KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) – An Indian pastor was brutally attacked by a group of Hindu radicals on Monday, March 8, 2010 at Mysore in Karnataka State.

According to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the incident took place at around 11:30 AM as Pastor Ravi Chandran (30) was conducting a prayer meeting at a nearby believer’s house.

The source said that a group of about 10-15 Hindu radicals forcefully entered the house and began to abuse the pastor and the believers gathered there.

The report said that they hit the pastor with glass bottles, as well as kicking and punching him mercilessly, after which they disappeared from the venue.

According to the news source, Pastor Ravi, who is married to Daisy (28) and with a daughter and son, sustained severe leg injury and head swelling during the attack and believers take him to a nearby government hospital where he was admitted.

Pastor Ravi ministers with the Gospel in Action fellowship organization.

ISFAHAN, IRAN (ANS) – Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that an Assyrian pastor the Iranian government had accused of “converting Muslims” is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said.

The CDN story said that State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan, 208 miles (335 kilometers) south of Tehran.

According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi’s wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison, where she saw that he had obvious signs of torture. Iranian intelligence officials told Nazanin that her husband might be executed for his alleged activities.

“Issavi is the pastor of The Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in Isfahan, a 50-year-old church body affiliated with The Assemblies of God that caters to the local Assyrian population,” said the CDN story. “One regional analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Iranian government is set on crushing religious freedom within the country.

“On Feb. 28, Isfahan residents Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were arrested at their home. Aghajary was at home with a group of other Christians when police came for her and her husband, who was not at home, according to Middle East Concern. Police handcuffed Aghajary and, upon finding boxes of Bibles, began beating her. Her husband Shafiee was arrested an hour later when he returned to the house. Their fate and whereabouts are still unknown.”

The regional analyst told CDN, “The recent spate of church leader arrests provides clear evidence of the Iranian authorities’ desperate determination to strangle the growing church movement, along with all other forms of perceived political dissent.”

The mostly ethnic Berom victims included many women and children killed with machetes by rampaging Fulani herdsmen. About 75 houses were also burned, according to Compass.

State Information Commissioner Gregory Yenlong confirmed that about 500 persons were killed in the attacks, which took place mainly in Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Rastat villages, reported Compass.

“We were woken up by gunshots in the middle of the night, and before we knew what was happening, our houses were torched and they started hacking down people,” survivor Musa Gyang told media.

The assailants reportedly came on foot from a neighboring state. Security forces had been alerted about a possible attack on the villages but did not act in time.

The attack on Sunday is the latest in several religious clashes in the state in recent months that have claimed lives and property. Plateau state is a predominantly Christian state in a country almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. The Muslim minority has been contesting ownership of some parts of the state, leading to frequent clashes, according to Compass.

Bishop Andersen Bok, national coordinator of the Plateau State Elders Christian Fellowship, along with group Secretary General Musa Pam, described the attack as yet another “jihad and provocation on Christians.”

“Dogo Nahawa is a Christian community,” the Christian leaders said in a statement. “Eyewitnesses say the Hausa Fulani Muslim militants were chanting ‘Allah Akbar,’ (God is great), broke into houses, cutting human beings, including children and women with their knives and cutlasses.”

“Since the first of the year the violence against Christians in the Jos area has increased,” says Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller. “This weekend’s slaughter of Christians, which included many women and children, is horrific.

“Please pray with me for peace to come to this region of Nigeria. Pray that the violence will not spread. And pray for wisdom for acting President Goodluck Jonathan.”

Jonathan called an emergency meeting with all security service chiefs on Monday to discuss strategies to prevent clashes spreading to neighboring states, presidential sources told Reuters News.

Twelve states in northern Nigeria have enacted Shariah Law (strict Muslim law). Northern Nigeria is ranked No. 27 on this year’s Open Doors World Watch List of the worst persecutors of Christians.

KASUR, PAKISTAN (ANS) – A Pakistani court on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 sentenced a Christian couple to 25 years in prison for defiling the Quran, the Muslim holy book, ANS has learned.

According to the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) UK Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi were accused of touching Quran with unwashed hands.

A blasphemy case was registered against Ruqqiya Bibi and her husband Munir Masih on December 19, 2008 under 295-B of Pakistan Penal Code (an offense that carries life imprisonment, if convicted) at Mustafabad Police Station in Kasur, a city near Lahore.

Mr. Nasir Saeed, Director CLAAS-UK told our correspondent that the pair were granted bail but the hardliner Muslims allegedly pressured police to implicate them for committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad, an offense that carries death sentence, if convicted.

ANS has learned that the pair managed to get bail again.

