning Inspector Weerakkody had received information that two men dressed in home guard uniform had walked into the police canteen a few hours earlier.
Further information helped the police investigation team arrest two civil security men posted to a bunker. At first the duo denied they knew anything about the incident but further grilling by police revealed that the two men were responsible for the attack. It was a contract killing for Rs. 100,000 given by a rich businessman in Ampara. The suspects were taken to custody after admitting that they obtained an advance of Rs. 20,000 for undertaking the task.
The firearm used in the killing was also seized and the suspects remanded. DIG Eastern Range Rienzie Perera, SSP A.Wijesuriya and ASPs Arunapala and Ravichandra led the investigation team.
Used with permission, The Sunday Times Online, copyright 2008.
SHOOTING KILLS PASTOR; WIFE CRITICALLY INJURED
2-year-old son suffers minor injuries, psychological trauma.
DUBLIN, February 21 (Compass Direct News) – Late last Sunday (February 17) two men gunned down a Sri Lankan pastor, the Rev. Samson Neil Edirisinghe, 37, killing him instantly. They also shot his wife Shiromi, 31, leaving her in critical condition. The couple’s 2-year-old son received minor injuries and is still in shock after witnessing the shooting. Edirisinghe was buried today in Ampara, in eastern Sri Lanka, where he served as pastor of the House of the Lord Church. The church met in a local YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) hall where Edirisinghe taught English classes for the British Council. Shiromi was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of Ampara Hospital at press time. A report in the Island national newspaper said the murderers entered the YMCA building and shot Edirisinghe and his wife before escaping by motorcycle. Authorities immediately formed a special police team to investigate the murders. Police have since arrested at least four people in connection with the murder. Two of them were confirmed to be members of the Home Guards, an auxiliary force established by the government to assist the police in security matters, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) reported on Tuesday (February 19). Intimidation Campaign Initial evidence suggested the murder was a contract killing connected to Edirisinghe’s ministry in Ampara. Two years ago, a Buddhist woman in the town identified only as Peshika became a Christian after struggling through relationship problems with her husband and an attempted suicide, according to a local source. Peshika then told town residents that Edirisinghe had helped her to overcome her depression, while Buddhist monks had failed. Some local media reports this week claimed Peshika’s husband paid a deposit of 20,000 rupees (US$186) to the killers, promising another 80,000r 80,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z 1! Vrstica 0 ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin rupees (US$743) if they were successful. Other reports claimed Suhadagama Leelaratne, a prominent Buddhist monk in Ampara, contracted the killers as the culmination of a long-standing intimidation campaign against Edirisinghe. In August 2007, Leelaratne organized a poster campaign against the House of the Lord Church. Fellow monks frequently used loudspeakers in the local Buddhist temple to criticize Edirisinghe and members of his congregation. The pastors of Ampara district, together with the Rev. Ravindra Fernando, a Methodist minister and secretary of the pastors’ fellowship, complained to the police, who found inflammatory anti-Christian posters in the temple. Attempted Arson Early on the morning of November 26, 2007r 26, 2007
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin, a group of residents tried to burn down Edirisinghe’s house but failed as a policeman saw them and forestalled the arson attack. The matter was then taken to the local senior superintendent of police and finally to President Mahinda Rajapakse in December, according to Compass sources. At the president’s request, the police advised Leelaratne to cease his campaign against the church and remove any remaining posters. The town quickly became divided over the issue as Buddhist loyalists, including three monks from the Eastern Sinhala Organization, accused Christian converts of rejecting Buddhist tradition. Buddhist monks and residents continued their intimidation campaign throughout January and February. Apportioning Blame The Sri Lankan army posted a short news item about the killing on its website, stating that “suspected LTTE [rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] cadres on February 17 night shot dead a pastor near the YMCA junction at Ampara.” Local media reports claimed that police had arrested at least five members of the Home Guards in connection with the murder. “Unfortunately the police and government are trying to hide the truth, as if it becomes known that a Buddhist monk was behind, this, it will be a very bad thing for Sri Lanka,” a pastor from Colombo told Compass. “Now they are trying to say this is due to the conflict in Sri Lanka and trying to put the blame on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.” For the past 20 years the LTTE has waged a violent campaign against the Sri Lankan government, fighting for an autonomous Tamil homeland in the northeast. “By failing to protect human rights or share power … [the government] had strengthened extremists on both sides in an escalating cycle of violence,” the International Crisis Group warned in a report released yesterday (February 20). Religious conflict is also a serious issue, with senior Buddhist clergy launching a propaganda campaign against Christians in 2002, sparking a series of violent attacks on churches nationwide. A Buddhist political party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (Buddhist Heritage Party) was formed in 2004 to promote anti-conversion legislation that would effectively prevent any Buddhist from converting to Christianity. (See Compass Direct News, “Churches Increasingly Targeted in Civil War,” February 20, 2007 and “Anti-Conversion Bill Revived in Parliament,” April 26, 2006l 26, 2006
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!
