Tag: Converts

India: Recent incidents of persecution

November 13, 2012 India Bangalore, Baptism, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

India is No. 32 on the World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian. “While most Indian Christians are relatively free, many parts of the country remain key battlegrounds between Hindu extremists and Christians,” according to the list. “Violence against pastors . . . Read More

Analysis: India’s narrow path to religious freedom

September 26, 2012 India Bangalore, BJP, Converts, Himachal Pradesh, Hindutva, India, Religious freedom, Shimla

In August, the high court of India’s Himachal Pradesh state rejected a portion of the state’s laws regulating religious conversion. World Watch Monitor asked Steven David, director of the Centre for Contemporary Issues, in Bangalore, to provide his perspective. By Steven David Shimla apples are world-famous. They are grown in . . . Read More

Extremist Hindus rout Christians from rural Indian village

September 25, 2012 India Chhattisgarh, Converts, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, India

Hindus twice assaulted a Christian community in a rural India village early this month, beating Christians, forcing them into Hindu worship rituals, and damaging their homes, according to Christian witnesses. The Sunday worship meeting was underway Sept. 2 at the home of a new Christian, Daminbai Sahu, in Bhanpuri, a . . . Read More

Christian legislator in Pakistan stuck with Muslim ID

June 26, 2012 Pakistan Converts, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab

Pakistan’s rigid system of prohibiting Muslims from changing their religion status on their national ID cards nearly cost a Punjab politician his post – even though he has always been a Christian. Rana Asif Mahmood’s political opponents in April sought to disqualify him from the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat reserved . . . Read More

Three Lao, two Thai Christians arrested in Laos

June 25, 2012 Laos Converts, Laos, Luang Namtha, Proselytism, Savannakhet

Lao officials arrested two Lao and two Thai Christians in Luang Namtha Province earlier this month, seizing them from a private residence in Long district, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Officials also arrested a pastor in Luang Namtha and dismissed two civil servants in Savannakhet . . . Read More

Lao police arrest pastor for proselytism

June 11, 2012 Laos Converts, Laos, Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Proselytism, Savannakhet

A 53-year-old Lao pastor remains behind bars today after Lao police arrested him on Wednesday (June 6) for encouraging others to convert to Christianity, a spokesman from the group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) confirmed to World Watch Monitor this morning. The arrest of Asa, identified by . . . Read More

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

May 31, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore, BJP, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, RSS

On April 30 in Banglawmedu, state police cancelled a Bible study after Hindu extremists from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) disrupted the meeting, roughed up those present and ordered them to cease alleged forceful conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that pastor V. Neethirajan of The Church . . . Read More

Injured convert in Pakistan tries to rebuild life

May 15, 2012 Pakistan Barelvi, Converts, Divorce, Faisalabad, Karachi, Pakistan

Muhammad Kamran isn’t sure who sent the men to beat him after his Muslim wife told both her family and his that he had become a Christian. The 34-year-old native of Karachi said his wife’s brothers had begun coming to his office to threaten him before unidentified assailants attacked him . . . Read More

Lawyer of Iranian pastor on death row faces prison

May 8, 2012 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Converts, Evin Prison, Farshid Fathi, Human rights, Iran, Isfahan, Karaj, Missionaries, Shiraz, Tehran, Youcef Nadarkhani

The main defense lawyer for Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who is appealing a death sentence, may be facing imminent imprisonment for defending the rights of Iranians, according to Amnesty International. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights activist, had been sentenced in July to a nine-year prison sentence and a . . . Read More

Crackdown hits official churches

March 16, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Converts, Dezful, House churches, Iran, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Pentecostals, Proselytism, Shiraz

In a rare crackdown on a concentrated area, Iranian authorities have arrested Christians living in the country’s third largest city in what is seen as a tactic to discourage Muslims and converts to Christianity from attending official churches. Since last month officials have arrested about 12 Christian converts in Isfahan, . . . Read More

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