Polls in the air, UPA brings Muslim quotas on the table

Jayanth Jacob / D K SINGH

Posted online: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST

New Delhi, September 4

Sensing the inevitability of mid-term elections sooner rather than later, the UPA government is believed to be working out reservation benefits for Muslims and Christians. The plan is to bring a “sub-quota” for Muslims within the existing 27 per cent OBC quota and to include Christian and Muslim Dalits in the Scheduled Castes List.

This comes along with fast-tracking a slew of measures: implementation of the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee’s recommendations on minority welfare, legislation for unorganized sector workers and a more humane relief and rehabilitation policy.

Highly placed sources in the Congress have told The Indian Express that the government plans to issue an “executive order” to provide for a sub-quota for Muslims. Although a section of backward Muslims do get this benefit in the OBC category, their share in the reservation pie is minuscule. The Muslims, it is being argued, will stand to gain “substantially” in terms of their share if a sub-quota were to be created within the existing quota. And as they will be eligible for this benefit on the basis of social and educational backwardness, it will also circumvent existing court rulings against reservation on religious grounds.

Sources said the sub-categorisation of communities under OBC quota on the basis of relative backwardness had been recommended by the National Commission for Backward Classes over a decade ago but successive governments have been sitting on it.

Sources said the government is also working out ways to include Muslim and Christian Dalits in the SC List — a matter which is at present in the Supreme Court. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 originally restricted the SC list to Hindus but was later opened to Sikhs and Buddhists; it still excludes Muslims and Christians from its purview.

Tahir Mahmoud, member of the National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra, told The Indian Express that this could not be done via an executive order.

“The First List (Constitution Order 1950) was made in the name of the President of India on behalf of the government of India. But it is provided in the Constitution that any amendment to this 1950 Order could be done by Parliament only,” he said.

This comes shortly after the UPA announced a string of measures for minority welfare in Parliament last week in the wake of the Justice Rajendra Sachar committee’s recommendations.

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Christian converts cease to be Indians

Durban: A Hindu religious leader in South Africa has caused a storm within the Indian community by saying that those who convert to Christianity will "lose their right to be Indian".

Thillayvel Naidoo, an executive member of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha and a Tamil linguist, made the remarks after a Christian convert, Deena Muthen, urged people to maintain their language and culture even if they convert.

Muthen, who is now a pastor practising in the large Indian-dominated residential township of Chatsworth in Durban, told his congregation that they should be proud of their rich language and culture.

But Naidoo said Muthen's comments were "tricks" to entice gullible people to convert to Christianity.

"Those who reject their religion lose the right to be completely Indian. He (Muthen) is distracting people with his Tamil preaching and hymns. Just because he preaches in Tamil does not mean anything, and I condemn it," he said.

However, Muthen, a former Hindu priest, rejected the assertion saying he made the comments because there was hunger for Indian culture and language among Indian Christians.

"I have been urging churches to become more culturally involved. People desire to know their heritage, and we can teach them Tamil. There is a lack of knowledge among Christian Indians, but this does not mean that we are not Indian or less than Indian," he said.

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Priest arrested in Mumbai

By James Varghese
Special to ASSIST News Service
MUMBAI (BOMBAY), INDIA (ANS) -- Bajrang Dal activists handed over to Mumbai police a church father on charges of "forcible conversion" on Sunday, August 26.
According to a report carried on www.hindujagruti.org, an Indian Hindu web news portal, Fr. Edward was offering false promises of monetary help, foreign jobs, taking care of children etc. The site also claimed that Fr. Edward converted 40 "gullible Hindu families."

The Bajrang Dal activists told hindujagruti news, "The converted families were poor and hailed from the Bhyandar, Jogeshwari and Andheri areas in Mumbai City."
Their story alleged that "taking advantage of their poverty, Fr. Edward asked them to assemble at Vidyavikas School in Andheri where a mass was to be conducted on every Sunday and from there, they were taken to Juhu Beach to participate in program of conversion and only after which they were to be offered certain facilities.

