Muslim extremists suspected in death of Christian worker in India

Family members of a Christian worker who was found dead in a Muslim area in Jharkhand state a day after the Islamic Eid festival said they suspect he may have been murdered by local residents.

The body of Shravan Kumar, who had worked with the Gospel Echoing Missionary Society, was found lying in a well near the Idgah Mosque in Garhwa town in the wee hours of Sept. 13, a close relative of the deceased told Compass by phone.

Kumar, 31, lived in Pratapgarh district in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state. He left for Garhwa, 65 kilometers (40 miles) from his house, saying he wanted to see a colleague there on Sept 10.

“But neither did he visit the colleague, nor did he get back home,” said the relative.

On Sept. 15, a family member went to Garhwa looking for him. He found his picture in an advertisement police had placed in a local newspaper in an effort to identify the body.

“When Kumar’s body was handed over to the family, it was beyond recognition; it had swollen,” said the relative.

Muslim Mob Attacks Christians in Gujrat, Pakistan

A mob of Muslim extremists on Thursday (Sept. 23) shot at and beat dozens of Christians, including one cleared of “blasphemy” charges, in Punjab Province’s Gujrat district, Christian leaders said.

The attack on Tariq Gill, exonerated of charges of blaspheming the Quran on Sept. 3, 2009, and on his father Murad Gill, his mother and the other Christian residents was the latest of more than 10 such assaults on the Christian colony of Mohalla Kalupura, Gujrat city, since Sept. 8, the Rev. Suleman Nasri Khan and Bishop Shamas Pervaiz told Compass.

About 40 Islamists – some shooting Kalashnikovs and pistols at homes and individuals on the street, others brandishing axes and clubs – beat some of the Christians so badly that they left them for dead, Pastor Khan said. So far, 10 families have been targeted for the attacks.

Second Church Threatened with Demolition in Malaysia

A second church in Orang Asli is slated for destruction even though the native parishoners don't know why.

The church, located in a forested area of Pos Pasik, is only accessibly by four-wheel drive.

"The community has always had bamboo churches which have to be replaced once every two years," said Moses Soo, bishop of all Orang Asli churches in Kelantan. "Two years ago, the government began providing brick houses for the villagers and this sparked the idea of a brick church too."

Cash for the church construction, which began in May, was raised by the community and aided by Soo.

India's president under pressure to protect Christians

India’s president is being pressed to protect Christians in the country’s northern Kashmir region after a mob burned down the oldest school there and also attacked other Christian institutions nearby.

“I am pained to state that though the local authorities were informed about a possible attack … no protection was provided,” stated the Rt Rev Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy in a message to President Pratibha Patil.

“You are aware that the Christians in the State of Jammu and Kashmir are a tiny minority who always live and serve under stressful and sometimes threatening situations,” the Church of North India bishop added Wednesday. “The present situation has made the Christians in Jammu and Kashmir feel very insecure.”

Muslims shout slogans as they burn a placard bearing the name of US President Barack Obama in Jammu, India, on Tuesday in protest of the reported desecration of Korans in the US.

Christian human rights group urges Indonesia to protect religious freedom

Christian Solidarity Worldwide has called upon the Indonesian Government to safeguard religious freedom and pluralism in the wake of attacks on Christians and Ahmadiyya Muslims in the country.

The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace says that at least 30 attacks on churches have been reported so far this year, with extremist Islamist groups targetting churches in West Java in particular.

In one attack earlier this month, an elder of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Bekasi was seriously injured when he was stabbed in the heart and stomach while on his way to a service. In another incident, a pastor was beaten with a wooden block.

Christian School in Kashmir Attacked Over Reported Quran Desecrations

Hundreds of Muslims in the divided region of Kashmir took to the streets Monday night in violent protest over the reported desecration of Qurans in the United States.

Over a dozen people have reportedly died in the clash that ensued between police and protesters, and a Christian private school was set ablaze in the volatile Himalayan region.

While violence and protests in Kashmir have been ongoing since June, Monday’s protests shifted from India’s rule over the disputed region to anti-Quran actions in the United States, where footage was taken of demonstrators tearing out pages from Islam's sacred text over the weekend.

A Kashmiri protester is silhouetted as they shout slogans during a late night protest on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Monday, Sept. 13, 2010. Indian forces battled Kashmiri protesters in the streets of the disputed territory Monday in demonstrations fueled in part by a report of a Quran being desecrated in the United States.

Indonesia Church Building in Bogor Re-Opens – for a Day

The Bogor city government in West Java re-sealed the Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI) Yasmin Church on Aug. 28, one day after security police had removed the seal and lock.

Under cover of darkness, Bogor security police were ordered to secretly re-seal the church building at 11 p.m. the night before it was to be used for worship services.


Jayadi Damanik, a member of the GKI Yasmin legal team, said security police had removed the lock and seal after church talks with the district officer, the Bogor police chief, the head of the security police and citizens who live near the church. In those talks all parties agreed that there was no reason to question the construction and presence of the GKI Yasmin Church, he said.

The district officer and the Bogor police chief told church leaders that the original sealing of the church on April 11 was the unwarranted result of political pressure, he said.

Gospel for Asia Mourns Murder of Indian Missionary-EU Team Visits Site of Anti-Christian Violence in India

Gospel For Asia has expressed its sorrow over the murder of one of its missionaries in India last month.

Ajit Bansi was constructing a new church in Assam when he was killed by an extremist anti-Christian group on May 20. He had gone to a nearby town to purchase materials for the final phase of construction but never returned.

GFA said he was ambushed together with three other people and that all four were shot dead by the extremist group.

Christians in Malaysia not fighting for usage of 'Allah as it is already been using 4-500 years already.No one has right to change one's language usage.

This is a misconception the leader of nearly all the 2.5 million Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians in Malaysia has been trying to correct.

Christian Federation of Malaysia Chairman Ng Moon Hing stressed that the Malay word for God is as much a part of the languages of indigenous Christians as it is a part of the language Muslims use.

"Native Malaysians have been using 'Allah' for centuries and now you are saying they cannot any longer," he said to The Christian Post on the sidelines of a recent meeting of Anglican archbishops in Singapore.

"It's not a fight for it; it's just that it has been part and parcel of their religious and social life."

Native Malaysians who are neither Muslim nor Christian also use "Allah," the bishop pointed out. Thus, the "Allah" dispute is not a religious issue, he stressed.

It is essentially one community defining language for another community, and one religion telling another to change their Scripture, he suggested.

"It's not right to change another people's language," Ng said. "If the people themselves want to change it, let them change it themselves… no one should change another people's language.

"I think that is a universal right … so I don't think we are fighting for any rights," he said. "There is no intention to fight."

Nine native people groups, who make up 60 percent of Christians - over one million people - in Malaysia, have been using "Allah" for nearly half a millennium without controversy.

Churches Destroyed In Nigeria Kano State

Nigeria's Kano, Yobe, and Borno States has seen more sectarian violence and attacks against Christians.



Muslim extremists destroyed several churches and a pastor's house in the latest religious violence to hit Nigeria's northern Kano state, church representatives and rights activists said Friday, May 21.

One of the buildings and the pastor’s house were set ablaze on the premises of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) at Kwasam, in the Kiru Local Government area, while another building under construction was demolished, the church said.

Local Christians estimated that over 100 young people were involved in this week's attacks in the predominantly Muslim area.