The final arguments of the case were presented before the court on February 18, 2010 by CLAAS lawyer, Mr. Tahir Gul Sadiq

The UK-based human rights activist said that Ruqqiya Bibi and Munir Masih were sentenced for 25 years imprisonment by the judge, Mr. Ajmal Hussein in Kasur on March 2, 2010.

Saeed told our correspondent that Masih and his wife had been receiving financial assistance from CLAAS since they got into blasphemy-related trouble.

Police, he said, arrested Ruqqiya Bibi and her husband Munir Masih from the court and have sent Masih to the Kasur District Jail and Ruqqiya to the Multan Women Jail.

“CLAAS is grieved by the sad end of the story and is going to file an appeal in the High Court Lahore on behalf of Ruqqiya Bibi and her husband Munir Masih against their 25 years imprisonment,” said Mr. Saeed.

KALLUR KOT, PAKISTAN (ANS) — Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that the four older Muslim brothers of a 26-year-old Christian beat him unconscious in Kallur Kot town, Pakistan, earlier this month because he refused their enticements to convert to Islam.

The CDN story says that Riaz Masih, whose Christian parents died when he was a boy, said his continual refusal to convert infuriated his siblings and the Muslim cleric who raised them, Moulvi Peer Akram-Ullah.

On Feb. 8, he said, his brothers ransacked his house in this Punjab Province town 233 kilometers (145 miles) southwest of Islamabad. “They threatened that it was the breaking point now, and that I must convert right now or face death,” Masih said.

“They said killing an infidel is not a sin, instead it’s righteousness in the sight of Allah almighty.”

Compass Direct News said that he stated that Akram-Ullah and his brothers offered him 1 million rupees (US$11,790), a spacious residence and a woman of his choice to marry in order to lure him to Islam, but he declined.

“The Muslim cleric had converted Masih’s brothers and sisters in like manner, according to human rights organization Rays of Development (ROD), which has provided financial, medical and moral support to Masih,” said the CDN story.

Adnan Saeed, an executive member of ROD, told Compass that when Masih’s parents passed away, Masih and his siblings were tenants of Akram-Ullah, who cared for them and inculcated them with Islamic ideology. ROD began assisting Masih after a chapter of the Christian Welfare Organization (CWO) brought the injured Christian to ROD.

A spokesman for CWO who requested anonymity told Compass that Akram-Ullah had offered Masih’s brothers and sister a large plot of residential land, as well as 500,000 rupees (US$5,895) each, if they would recite the kalimah, the profession of faith for converting to Islam.

For more information, go to www.compassdirect.org

MYSORE, INDIA – A group of 300 Hindi radicals entered the homes of Christian believers in a slum located in Mysore, Karnataka state on February 17, 2010, and assaulted them for their faith in Christ.C

According to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the attack took place at around 7:00 pm when the radicals belonging to Bajrang Dal, a right-wing Hindu organization which is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), made their way to the location of 22 Christian houses in a slum.

The CCIC report said that they indiscriminately attacked and beat up men, women and children, shouting slogans “Jai Hanuman” (Hail, Lord Hanuman) as they did. They also alleged that the saffron-clad radicals “misbehaved with the women engaged in the household chores and hit them with stones and beat them with wooden clubs.”

The source said the attackers then compelled some of them to sign affidavits, to admit that they were being “forcibly converted” to Christianity. However, the vehement refusal of most of the determined Christian slum dwellers infuriated the Bajrang Dal activists and a Christian believer called Gopal lost four teeth and was admitted to the government hospital Internal Care Unit for treatment.

The source said that the policemen arrived at around 10 pm and then took the Christian victims to the police station and allegedly repeatedly threatening them of “dire consequences if they continued to hold on to their faith in Christ.”

To make matters worse, the story also alleged that the injured when then taken to a local hospital, but “were denied proper medical aid by the hospital authorities.”

CHHATTISGARH, INDIA (ANS) — A group of 30 radical Hindus belonging to Shiva Sena (Army of Shiva) and Bajrang Dal, a right-wing Hindu organization which is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), attacked a prayer meeting at Korba in Chhattisgarh on Friday, January 22, 2010, injuring three pastors and a dozen believers.

According the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), an advocacy group, the attack took place at about 8.30 PM as the prayer meeting progressed.

The source said that when the Hindu radicals barged into the meeting premises, the organizers requested them not to disturb the prayer service, but they manhandled them and then proceeded to attack both pastors and participants.

It was also reported that the Hindu radicals started shouting “Jai Shri Ram!” (Hail Shri Ram) and then beat up the Christians with sticks, verbally insulting them, and accusing them of “forcibly” converting Hindus to Christianity.

It was reported that at least a dozen members, including the pastors, sustained injuries. The source said that the mob damaged chairs and took away a laptop computer, two mobile phones, digital cameras and cash from the participants as they made their way out.