"Once the people got there, the Father asked them to take a dip in the sea so as to purify them. Later, he started making statements like 'Your God is a devil. Only Jesus is the true Lord.'"

Seeing the priest doing this kind of an activity the Bajrang Dal activists caught hold of the Father and took him to Santa Cruz police station and lodged a complaint against him. After due enquiry, police filed a case against the Church Father and kept him in custody at D. N. Nagar police station. He was booked under Section 295-A and 508 for "deceit and bribery," by the police. He will be presented in Andheri Court for hearing.

Bajrang Dal is sometimes translated as "Monkey Brigade" and is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and one of its family of organizations (Sangh Parivar) based on the core ideology of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism).

Assist News Service

New Believers Open Prison Doors for Pastor's Release

BILASPUR, INDIA (ANS) -- A beaten pastor awaits his fate under police custody. Pastor Palakar from Chhattisgarh was assaulted and accused of converting a nearby village. During his interrogation, the whole village flooded the prison, requesting the release of Pastor Palakar. However, the investigator questioned their intent in wanting this pastor released.

"When we were in trouble, no one helped us except this pastor," one of them said. "No one even cared for us, but this man brought joy, peace, and love to our families. We want you to release him or arrest all of us because we are all followers of Jesus."

They released the pastor and the church is growing even more in their commitment as Christ followers.

But still, divine appoints occur when people stand up for the truth. Such phenomena are occurring through Hindustan Bible Institute (HBI), which exists to give every Indian an opportunity to hear, understand, and respond to the Gospel. Their ultimate goal is discipleship. Their God-sized purpose is inspiring; and it is becoming a reality.

Four thousand individuals are being trained up per year through HBI's leadership and discipleship training programs, so that for every 1000 Indian people in each people group will have a dynamic transformational church.

"God continues to network us into various parts of our nation. We believe by the year 2020, we will be strategically distributed to reach every people group of our nation," as stated in the President and Director's 2007 Annual Report.

Dr. N. Paul V. Gupta's initial vision and passion began in 1952. His strategy was to reach the unevangelized by equipping one Indian to reach another Indian for Christ, so he established Hindustan Bible Institute in Chennai, India. Today, his son, Dr. Paul (Bobby) Gupta, carries this zeal and strategy forward with amazing results.
Just in the last 12 months, 396 churches were planted where no church previously existed. Services may have up to 35,000 people, who worship for three to four hours in the sweltering heat. In 1985, India had about 114,000 churches. Currently over 500,000 worshipping communities gather in homes, worship centers, preaching points, new church plants, and church
buildings. Pray for HBI as they share the liberating Truth throughout India.

Pastor Attacked in Chhattisgarh

Pastor Charles Patel of Chhattisgarh is attaked during Sunday Service on 26^th Aug

This incidence took place today(26^th August07) at Priyadarshini Nagar near Maitri NagarBhilai Dist Durg in the Central Indian State of Chhattisgarh [Priyadarshini nagar is about 10 kms from Durg] Around 12:30pm. Church ,a Baptism Service in a nearby river and after that they came to the Church which is a house fellowship run at Bro S. D. Patel’s house in Priyadarshini Nagar As the Church Service was progressing on ,Bajrang Dal activists entered the Church premises and started shouting and then they entered the hall were the fellowship was going on, along with them came the Police. Police asked the Pastor to Stop the meeting. The Bajrang Dal Goons told the Police that these Church people are converting people to Christ. The Police summoned the members of the Church to go to the Police Station for an Inquiry. The whole Church of about 52 people old young children went to the Nevai Police Station at 2pm which is about 12 kms from Durg and 2kms from Priyadarshini Nagar.

