India: Police officer believed to have burned down church in Chhattisgarh state

Christians from India’s Koya tribal community in Kistaram village, Chhattisgarh state believe the head of their local police station is responsible for burning down their church in the early hours of 5 February, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports.

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India: Hindu radicals attack two pastors in Haryana state

A group of Hindu extremists violently attacked two pastors in northern India’s Haryana state last month, accusing them of receiving foreign funding to forcibly convert Hindus to Christianity, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Persecution of Christians in India has increased dramatically since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power in 2014.

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India: Christians pray and fast for unity as persecution intensifies

As persecution against Christians in India intensifies, many Indian believers spent Sunday 30 January, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948, in prayer and fasting for peace and unity in their country, Christian Today (CT) reports.

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Pakistan: Christian teenager kidnapped, drugged and raped by Muslim in “epidemic” of abductions

A 16-year-old Christian girl in Okara, Pakistan was repeatedly raped after being abducted earlier this month, in what rights group Open Doors USA said is a “silent epidemic of kidnappings of Christian girls” by Muslim men in Pakistan, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

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India: Pastor and family violently attacked in their home

Chanting “kill him, kill him,” a gang of suspected Hindu extremists brutally beat up a pastor and his family at their home in Chandauli, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state on January 14, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Christians have come under intensifying persecution from Hindu radicals since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.

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‘Afghanistan Replaces North Korea As 1st Persecution Nation For Christians’

Christian advocacy group Open Doors said Wednesday that Afghanistan had replaced North Korea as the worst country for Christians on its annual World Watch List (WWL).

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India: Christians under attack in Karnataka state

Christians in India’s Karnataka state came under a surge of violent attacks by Hindu extremists during the Christmas period last month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Joining other Indian states, Karnataka has passed a new anti-conversion law that has reportedly encouraged Hindu nationalists to attack believers they falsely accuse of forcing Hindus to convert to Christianity.

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Indonesia: Christian politician in custody for allegedly insulting Islam in a tweet

A Christian politician in Indonesia is in custody after being arrested for a January 4 Twitter post that was deemed offensive to Islam, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Ferdinand Hutahaean, a Democrat Party politician, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of hate speech.

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