WP-Bible plugin.) Copyright © 2008 Compass Direct News Material on this site may shared by individuals or bloggers with credit to Compass Direct News, but print, broadcast or Internet media companies wishing to reprint or redistribute stories must be subscribers to Compass Direct News. http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news〈=en&length=long&idelement=5256
Used with permission, © Voice of the Martryrs, Canada, 2008
March 5
Mosul, Iraq
Archbishop PAULOS
Kidnapped Iraqi archbishop dead
Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq who was kidnapped last month, has been found dead near the northern city of Mosul. An Iraqi police officer and morgue official confirmed reports that the archbishop’s body had been found buried near Mosul, where he had been abducted.The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI was profoundly moved and saddened by Archbishop Rahho’s death.He was kidnapped soon after he left Mass in Mosul on 29 February.According to the SIR Catholic news agency, the kidnappers told Iraqi church officials on Wednesday that Archbishop Rahho was very ill and, later on Wednesday, that he was dead.It is not clear whether he was killed, or died of natural causes. Nobody has claimed responsibility for his death. The archbishop was the latest in a long line of Chaldean clerics to be abducted in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Three people who were with him at the time were killed by gunmen. A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said: “The most absurd and unjustified violence continues to afflict the Iraqi people and in particular the small Christian community, whom the Pope holds in his prayers in this time of deep sadness”. Earlier in Iraq, a car bomb in the capital Baghdad was reported to have killed at least seven people, and wounded at least 20. According to AP, the bomb was in a parked car in Tahrir Square, a central commercial district just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses much of the Iraqi government and the US Embassy. The attack is the latest in a series in Baghdad, following several months of relative calm.April
Iraq
Muhammad
Another Christian Martyr in Iraq
Every night on the news we hear updates of violence in Iraq. The war continues and commentators debate whether American soldiers should be there or not. What we do not hear about is the plight of Christian nationals in Iraq. For them a spiritual war wages. When “Muhammad” first converted to Christianity from Islam, he kept his new faith a secret. In fact, the first person he told outside of his wife and son was a Christian named “Joseph.” He knew the risks of sharing his faith with others in his homeland of Iraq but felt led to do so anyway. So he witnessed to his extended family. Following radical teachings of Islam, family members killed Muhammad. Muhammad’s widow sent Muhammad’s friend “Joseph” an e-mail after the martyrdom of her husband. She wrote: “I have bad news. Muhammad is dead. Our family killed him for sharing his new faith in Jesus Christ. I miss him dearly. Muhammad left me two important things: my son and our Bible. I’ll never forget why he died. He died for Jesus. I believe Jesus will help me. Tell the people [other Christians] to pray for me.” Muhammad’s widow and son are now being supported by VOM’s Families of Martyrs fund. This is perhaps VOM’s most important work: reaching out to families who have been victims of severe persecution and martyrdom. Each week we learn about new cases that need our support.Help expand VOM’s Families of Martyrs fund: http://etools.ncol.com/a/vomso/bg_vomso_wdbm_307.html