But in yet another head-scratching decision in India, instead of arresting the attackers, the police registered a complaint against three pastors who were beaten up and are holding them in Bilaspur Central Jail

GCIC has requested for prayers for the safety of the pastors “illegally imprisoned for their faith in Christ.”

FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) — Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that a young Christian shopkeeper was sentenced to a life term in prison and fined more than $1,000 last week following a dubious conviction of desecrating the Quran, according to Pakistan’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP).

Objections to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws gained momentum at a protest in Lahore last August.

The CDN story said that Peter Jacob, general secretary of the NCJP, had stated that 22-year-old Imran Masih of the Faisalabad suburb of Hajvairy was convicted of desecrating the Quran (Section 295-B of Pakistan’s legal code) and thereby outraging religious feelings (Section 295-A) by Additional District & Sessions Judge Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan on Jan. 11.

“The conviction was based on the accusation of a rival shopkeeper who, as part of an Islamic extremist proselytizing group, allegedly used a mosque loudspeaker system to incite a mob that beat Masih and ransacked his shop,” said the CDN story.

“Neighboring shopkeeper Hajji Liaquat Abdul Ghafoor accused Masih of burning part of the Quran on July 1, 2009. Denying that he burned any pages of the Quran, Masih told investigators that the papers he burned were a heap of old merchandise records he had gathered while cleaning his store. Nearby shopkeepers told Compass that they had seen the two men arguing over business a few days before the incident.”

“They said that when Masih burned the papers, Ghafoor started shouting that he had desecrated the Quran and blasphemed Islam and its prophet, Muhammad.”

One of the shopkeepers told CDN, “Ghafoor spread misconceptions about Imran Masih and a mob of angry Muslim men unaware of the facts attacked Masih and viciously beat him, looted his shop and later handed him over to police.”

CDN added that sources said Masih plans to appeal to a higher court.

WASHINGTON D.C. (ANS) – Hindu extremists recently attacked a Christian prayer meeting in Udaipur, Rajastha (India), leaving 11 Christians with serious injuries.

International Christian Concern (ICC), a human rights group, reported in a news release that on Jan. 17 at about 11 PM local time, members of Rashtriya Swayamsavak Sangh (a Hindu extremist group) stormed the Faith Calvary Church (FCC) prayer meeting armed with machetes, axes and sticks. They beat Pastor Surajth Bhagari and church members.

The Director and Founder of FCC, Dr. T.M. Omkar, told ICC that the Christians suffered broken legs, arms and injuries to their heads. The victims were taken to a nearby government hospital where they were only partially treated.

“We felt that the hospital administration was pressured by some group who are keen to create trouble for the Christians. We are taking the matter to the court,” ICC reported Omkar said

ICC said the Christians filed a police complaint on the day of the attacks, but no First Information Report (a report written by the police when they investigate a crime) was registered.

The complaint was again filed on Jan. 19, and this time the First Information Report was registered by Gordhan Bilas Police Station. An officer from the police station told ICC that his office will protect the Christians from further attacks.

ICC said police arrested six Hindu extremists under the Indian Penal Code for rioting, being armed with deadly weapons, house trespass and other issues.

ICC said the alleged perpetrators bonded out from jail the same day.

ICC’s Regional Manger for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho said in a news release, “We condemn the attacks on Faith Calvary Church by Hindu radicals. We urge Indian officials to take protective measures against the widespread attacks on Christian minorities by Hindu radicals.”

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide.

SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (ANS) — International Christian Concern (ICC) has said that it has learned that five Muslim men have recently abducted a 21-year-old Christian girl in Sargodha, Pakistan.

It was reported to ICC, a Washington, DC, human rights group, that Muhammad Afzal, Maqsood Ahmed, Muhammad Ashraf and two other unidentified Muslim men abducted Asifa Bibi from her home at gunpoint. The Muslim men then dragged her into an unregistered black car and drove to an undisclosed location.

Asifa’s father, Nasir Masih, told ICC that Muhammad Ashraf, one of the suspects, had previously asked Asifa to convert to Islam and marry him. In Pakistan, it is common for Muslim men to approach Christian girls and ask them to convert to Islam and marry them. If the girls refuse such advances, the men abduct, rape and forcefully convert them to Islam.

Asifa’s family has reported the abduction to the police at Saddr police station. The police chief at the station told ICC that his office is investigating the case and hopes to arrest the suspects and secure the young woman’s release as soon as possible.

ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said, “We deplore the abduction of Asifa by the five Muslim men. We commend Pakistani police for promising to secure the release of Asifa and bring her abductors to justice.”

A spokesperson for ICC said, “Please pray for Asifa’s safety and protection. Also pray for her family to trust in God at this difficult time.”