Monday, July 11, 2011

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

Pastor Johnny Lazarus, 50, was beaten by Hindu extremists on June 28 at Bollepally village in Bhongir Mandal. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that one extremist, Malla Reddy, accused Pastor Lazarus of performing witchcraft on him. Reddy and his family members verbally abused the pastor and his faith, saying, “You brought a low-caste god among us,” slapped him and threatened to harm him further if he did not leave the area immediately. The pastor reported the attack to police and to the AICC. Police officers summoned both parties on July 1, and the attackers apologized to the pastor, putting into writing that they would not disturb him again. The pastor forgave his assailants.

Karnataka – Police on June 28 arrested two Christians after Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal attacked Pastor M. Sandeep and a man identified only as Isaac as they were returning home from a prayer meeting in Heggere, Hubli. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at about 11 a.m. the extremists rushed the Christians and began questioning them, accusing them of forceful conversion. They searched their bags for Christian literature, slapped them and verbally abused them. The extremists then took the Christians to the Old Hubli police station, where they were detained for about six hours. Thereafter police filed charges for hurting religious sentiments, violation of private property and unlawful coercion. The Christians appeared before a judge and were later sent to Dharwad Jail.

Karnataka – On June 28 in Shimago, state officials verbally ordered the cancelling of permission for a Christian school to operate after Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh urged authorities to do so. The extremists accused Good Shepherd Community School officials of forceful conversion. The All India Christian Council reported that the school, belonging to Operation Mercy India Foundation, educates people of all faiths. Area Christian leaders were taking steps to resolve the conflict, with villagers supporting S. Prakash, community development officer of the school. Tensions prevailed in Shimoga as people awaited written notice cancelling the school’s permission to operate.

                       
Karnataka – Police arrested four tribal Christians after Hindu extremists accused them of forceful conversion on June 21 in Badragola village, Virajpet. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the Christians – three of whom were identified by their single names of Mani, Agela and Ravi – were detained at the police station for about five hours without food and water. They later appeared before a Virajpet judge, and the Christians were released on bail the same day with the intervention of area Christian leaders. The GCIC reported that the area Hindu extremists were jealous of improvements in the tribal Christians’ lives after they received Christ.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on June 19 disrupted worship and threatened to harm Christians if they continued meeting in Gurur, Durg. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the extremists led by Narayana Teke stormed into the Sunday worship meeting, took pictures of the congregation and ordered the Christians to leave the building. Pastors Mohan C. Thomas and Anish C.K. went out to meet the furious mob, and the extremists then warned them to leave the area altogether.


Tamil Nadu – On June 12 in Karaikal, Puducherry, Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh threatened a Christian identified only as Pastor Robinson and members of the Church of Jesus. The extremists warned the Christians that they would be harmed if they continued to hold worship services. Pastor Robinson works as a manager in a Christian school and also leads a church of 100, reported the All India Christian Council. About 50 extremists stormed into the Sunday worship meeting and threatened the pastor and others with knives, warning them to cease all Christian activities. Pastor Robinson and local Christians submitted a memorandum to the district collector asking authorities for protection.

Surgery to change sex to female infants: condemned by the Church

http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/j/ju/just4you/1281126__baby_boy__2.jpg"We have strongly condemned, as Indian bishops, this horrible practice of surgery to change sex of female infants” explained Fr. Charles Irudayam, Secretary of the "Committee for Justice, Peace and Development" of the Episcopal Conference of India in an interview with Fides on Thursday. It is the result of a mindset that favors male as a source of profit and as a son of greater value. What has taken hold in the state of Madhya Pradesh (central India) is an aberrant phenomenon: cases in which doctors practice surgery to change sex of female babies multiply, at the request of parents who favor males. The state government has launched an official investigation to stop the practice, known as "genitoplasty", which has already seen 300 cases of girls under the age of one year operated in the city of Indore. The cost of the surgery is the equivalent of about $ 3,200, and the emergence of this phenomenon has made Indore city a destination for families from other states, like New Delhi and Mumbai. Activists and human rights organizations have defined the practice as "shocking" and the National Commission for Child Protection has asked the government for stricter measures to block it mortifying the dignity of women", A lot needs to be done – just like what the Church is doing - to spread a culture of equality and to promote the dignity and the rights of women in society. Fr. Anand Muttungal, spokesman for the Council of Bishops of Madhya Pradesh, told Fides: "The preference for males is still a strong factor in the families of the Hindu faith, the belief is that to have salvation you need a son.. In India there are about 500 million women, out of a population of over one billion people. Since independence the state has enacted laws to protect the rights of women, but gender inequality is still an open issue. According to data from the NGOs, the infant deaths of females exceed the males by more than 300 thousand units per year, because of the privilege given to males also in nutrition. Women suffer discrimination in childhood, then in access to education, in employment and in all sectors of society.

Vatican delegations hail South Sudan

For the first time Saturday the newest nation of the world raised its flag and the newest president Salva Kiir took the oath of office in the presence of Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary –General flanked by world leaders, sparking wild jubilant cheers from the crowds The 193rd country recognized by the United Nations and the 54th U.N. member state in Africa was a reality. Pope Benedict XVI joined the chorus in wishing the new state “peace and prosperity”. For this solemn occasion, the Holy Father’s official delegation was headed by Cardinal John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi and president of the Kenya Episcopal Conference. It included also Archbishop Leo Boccardi, apostolic nuncio to Sudan, and Msgr. Javier Herrera Corona, secretary of the apostolic nunciature to Kenya, who gladly toasted the new nation, many of whose citizens are Catholic.