India monsoon floods 'kill 164' in Kerala
www.bbc.co.uk - August 17, 2018
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At least 164 people have died in devastating monsoon floods in India's southern state of Kerala, the worst in almost a century.
Rescuers battled torrential rains to save residents, with nearly 223,000 left homeless. The state government said many of those who died were crushed under debris caused by landslides. With more rains predicted and a red alert in place, the main airport has reportedly been shut until 26 August. |
Reports suggest more than 150 people have died,
with further rainfall predicted
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50,000 Sign Petition Calling for Release of Seven Christian Prisoners in India
www.persecution.org - July 13, 2018
Photo Credit: AsiaNews.it
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Over 50,000 people have signed a petition that calls for the release of seven Christians wrongly charged with the murder of a Hindu leader in 2008. The murder of Swami Laxmanananda Sarawati was the spark that led to India’s worst instance of Christian persecution. Since Christians were wrongly blamed for the murder, widespread anti-Christian mob violence swept across the Kandhamal District of Odisha killing as many as 100 Christians and displacing 56,000 others.
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16 More Christians Accused of Forced Conversions in India’s Jharkhand State
www.persecution.org - July 12, 2018
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Sixteen Christians have been arrested on forced conversion charges in India’s Jharkhand state. According to reports, the Christians were preaching in Phulphari village on July 5 when they were opposed by the village’s president. The Christians were then held overnight by the villagers and handed over to police the next morning. False accusations of forced conversion are often used by radicals to harass Christian evangelists or justify physical assaults.
07/12/2018 India (World Watch Monitor) - A group of 16 Indian tribal Christians who visited another tribal family in the eastern state of Jharkhand to talk to them about Christianity are in police custody after the local village head accused them of “conversion by inducement”. |
A number of the Christians who were arrested by police, after they held a prayer service at the house of a Christian family in Phulpahari, India.
Photo Credit: World Watch Monitor
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Sixteen Christians arrested for 'forced conversions' of tribals in Jharkhand
www.asianews.it - July 10, 2018
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The arrests took place in the District of Dumka. The detainees are part of a group of 25 "preachers" that the villagers held hostage for two days. The police say they seized religious material. For Christian leader, “powerful groups that support Hindutva use the so-called forced conversions to intimidate minorities".
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Pastor attacked and Christians threatened by extremists in India
www.globalchristiannews.org - June 27, 2018
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Extremists attacked a church pastor and threatened a group of worshippers in Uttar Pradesh, India, after they tried to formalise their status as Christians.
Mr Prakash, who was injured in the attack, was arrested, “to prevent the commission of offences.” A bail hearing due to be held on 20 June was deferred, “owing to the volatile atmosphere in the region.” |
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Three Christians arrested in Delhi for 'insulting' Hindu gods
www.globalchristiannews.org - January 16, 2018
Indra Bahadur Tamad, Shukra Rai and Mekh Bahadur were arrested on allegations of distributing Christian literature in Shahjahanpur city. Photo credit: Times of India.
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Police in Delhi arrested three Christians last week (10 January) who were accused of “insulting” Hindu gods.
The three men, who are Nepalese citizens, are currently accused of “malicious acts intending to insult religious beliefs,” which is a crime under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. One local resident, who spoke to journalists, but did not want to be named said: “The three of them are innocent and were only sharing the teachings of the Bible. A group of Christians come here every year and do the same, but such an incident has never happened before. They never uttered a single word against any god or goddess.” Although criminal proceedings have now been started against the three men, one local police intelligence officer admitted: “So far, we don’t have any credible evidence against them. Police have only found some religious text from their possession.” |
Christians fear persecution as sixth Indian state adopts ‘anti-conversion’ bill
www.globalchristiannews.org - August 3, 2017
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the Jharkhand state in east of India, gave its nod to a draft of the anti-conversion bill on 1 August 2017. The bill is likely to be tabled at the legislative assembly in the Monsoon Session which to begins on 8 August 2017.
The bill titled "Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Act 2017" prohibits religious conversions through force, fraud and allurement. Christian leaders and organisations argue that ‘anti-conversion’ laws foster hate against minority communities and lead to persecution of Christians in all of the states which currently have these laws. |
Jharkhand High Court
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Hindu activists burn church in response to VBS
WMP ministry partner - June 9, 2017
"In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." - John 16:33b
One of our major ministry partners in India had one of their churches burned down recently. The ministry leader shares "It seems the Hindu activists burned down the church because they were angry that the pastor conducted Vacation Bible School for three days at his church. One hundred plus kids attended the VBS and most of them were from Hindu families."
World Missionary Press partners with several major ministries in India, supplying millions of Scripture booklets in various Indian languages yearly, as a primary tool for reaching India’s 1.3 billion souls with the gospel.
While hundreds of WMP How to Know God booklets burned during the fire, many millions more are at work changing lives for eternity.
The ministry leader states "The fiery darts of the devil may burn down church buildings, but they cannot snuff out the passion we have in our hearts to reach out to the lost! Church building or no church building, the Word we have in our hearts and the Word we have in our hands (WMP booklets) will continue the work of the gospel. If God moves in your hearts to send help, send us not bricks, but more WMP booklets!"
Thank you for standing with us in prayerful support of our ministry partners in India. If you would like to help provide more Scripture booklets for use in India, please click here:
Thank you for standing with us in prayerful support of our ministry partners in India. If you would like to help provide more Scripture booklets for use in India, please click here:
Discrimination faced by Dalit Christians
Global Christian News - March 21, 2017
Nearly 50 per cent of the nearly 29 million Christians living in India are Scheduled Castes (or Dalits). An additional 15 to 20 per cent are Tribal fifteen to twenty percent are Tribal Christians and around a quarter are Caste Christians (of the former upper castes). This reveals an interesting aspect of Christianity in India. Close to 70 per cent of Christians in India are also considered minorities in another sense in that they are eligible for positive discrimination by the state.
Pray for Pastor Patel and Santhayama, Attacked and Arrested at Christmas
Voice of the Martyrs - March 10, 2017
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Pastor Ramesh Patel and his wife were holding a prayer meeting on Dec. 20 at the home of a 60-year-old woman named Santhayama when a group of Hindu radicals raided the home. They beat the pastor, accusing him of forced conversions, before tearing off his clothes and dragging both him and Santhayama to the police station. Police arrested Pastor Patel and Santhayama, charging them with an offense that prevented their release on bail. A lawyer was able to secure their release the following day on the condition that they report weekly to the local police station. Please pray for Pastor Patel and his family, as his young children were very scared by the attack. Pray also for Santhayama and the 40 other church members.
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Pastor Ramesh Patel and his family
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Compassion Has 'Very Little Hope' for India, Sets Deadline to Shut Down Sponsorships
The drive to bring internet to rural India
10 things you might not know about India
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(BBC.com)
For many people writing about India, the common cliches of Delhi belly, lengthy traffic jams, bureaucracy, corruption and yoga retreats are the subjects that fill the column inches.
Here are 10 other observations... |