The Police started interrogating all believers and the persons baptized and all of them were strong in faith so the Police could not find anything against them. The believers both new and old declared that they love Jesus and gave their personal testimonies. That they tasted the Lord and so they came to Christian faith. So at around 4pm 40 members consisting of ladies and children were allowed leave the station. Twelve members were detained for further investigation . The believers went home praising God When their allegations proved wrong, the Bajrang Dal Goons went out and hired some of their sympathizers to give False Testimony against Pastor and the Church. These hired radicals came and informed the Police that they were told to get converted and alleged that Rs. 500/- was offered to each one of them by the Pastor. The Police connived with the criminals and on the basis of false testimony arrested sixty-five year old Brother S. D. Patel and 35 year old Bro. Neeraj Martin The brothers from the Church saw clearly the Bajrang Dal Goons handing over the money to the fellows who gave false witness against the Pastors Bro S. D. Patel and his own brother. Charles Patel 56yrs old are Pastors in this
independent Church. S. D. Patel is retired from Bhilai Steel Plant in 2001 and then he started serving the Lord and Bro Charles Patel took Voluntary Retirement from Hindustan Steel Work Construction Ltd in 2001 and started serving the Lord. These brothers were in the Police Station from 2pm till 10:45 in the night.

The Police filed the FIR at around 9pm and at 10:45pm Bro Charles Patel and the others were allowed to go Bro S. D. Patel and Bro Neeraj Martin have been kept in Police Custody. They will be produced before the court tomorrow .Do special prayer for this dear brethren that the Lord may strengthen them and bless them richly and for an early bail hearing

Pastor Sam Mathew

GCIC Coordinator for M. P

Persecuted Church of India Yahoo Group.

Anti Conversion law in trouble

Chhattisgarh anti-conversion Bill runs into trouble
Wednesday August 22 2007
PTI
RAIPUR: After Gujarat, the anti-conversion Bill of the BJP government in Chhattisgarh has run into trouble as the governor has raised objections to some of its provisions, official sources on Tuesday said.

The governor has objected to some of the provisions of the dharma Swatantreya adhiniyam-2006 passed by the assembly in August last year, a top official told PTI here.
Governor E S L Narsimhan and his predecessor K M Seth had raised objections to two provisions in the Bill- obtaining permission from the district collector before any conversion or face punishment and allowing people to return to Hinduism and not treating this as conversion, the official said.

Such provisions were proposed in the existing law by the BJP government as the saffron party had alleged large-scale conversion of Hindus to Christianity during the previous Congress administration led by Ajit Jogi.

The governor wanted to know why the government thought of bringing in an amendment into the existing act which was in force since the days of undivided Madhya Pradesh, the official said.

The BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh, which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, in December 2003. Governors of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, all currently ruled by BJP, had also raised
objections to provisions in similar bills with Gujarat governor naval Kishore Sharma recently returning the Bill to Narendra Modi government.

www.newindpress.com

Christians attacked in Karnataka

From our Correspondent

Bangalore: Hindu fanatics attacked Christian believers gathered at a church in Amruthahalli of Yellehanka, Karnataka on 19 August 2007. The attackers wrote slogans and pasted symbols like Om all over the church walls and its gate.

Pastor Thomas Koshy, the minister in charge of Indian Pentecostal Church at Amruthahalli, who has been working at the village for the past six years, said a group of Hindus came to the church and asked him to stop the Sunday worship service. They blamed him for all conversions in the village and warned him of serious consequences if he did not obey them.

The Pastor decided to have the worship service in another place. So he went to consult his superior at Lingarajpuram. Unaware of the development, the believers began to arrive at the church. As they were waiting for the Pastor, a group of 40-50 Hindu fanatics arrived and started to attack the believers. While some of the believers ran away, some of them took shelter at the house of the Pastor. The attackers followed them and locked them up in the house.

One of the believers reported the police station at Yellahanka. The police arrived and freed the believers locked up inside the house. When the Pastor returned, he found the church building covered with Hindu slogans and symbols. The Police were trying to blame the Pastor for the development. They allegedly threatened the witness asking him to keep himself away.

The Pastor and his believers filed an FIR with the police. Although the police promised protection for the church, no arrest had been done so far. The owner of the building in which the believers gather was asking the Pastor to vacate the building. “The believers are also being threatened by the fanatics, who say they will beat and kill them if they try to gather at the church again,” sources said.

www.aiccindia.org

RSS attacks Christian Meeting in Uttar Pradesh

Reports have just come in that a huge mob of RSS and Bajrang Dal activists attacked the Kacchuwa Mission Hospital near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

The hospital authorities had organized an Independence Day celebration where in they had organized Children’s competitions and events in which about 400 Dalit Children were participating along with their parents. This was happening with the knowledge of the authorities and the police was duly informed about it.

