Persecution in Pakistan and India
Last month we looked at religious persecution in Kenya. In India and Pakistan also we find evidence of anti-Christian hostility. Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world – home, it is thought, to almost 200 million people. For political reasons, a census has not been held for nearly 20 years; but estimates of those who identify themselves as Christian in the widest sense, range from 2 to 10 million, from 2.5 to 4.5 million are Hindu, and almost all others are Muslim. It is therefore virtually inevitable for Christian minorities to be marginalised and frequently attacked.
Some Christian workers, particularly those from Youhanabad – the largest Christian part of Pakistan – are optimistic that a census will be conducted this year, which will give accurate figures for Christians and so give them a louder voice in government. However, many others are more cautious and feel that, even if a census shows an increase in the number of Christians, nothing will change until Pakistan’s attitude towards non-Muslims improves.
We hear of women being violated and forced into Muslim marriages, which involve compulsory conversion to Islam. When their families protest,
they are accused of distressing the “voluntarily-converted” girl and her new family. In April last year a Taliban bombing in Lahore aimed at Christians killed at least 69 people. According to local reports, after being accused of desecrating the Quran, a Christian couple were beaten and burned alive in a kiln at their place of work. We know personally of a man who fled to Scotland after several members of his family were injured in an Islamic attack. Tragically most of his wife’s family had been burnt to death in an earlier attack on their home. The couple and their children have obtained asylum in Scotland. Significantly, from his experience he sees no difference between the attitudes of “moderate” and “extreme” Islamists and holds out little hope of peace for Christians in Pakistan in the near future.
In neighbouring India, which has a population of over 1.3 billion, the situation is also serious. Here Hinduism is the main religion (81%) with Islam the second largest (14%). Although India’s constitution claims to protect freedom of religion, violence against religious minorities has increased. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which gained strength in recent elections, is said to be rooted in an ideology which aims to “make India a Hindu state”. It is claimed that “some adherents of this ideology . . . use violence, discriminatory acts and religiously motivated rhetoric against religious minorities, creating a climate of fear”.
One report states that “members of the ruling party have ties to Hindu nationalist groups implicated in religious freedom violations; [they] use religiously divisive language to inflame tensions, and call for additional laws that would restrict religious freedom”. Several Indian states enforce anti-conversion laws – said to be “only concerned about conversions away from Hinduism”. In July last year, a Christian minister was abducted and beaten on this basis.
There are also accounts of attempted forced conversions to Hinduism. Early last year, it is claimed, “six Gondi tribal Christian families fled the village of Katodi after their Hindu neighbors attacked and threatened them in order to forcibly convert them to Hinduism”. A few months before this, a radical Hindu group linked to the BJP, “reportedly placed signs in train stations throughout India that said Christians had to leave India or convert to Hinduism or they will be killed by 2021”. A recent International Religious Freedom report on India confirms that Christians have faced “an increase of harassment and violence, including physical violence, arson, desecration of churches and Bibles, and disruption of religious services”. It adds, “Local police seldom provided protection, refused to accept complaints, and rarely investigated incidents of persecution”.
Members of the Dev Sanskriti Raksha Manch, an extreme Hindu group,
disrupted a two-day Christian prayer meeting held at a local school in Rampur in May this year. On the first day of the meeting, the Hindu group organised a crowd of nearly 150 for a protest march against alleged “conversions”. A local lawyer complained that members of this group, “armed with sticks . . . attacked and injured several police personnel who did try to prevent them from entering the venue of the meeting”. The meeting then had to be cancelled. Afterwards members of the Hindu group made inflammatory statements to the media, alleging that Christians supported Islamic State and were conspiring against their nation.
In the first four months of this year, the Christian organization, Open Doors, reported a total of 316 incidents of persecution of Christians. Of the 68 which took place in April, more than a third involved beatings. In some cases, the victims, including two children, were almost killed; a minister was critically wounded in the head when struck by a sword; and some people have been expelled from their villages. Church members have been openly attacked with large sticks or swords. There seems to be no fear of the police as extremist groups proclaim India to be a Hindu country, warning that Christians have no right to attempt to convert people.
