Christians Attacked by Militants in India

Christians Attacked by Militants in India

Christian Attacked by Militants in Karnataka, India

A Christian named Jayanthi
(38 years old) was attacked by her neighbours while she was being visited by a
group of local Christians in her home in the district of Banaswadi,
Karnataka on September 20. Jayanthi
and her family have recently been experiencing harassment from local
people because of her faith. Her husband has left home in fear of
violence. Jayanthi
was previously beaten by her neighbours in mid-August after an incident
involving another local Christian, Uma Jasmine, who had been beaten for
sharing her faith with Jayanthi.

Pray that God will enable Jayanthi to proclaim the Gospel even while suffering (2 Timothy 4:16-18 ). Ask Him to strengthen and protect Jayanthi,
her husband and two children during in this time. Pray that Christians
in this area will boldly proclaim their faith in Christ despite
persecution.
Three Christian School Girls Assaulted by Militants in Orissa

Three daughters of Pastor Abraham Burdhan were molested by
Hindu militants and chased down by a tractor while on their way to
school in Nuagada Village, Orissa on September 12. The assailants were
the same militants who attacked and seriously injured their father in
late March.
This attack has made other local believers' children
fearful to attend school. Over the past month, armed Hindu mi litants
in the area have been daily threatening Christians and are determined
to kill all believers in the village.
Ask God to give these girls healing from the emotional
and physical scars of their assault and fill their hearts with His love
(Matthew 5:43-44). Pray that Christians in this area will rely on God
to be their Protector and Guide in this time (Psalm 46:1).
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in India, go to persecution.net.

U.S. Report Highlights Christian Persecution in Burma

by Dan Wooding

The U.S. Department of State's 2007 Report on
International Religious Freedom, released on September 14, highlights
Christian persecution perpetrated by the military regime in
trouble-torn Burma.

Burma, which has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of
State as a "Country of Particular Concern" for severe violations of
religious freedom since 1999, is a Buddhist-dominated country with
close to 90 percent of its 54 million people being Buddhist however,
religious persecution in this South Asian country is linked to the
current military government.
"Burma does not have a state religion, but in practice
the SPDC promotes the Theravada sect of Buddhism, and persecutes ethnic
Christian and Muslim minorities - even those belonging to certain sects
of Buddhism."
"Christians form about six percent of the total
population or 3.24 million, as per official statistics, and include
mainly Baptists, Anglicans and Roman Catholics.
"Despite increasing sanction by the U.S. government and
continual international pressure, Burma has not made political reforms
or corrected its human rights record. International relations experts
suggest the deteriorating situation in Burma can be linked to the economic and military support extended by its neighbors, India and China. As a result of the overall political crisis, religious freedom remains a distant reality."

The report indicates several concerns faced by the Christian minority in Burma, officially known as Myanmar - a name christened by the military regime, but rejected by those who advocate for democracy in the country.

Government's Control over Places of Worship

In Burma,
all religious organizations have to register with the government for
practical reasons, though it is not mandatory for "genuine" religious
organizations. In practice, only registered organizations are allowed
to buy or sell property or open bank accounts.
The report said the Burmese government "covertly and
overtly" monitored meetings and activities of religious organizations
besides discouraging and prohibiting minority religious groups from
constructing new places of worship.
"In some cases, government officials destroyed existing
places of worship," it said, adding that Christian groups continued to
have trouble obtaining permission to repair existing places of worship
or build new ones.
Christians in Chin State say the authorities have not
authorized the construction of any new churches since 1997, though
there are newly built churches there. "In Rangoon, Mandalay,
and elsewhere, authorities allowed construction of new community
centers by various Christian groups only if they agreed not to hold
services there or erect Christian signs."
The report cited some specific examples of restrictions put by the government on churches' functioning.

"On October 1, 2006, the Agape Zomi Baptist Church, with more than 1,000 members, had to stop its weekly services at Asia
Plaza Hotel in Rangoon after the hotel management refused to continue
renting them a conference room. The hotel management claimed the
township authorities had ordered them to stop renting its facility to
the group, which had worshipped at the hotel for approximately one
year."
On August 19, 2006, government officials prohibited a
Baptist church in Rangoon from conducting a literacy workshop for its
youth, stating that the church must seek advance permission to hold
such programs.
In February 2006, Insein Township authorities in Rangoon
ordered a Chin evangelist to stop holding worship services in his house
church in Aung San ward. In November 2005 authorities in the same area
pressured evangelical Christians of the 20-year-old Phawkkan
Evangelical Church to sign "no worship" agreements.
Restriction on Preaching of the Gospel

"The government of Burma has strict control and censorship
over publications, including religious. Besides, there is a ban on
importing translations of the Bible in indigenous languages," continued
the ICC report. "Since the 1960s Christian groups have had difficulty
importing religious literature into the country."
State censorship authorities continued to enforce special
restrictions on local publication of the Bible and Christian
publications, said the report, pointing out that "the most onerous
restriction was a list of more than 100 prohibited words that the
censors would not allow in Christian or Islamic literature because they
are 'indigenous terms' or derived from the Pali language long used in
Buddhist literature".
If and when Christians try to complain about their
persecution, either no action is taken or they themselves are
implicated in false cases.
Anti-Christian Hate Campaign

During the reporting period of the report, a Burmese
language document surfaced titled, "Program to Eliminate Christianity".
"The document suggested 17 points for countering Christianity in the
country; however, the source of the document was unknown and several
grammatical errors raised questions about its authenticity."
"Rights activists say Burma has virtually no press
freedom, as the media is controlled by the government and, therefore,
it is difficult for the rest of the world to get information related to
day-to-day religious freedom violations there. They also highlight the
broken down and militarized courts and policing system in the country,
which leaves the victims helpless."