The RSS and the Bajrang Dal raised an objection to it and had complained about the event to the local authorities which had prompted the local authorities to further investigate the event following which they gave a clean chit to the mission.

Infuriated by this the RSS and the Bajrang Dal today called on their cadre from various places near Varanasi and a huge mob attacked the mission at about 10:00 am. They destroyed property and caused mass vandalism and scared the children who started to run and took shelter at the back of the stage.

Brother Raju Abraham tried to reason with the group and asked them to speak with him so that things could be solved through dialogue but the attackers hit him and roughed him up. He has a deep wound above his left eyebrow. Pastor Joy who was with Brother Raju Abraham, when tried to stop the attackers was also beaten up.

According to reports the attackers shouted anti Christian and anti Dalit slogans and cause mass panic.

It was only later that the police reached the spot. Last heard the Local Magistrate had arrived on the scene and statements were being taken.

Please pray for the Christian leadership in this situation that they will be able to maintain a good testimony at this time.

Indians attacked on Independence Day

In a demoralizing incident on India’s 60th Independence Day, police in Mysore, India, told a group of 70 believers to stop offering Independence Day prayers without permission after Hindu radicals barged in to the prayer hall and disrupted them.

The pastors and the congregation of Full Gospel Church in the Mysore District of India’s Karnataka state gathered Wednesday at around 10:30 am in the morning to pray for the country when they were disrupted an hour later by a gang believed to be from Hindu groups Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

The RSS/VHP activists, numbering about 20, reportedly barged into the prayer meeting of the church and dragged out the pastors – Vinod Chacko, 32, and C.T. Joseph, 38 – along with church members Chinnaswamy and Salvino. They also abused the congregation and accused them of anti-national activities.
The pastors were then taken to Nangengode police station where police inspector Lakshmikanth Talwar and sub inspector Prabhakar – under pressure from radicals – told the pastors that no prayers can be held on Independence Day without police permission.

The pastors may have to appear before the police on Saturday, Aug. 18.

“Believers had gathered merely to offer prayers for their country in a peaceful manner,” a reporter for New Delhi-based Christian Today wrote in a report of the incident on Wednesday. “Instead of celebrating the Independence, which marks freedom for India, these radicals deny the freedom of worship for believers which the right inscribed in the constitution of Independent India granted them.

The report also noted that the incident is one of many amid the recent escalation of attacks on Christians in Karnataka state.

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Nuns arrested in Orissa

Baripada (Orissa), July 28: Two Catholic nuns were Saturday arrested after two girls, who studied at the residential school run by the Catholic church at Baghamara, 30 km from here, accused them of physical torture and forcing them to attend prayer.

Sister Mary and Sister Prema were arrested by the police this morning and a case has been registered against them under sections 323 and 506 of IPC and Section 4 of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, SP Sanjay Kumar Singh said.

Two girls, Sarojini Murmu (14) of Nachipur village and Anjana Behera (11) of Titial village under Khunta police station, who had been studying at the residential school Bijay Sadan at Baghamara, had fled from the school on July 20, he said.

They had allegedly told their parents that they had been physically tortured and made to clean toilets and the school poultry. An FIR was lodged by them at the Badasahi police station by the two girls on July 26 last.

Father Isaac, a priest from the Catholic diocese at Balasore, who had rushed here following the development, told that charges had been "cooked up against the two nuns".

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Technorati tags: attack on Christians, false cases, orissa

Pastor attacked in Raipur

Pastor Vikas Masih was attacked by the Dharam Sena ot Thelipancha Ring Road, Raipur, Chattisgarh State, at 1 pm on 6th July 2007.

On 5th Juy, the Dharam Sena accosted him as he was returning from a prayer meeting and threatened to beat him up and ensure that he could no longer work in the area. This afternoon, at about 12.30 a group of Dharam Sena Activists went to his house at Bhatapara , dragged him out and beat him up severely.

