News and Prayer Alert from Release International - Breaking news India, plus Iran, Indonesia and North Korea
Sep 30 2008
Postings >> Press Release

Breaking news… India violence against Christians spreads to 12 states... 57 killed and 50,000 homeless in Orissa alone, according to All India Christian Council… March in London on Saturday to petition Gordon Brown and press the Indian government to stop the violence 

INDIA

Breaking news: Growing violence against Christians in India has now spread to 12 states, according to the All India Christian Council. 57 have been killed and 50,000 driven from their homes in Orissa state alone, in attacks by Hindu extremists.

A march has been called in London on Saturday October 4 to present a petition to Gordon Brown and to the Indian High Commission, calling on the Indian government to intervene to stop the escalating violence.

Marchers will gather in Richmond Terrace off Victoria Embankment at 2pm, for the rally staged by India Christian Concern. For more details, contact coordinator William Sidhu on 07958 281230.

India’s national government is threatening to impose emergency rule on two states unless they stop anti-Christian violence which has raged for six weeks.

The federal government issued an official warning to Orissa and Karnataka, accusing the Hindu nationalist BJP which rules both states of failing to curb the violence. Unless the two state governments take decisive action, ‘President’s rule’ will be introduced, in accordance with Article 356 of the constitution.

Attacks by Hindu extremists’ have now spread to 12 states, according to the All India Christian Council. http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2437/45/

On just one day, September 20, a Christian man was hacked to death by militants as he tried to reach a relief camp in the town of Phulbani in Orissa's Kandhamal district. And in Karnataka, militants ransacked four churches, three in the city of Bangalore and one in Kodagu district. And seven Christians were accused of ‘forced conversion’ in Thalikare.

Looting, arson, forced conversions to Hinduism and even murders continue to be reported.
The situation is now ‘getting out of hand’, according to the All India Christian Council.

On September 20, Christians were joined by politicians from several different parties at a protest rally in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, condemning the violence.

Hindu extremists launched their anti-Christian campaign after one of their spiritual leaders Laxmanananda Saraswati was murdered in August (See News Alert 16 September 2008). Hindus have blamed Christians for his death, even after Maoists admitted responsibility.

(Sources: All India Christian Council, India Christian Concern, Compass Direct, The Voice of the Martyrs Canada)

• Continue to pray for the return of law and order across India. Pray that governments of affected states will take firm action to protect Christians.
• Pray that this violence will help highlight the plight of India’s persecuted Christians and make it more difficult for militants to attack with impunity.  

IRAN

Release International has launched a viral video to raise awareness of two Iranians who could face the death penalty for leaving the Muslim faith.

The one-minute video highlights the plight of Mahmood Matin Azad, 52, and 44-year-old Arash Basirat, who were officially charged with apostasy after their arrest in May and are now awaiting trial behind bars. The video can be downloaded from http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/downloads/video.php

The idea is to pass it on to friends and contacts to raise prayer and put pressure on the Iranian government, as Tehran moves closer to imposing a mandatory death penalty on anyone leaving Islam.

News that the Iranian parliament has now approved a bill imposing the death penalty for apostates is a blow not just to Mahmood and Arash’s families but also to other Christians with a Muslim background.

Parliament approved a new penal code, which includes the ‘apostasy bill’, on September 9, by a vote of 196 to seven. The code is still being reviewed by parliament and will then need to be approved by Iran’s Guardian Council – a body of 12 conservative theologians and jurists. The Council is not expected to veto parliament’s decision.

Commentators now believe the only hope of derailing the bill is international pressure. There is a precedent for this: in 2005 Christian Hamid Pourmand, a former army colonel, was acquitted of apostasy following international lobbying on his behalf.

On September 26 the EU issued a declaration urging the Iranian Government to reconsider the draft bill on apostasy.

(Sources: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Compass Direct, World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission)

• Pray for Mahmood, Arash and their families. Pray that they will be tried and acquitted promptly. Pray that international pressure will be brought to bear on Iran where hardliners such as President Ahmadinejad are gaining influence.
• Write a polite letter underlining your hope that Iran will uphold all citizens’ freedom of religion. Write to: His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Or to: His Excellency Mr Rasoul Movahedian, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 16 Prince’s Gate, London SW7 1PT.

INDONESIA

Members of a Christian organisation locked in a land row with a private firm in Jakarta are being attacked and threatened by officials sent in to mediate.

Property belonging to the Indonesian Christian Students’ Movement (GMKI) has been damaged and its members assaulted by those whose job it is to arbitrate in local disputes.

GMKI’s row with the local firm – Kencana Indotama Persada (KIP) – began when part of a plot of land occupied by GMKI was sold off to KIP in 2006. The land is officially owned by the Christian Education Foundation which allows several Christian bodies, including GMKI, use of the plot. Compass Direct news agency reports that KIP bought a portion of the land in 2006 from a Foundation board member acting independently of the board.

KIP has already partially demolished an old building on the disputed plot. Tensions rose when KIP contractors built a wall round the plot – and GMKI students pulled it down.

Instead of acting as impartial arbitrators, Public Order officials are in fact blatantly siding with KIP. Officials threatened to stab GMKI chairman Charles Hutahaean with a bayonet and kicked him in the stomach when he tried to stop them removing GMKI students’ protest banners. Compass Direct sources suggest Public Order officials might benefit financially from protecting KIP’s business interests.

GMKI lawyers have taken the case to the Supreme Court, which has yet to make a ruling in the case.

(Source: Compass Direct)

• Pray that the Supreme Court will intervene to ensure that justice is done and public order is upheld in this case.
• Ask God to protect GMKI students and their chairman Charles Hutahaean, and help them to respond wisely.

NORTH KOREA

Hopes of reform in North Korea are probably premature, warned RI sources, following news that dictator Kim Jong-il may be seriously ill.

The North Korean premier, who has not been seen in public for weeks, is believed to have suffered an ‘acute’ illness, possibly a stroke, in late August.

But The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) USA warns that changes in policy are not expected and life for North Korea’s persecuted Christians is unlikely to improve in the near future.

‘It is reasonably certain that no change in the North Korean power structure has occurred and there are no signs that such a change is imminent,’ said a VOM spokesperson overseeing the organisation’s work in North Korea.

Kim Jong-il, the focus of a personality cult on which the totalitarian regime is founded, is said to be still ‘aware and interactive with those around him’. Particularly harsh treatment is reserved for North Korean Christians whom the authorities consider enemies of the state.

(Source: The Voice of the Martyrs USA)

• Ask God to help North Korean Christians place their hope in Him, their Saviour.
• Pray that Kim Jong-il’s illness will lead him to reflect on the brutality of his regime. 

ENDS 

NOTES TO THE EDITOR 

In Release International’s regular news and prayer service on the persecuted Church we are focusing initially on seven principal nations where Christians have faced intense persecution. These are China, North Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Sudan – though we may report on others. Our aims are to raise awareness of the persecuted Church and encourage prayer. 

We welcome your feedback on this service. 

For further information please contact Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org  

For more information on Release International please go to: www.releaseinternational.org