Articles Comments

The Persecution Times » Archive

Prayer Meeting Attacked, Pastors and Participants Beaten and Jailed

By James Varghese, Special Correspondent in India for ASSIST News Service 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. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Assist News Service, HIndu, India

Pakistani Christian Sentenced to Life under ‘Blasphemy’ Law

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries 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. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Assist News Service, Muslim, Pakistan

Hindu Radicals Attack Church, Seriously Injure 11 Christians

By Jeremy Reynalds, Correspondent for ASSIST News Service 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. … Read entire article »

Filed under: HIndu, India, Persecution

Five Pakistani Muslim Men Abduct Christian Woman

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries 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. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Assist News Service, Muslim, Pakistan

New Church in Algeria Burned to the Ground

By Michael Ireland, ASSIST News Service ALGERIA (ANS) — The Tafat Protestant Church building in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, was set on fire on January 9, around 11:00 pm, according to the website for satellite broadcaster Channel North Africa (www.cna-sat.org ). On its site, CNA states that “Tafat” means “light” in the Berber language. According to the church’s pastor, Mustapha Krireche, “around twenty bearded men broke into the church, destroyed the chairs and doors and then set the building on fire.” … Read entire article »

Filed under: Algeria, Assist News Service, Muslim