They also took him to the Thellipancha Police Station five Kms from his house church dragging him .

There was a huge crowd at the police station and local Pastors of Raipur reached the Police Station to give support to Pastor Vikas Masih.

The police took Pastor Vikas for first aid at 4 pm.
A case was registered against the Pastor under IPC. section 298 (uttering words ,etc; with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person)

But his attackers were set free.

Christian attacked in Uttarakhand

Two Gospel for Asia native missionaries, Rajat Tanak and Savir Santosh, were forced to seek shelter in a sugarcane field to escape a group of hostile anti-Christian extremists in Uttarakhand, India.

Rajat and Savir were traveling to a village where a GFA-related church pastor, Adil Mehal, had invited them to show Man of Mercy, an Indian-made film about the life of Jesus. As the two were walking with their film equipment, a man stopped them and expressed interest in seeing the film. However, when Rajat and Savir invited him to come to the showing, the man’s demeanor suddenly changed. He accused them of violating the state’s anti-conversion law.

“You are trying to convert people to Christianity by using bribes,” the man yelled.

As the man shouted the accusations, other people from the area gathered around them and began questioning them. The missionaries answered their questions truthfully, telling them they were not forcing anyone to become a Christian and were not using unlawful practices. The people finally let Rajat and Savir go, but not without threatening them first.

Continuing on their trip to show the film, Rajat and Savir were stopped again by a different group of anti-Christian extremists.

The group snatched the Man of Mercy DVDs and sound equipment from the missionaries and threw it on the ground. When Rajat and Savir tried to pick the DVDs up, one of the extremists stomped on the discs. Then, the extremists beat up Rajat and Savir and forced them to go to a local shop. The owner of the shop was the extremist group leader. He also began accusing them of illegally converting people to Christianity.

The group was going to take the missionaries’ LCD projector, but first they allowed Rajat and Savir to go outside with two escorts. During this time, they ran into some nearby sugarcane fields in an effort to save the projector. Because the fields were so dense, the two missionaries were able to escape.

Rajat and Savir waited in the field until the extremists gave up their search, and then they called Pastor Adil to tell him what had happened. When the pastor heard about their situation, he cancelled their scheduled film showing in his village. The local Bible colleges and GFA main office also began praying for their safe return.

The missionaries waited in the sugarcane field until 3 a.m., when they felt it would be safe to venture out into the darkness. Rajat and Savir walked for three hours until they got to a main road, then caught a bus going to a village where a GFA district supervisor lives. They finally reached the safety of his home later that day.

When members of the extremist group found out that Rajat and Savir were working with Pastor Adil, they went to his house, but he was not there. They told his wife, who answered the door, that they would kill Pastor Adil if he ever allowed the film team to come to their village.

For a while, Pastor Adil had to conduct his ministry in secret because of the extremists’ threats. Now, he is able to freely minister in the area himself, but the extremists told him he cannot bring missionaries in from other places. Rajat has continued film ministry in other villages, and Savir is now working to plant a church in Uttarakhand.

Pastor Adil requests prayer that he will be able to continue his ministry in the village. He also asks for prayer that the extremists will come to know the Lord. Also pray that Rajat and Savir’s ministries will be fruitful, and many will see Christ’s love through them.

Pastor attacked in Chhattisgarh

On July 1, 2007 in Rouabandha, Bilainagar, Durg District of Chhattisgarh, about 60 to 70 Bajrang Dal activists attacked Pastor Israel during a church service. Around 11am, the activists interrupted the worship service of Living Grace Ministries church. Besides beating the pastor, they destroyed musical instruments which cost approximately Rs. 15,000 and stole Bibles which they later burnt at the central market in Rouabandha. Also, Mr. Ravi Kumar, a believer who tried to protect the pastor, was seriously injured, with broken teeth and facial injuries.

Pastor Israel received many threatening calls from Hindutva activists during the past two months. Also, on 5 May 2007, the same group of people beat and harassed one of the families who attend the church.

