The central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh registered 23 cases against Christians and Muslims in the first 23 days of the country’s newest and most severe anti-conversion law, International Christian Concern reports. The government of Madhya Pradesh is dominated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the current ruling party in India.
...continue reading this storyTwo Christian evangelists in Pakistan have been charged with blasphemy - and could face a mandatory death penalty if convicted, International Christian Concern reports. Haroon Ayub Masih and Salamat Mansha Masih were arrested on February 13 for allegedly insulting Islam while preaching the Gospel in Model Town Park in Lahore.
...continue reading this storySeven Christian families in India’s Odisha state have now been driven from their village after they built a small house in which to gather for worship last October, International Christian Concern reports.
...continue reading this storyTwo Christian men were flogged by a Sharia law officer Monday for the criminalized offenses of drinking alcohol and gambling in Indonesia’s province of Aceh, the Christian Post reports. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia with the “legal right to apply Islamic law in full.”
...continue reading this storyHindu nationalists carried out another attack on Christians in southern India on January 31, International Christian Concern reports. Six of the twenty-eight Christians who were injured in the attack in the Ramnagara District of Karnataka required hospital treatment.
...continue reading this storyA Christian nurse in Pakistan was charged with blasphemy Friday, after an Islamist mob demanded police rescind their original decision to dismiss an allegation against her, Morning Star News reports. Accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan can result in lengthy jail sentences, and can also trigger mob lynchings and vigilante murders.
...continue reading this storyChristian survivors of a massive earthquake in heavily Islamic Indonesia urgently need food, blankets, suitable tents, and other essentials, aid workers said Sunday.
...continue reading this storyThe Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has reported that, even in the midst of coronavirus lockdowns affecting the whole country for months, there were over 300 incidents of religious persecution against Christians in India last year, International Christian Concern said. In its report, EFI noted that Christian persecution has more than doubled since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and his right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.
...continue reading this storyA Hindu nationalist leader in India’s Madhya Pradesh state has demanded that local authorities shut down all churches in the state’s tribal areas, falsely claiming that Christians are carrying out mass conversions on “gullible indigenous peoples,” International Christian Concern reports. Head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Azad Prem Singh threatened violent action if his January 11 demand is not met within 30 days.
...continue reading this storyThe Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has charged and jailed its first Christians under a new anti-conversion law, International Christian Concern reports. A Korean Christian and three Indian nationals in the Gautam Buddh Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh were arrested under the new Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance on December 19, 2020.
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