We should be thankful that we still have freedom to preach and to hear the gospel in the UK, however long that freedom will continue. These countries are not so blessed. Still the Saviour’s command is: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). This includes the people of Pakistan and India, who urgently need our prayers. KHM
Mosque in Stornoway
Permission has been sought to convert a derelict house in Stornoway into a mosque. A “spokesman for the local Muslim community” said that the proposal was only for a “very small building” and would not be a large mosque at all. He said that “the premises would also host special events like birthdays and funerals – when non-Muslim friends and neighbours would be part of the gathering”. If the present religious trends in Lewis and the rest of Britain continue, within a generation this “small mosque” may well be a large mosque, and larger than some or all of the local churches. DWBS
Rutherford Monument
A monument, nearly 60 feet high, to Samuel Rutherford has stood since 1842 above Gatehouse of Fleet but now needs urgent repair as some large stones at the top are loose. A few months ago £20 000 had been raised; a further £6000 was required. Gatehouse Development Initiative (a registered charity of 56 High Street, Gatehouse of Fleet, DG7 2HP) is to arrange repairs. A page on the website, www.gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk, can receive donations.
Church Information
Committee Meetings
These Synod committees will meet, DV, in Inverness Free Presbyterian Church as follows on Tuesday, October 3:
10.00 – 10.30 Church Interests Committee
10.30 – 12.00 Training of the Ministry Committee
12.00 – 1.00 Sabbath Observance Committee
2.00 – 5.00 Finance Committee
2.00 – 3.00 Outreach Committee
3.00 – 5.00 Religion and Morals Committee
6.00 – 7.30 Publications and Bookroom Committee
7.30 – 8.30 Welfare of Youth Committee
7.30 – 8.30 Overseas Committee
(Rev) K M Watkins, Clerk of Synod
Overseas Fund
By appointment of Synod, the special collection on behalf of the Overseas Fund is due to be taken in congregations during September.
W Campbell, General Treasurer
Acknowledgement of Donations
The General Treasurer acknowledges with sincere thanks the following donations:
Eastern Europe Fund: Mr N Pearce, Cymru, £140.
Jewish & Foreign Missions Fund: Anon, for Thembisio Children’s Home, £100.
Congregational Treasurers acknowledge with sincere thanks the following donations:
Barnoldswick: Dutch Friends, £40.
Duirinish & Bracadale-Strath: Glendale church, where most needed, £200.
Glasgow: Family of late Mrs J Knight, £150; Anon, £15, £20, £20. Bus Fund: Anon, £20, £15, £20, £20, £10, £200. Eastern Europe Fund: Anon, for manse repairs, £500; £65, £80, £62, £62, £65, £65, £62, £62, £65, £50, £65, £63, £70. Home Mission Fund: Anon, £100.
Jewish & Foreign Missions Fund: Anon, £100. Sustentation Fund: Anon, £200. TBS: Anon, £120, £10. Where Most Needed: Anon, £20, £20.
Greenock: Jewish & Foreign Missions Fund: Anon, £60. Sustentation Fund: Anon, £80, £1000.
Halkirk: A Spencer, £30.
Inverness: Anon, for Induction expenses, £50. Home Mission Fund: A M Reynolds, £24.
Jewish & Foreign Missions Fund: A M Reynolds, £24, £16; Anon, £20.
Ness: Communion Expenses: Friend of the Cause, £40. Sustentation Fund: Anon, £60; Friend, Northern Ireland, £40 per Rev AWM.
North Tolsta: Anon, In memory of late Mr R J MacLeod, elder, Ps 107:30, £600; Anon, in memory of my dear parents, Miller 19NT, £500; Anon, in memory of beloved parents, £20; Anon, £200. Communion Expenses: Friend of the Cause, £30; Anon, £50; Anon, £40 per MM; Anon for minister’s expenses, £90 per MM; MacLeod, 10 New Tolsta, £40. Door Collection: Anon, £8, £100. Sustentation Fund: Anon, for pulpit supply, £20.
Shieldaig: Estate of late Peggy Livingstone, £829.91. Communion Expenses: Anon, £100, £100. Door Collection: Anon, £100, £90.