The attackers fabricated a story of fraudulent conversions after an unknown person complained that Pastor Israel had offered Rs. 10,000 to convert to Christianity. They activists used this report as a reason for their attack.

Pastor Israel and his family have been serving in the town for the last 12 years.

FIR has not been filed by either party. Police said they are investigating the incident and will protect the Christian community.

Christian attacked again in MP and Chhattisgarh

2nd July 2007

Around 40 - 45 Bajrang Dal people attacked Pastor Amos Singh and his wife as they were ministering in Reva, Madhya Pradesh in a ECI Church around 1:00 pm today.

Pastor Amos Singh originally from Balaghat is a famous speaker and Christian leader from Madhya Pradesh. He was resting in his room when the attack took place. The attackers suddenly broke into the campus of the Church and broke open the door of the room where Pastor Amos was relaxing. They started beating him with iron rods and pipes and assaulted him with knives. When his wife tried to intervene even she was not spared and has got a knife cut on her cheek.

Along with beating them the attackers also beat up people who had gathered for prayer and reports verify that around 6 - 7 people are seriously wounded including a woman whose head was cut open as a result of the beatings.

The attack took place suddenly and Christians were caught unaware, but local Christian leaders are saying that it was a well planned move by the Hindutva goons.

Last heard of the police had taken the victims for Medical examination and no FIR was filed.

Yesterday Pastor Israel and his wife from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh were also attacked and beaten up mercilessly by the Hindutva goons.

CBCI report reveals Hindu majority in Christian institutes

New Delhi: A national level survey conducted by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India's (CBCI) Commission for Education and Culture has revealed that about 53 percent of students in various Christian organizations located in various parts of the country are Hindus, while 22.7 percent are Catholics and 8.6 percent are Muslims.

The survey gave an insight into the composition of students according to their gender, religion and family income.

It was also found that 59.3 percent of the Catholic educational institutions including schools, colleges and other vocational centres are located in rural areas while the rest are located in urban areas.

An encouraging 54% of the students were females while 40 per cent were males.

"The Catholic Bishops Conference of India standing Committee in April had approved the final draft of the All-India Catholic Education Policy - 2007 and conducted a national level survey of all Catholic educational institutions India during 2004-06. The survey is an important piece of document as it gives us an immediate reference to our student and teacher ratio too," said CBCI spokesperson Babu Joseph.

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Protest against assault

DIPHU: The atrocities perpetrated on some Christians inside a church complex at Manja in Karbi Anglong district allegedly by Assam Police have drawn censure from Christian organizations, who demanded stern action against the guilty personnel.

Condemning the incident, the Assam District of the Assemblies of God of East India demanded immediate action against the culprits as according to the provision of law in the interest of protecting the sanctity of a religious place and the citizens from injustice.

Likewise, the Salvation Army appealed to the authorities to initiate necessary action against those responsible.

It may be mentioned the assault was perpetrated on June 19 near Chong Veng, Manja, when some youths were squabbling among themselves.

Sources said soon after the squabbling, some plainclothes policemen reached the spot. They entered the residence of Rev. R Sanga Keivom, superintend of Assam District Assemblies of God, East India, inside the church complex and assaulted his daughter, son and a religious leader of Salvation Army with rifle butts without any rhyme or reason.

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IEHC Jabalpur workers arrested and office sealed

June 7^th 2007, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh:

Police arrested three workers of the India Every Home Crusade (IEHC) under the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantryata Adhiniyam 1968. They charged them with forced and fraudulent conversions under the section 3 and 4 of the above act.

The problem had started when the police had discovered some letters pointing to baptism ceremony. The letters were brought to the attention of the police by the local Dharma Sena.

The Dhrama Sena has been active against Christians in Jabalpur and every atrocity on the minority community has traces of their involvement yet the authorities have not questioned their role.

Mr. Sudhir Xavier, the manager of IEHC was among the people arrested. The other two are called Pramod Kumar and K Kumar.

The police according to reports from Jabalpur were cooperative and hinted that they were forced to do this as this was an order from above. The three were taken to the police station and let off three hours later. Christian leaders from Jabalpur like Rev. David Lal, Rev. Cyril Cornelius and others were present at the police station. Mr. Handa, a local lawyer from Jabalpur bailed the three out.

The police also sealed the office of the IEHC and last heard the application for the re-opening of the office was rejected by the court on June 14^th 2007.

The police is now after the other staff of the IEHC Jabalpur and asking them to surrender themselves to the police.

Please pray for the IEHC and its staff in India.

Missionary Kidnapped

Chennai: A missionary, J Charles Simon, working with an evangelical movement in the city, has been missing since Saturday night(9th June).

According to a complaint lodged by his wife C Sudha, Charles, 35, was kidnapped by a four-member gang from near his house in Pudur.

Franklin, Charles's brother-in-law, said, "On Saturday evening, he left our house to meet a friend, Shyamala, whom he told that on his way, a stranger had sought his help to withdraw money from a Punjab National Bank ATM. He also told her that the stranger withdrew only Rs
100.

"But while returning from Shyamala's house around 8 pm, he was kidnapped near the Pentecostal Church in Pudur. He called up Sudha around 4 am and told her that the man at the ATM was a thief. He said the kidnappers demanded his credit card though he does not have one
and threatened to kill him."

Franklin, a bank employee, said his brother-in-law does not have a credit card. He also alleged that police did not register an FIR till late Sunday evening.

"The police were questioning us But when a schoolgirl living near the church told police on Tuesday that she had heard the cries of a man on Saturday, police lodged a case of kidnapping. "I think the police have picked him up mistaking him to be an offender," he said.

Pastor beaten in Goa

Pastor S. Zakaria had established a small Church 'Prayer House' in one room in Bambolim, Goa about one year back.

Pastor S. Zakaria conducted prayers and lectures every Sunday, from 9.30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.

About 8 months ago, wife of Mr. John D'Cunha from Mapusa started attending the prayers and services.

Shortly thereafter, wife of Shri. Manoj Nippanikar started going for the prayers, along with Mrs. D'Cunha.

Shri Manoj was annoyed at the attendance of his wife at Christian prayer meetings, he (Mr. Nippanikar)approached the local Bajrang Dal activists for assistance.

He informed the activists of the place and time of the meetings and instigated them that Christian conversion activities were taking place there.

On Sunday June 10th, Mr Nippanikar along with a mob of 25 extremists went to the 'Prayer House' and took the Pastor to task during his lecture.

Mr. Nippanikar and other furious radical Hindus gave the Pastor a sound beating. Later, they lodged a complaint with the police against the Pastor in Mapusa police station.

MP anti-conversion law unconstitutional: Attorney General

June 12,2007

MP anti-conversion law unconstitutional: Attorney General

According to sources in the state government, Attorney General Milon Banerjee, central government’s chief legal advisor, has given his opinion on the request of state governor Balram Jakhar. The latter had sought Banerjee’s opinion on the amendments which was criticized by the Church leadership and other secular activists as anti-Constitutional.

The governor is yet to grant his assent to the crucial amendment.

A state government official told ICNS that they were waiting for the governor’s “nod to the amendment”, but was ready to face “any eventuality”.

Last year’s amendment passed by the BJP government makes it compulsory on individuals who wish to convert to a religion to take prior approval from the local district administration. If an individual fails to notify the authorities and obtain permission severe punishments can be imposed on him/her.

The amendment also makes it compulsory on those conducting the conversion ceremony to inform the district magistrate a month before it, and give him the details including the venue and time of the ceremony, and the names and addresses of those converting.

Once the district magistrate is informed, under the new amendment, elaborate police verification would be carried out and only on a positive report from the police the magistrate would give his nod for the ceremony.

Madhya Pradesh was one of the first state governments to introduce an act in 1968 on religious conversions, then by a Congress government. It was then amended last year by the BJP government.

However, as reported by the Indian Catholic recently, the National Minorities Commission is yet to receive any reply from the central Indian state to prove that there is any large-scale conversion going on in Madhya Pradesh. The Commission has been asking state governments where such laws are in existence about the data regarding violators.