ICC Calls on President Obama to Discuss Issue of Religious Intolerance in India
Prime Minister Modi Must Confront Rising Violence

9/29/2014 
Washington D.C.
International Christian Concern

International Christian Concern (ICC) is calling upon President Barak Obama to discuss the issue of religious intolerance in his upcoming meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since taking office in May, the new Modi-led government has been witness to a dramatic escalation in communal violence across India, many instances of violence being perpetrated against India's religious minorities. In India's Uttar Pradesh state alone, over 600 attacks have been recorded in Prime Minister Modi's first months in office.

The visit will be Prime Minister Modi's first since a decision that banned him from receiving a U.S. visa was made in 2005 based on the International Religious Freedom Act that bars foreign officials accused of violating religious freedom from receiving a U.S. visa.

This afternoon, Prime Minister Modi will be flying from New York City to Washington, DC to hold two days of meetings with President Obama and other high ranking U.S. officials. During Modi's visit, the White House announced the leaders "will discuss ways to accelerate economic growth, bolster security co-operation, and collaborate in activities that bring long-term benefits to both countries and the world."

Not among the issues to be discussed are those of growing religious intolerance and the need for greater protection of religious minorities in India. In the months following the general elections, communal violence across India, often fought along religious lines, has dramatically escalated.

In an interview with the Times of India, Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the Congress Party, said, "There have been some 600 communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh along since the new government came to power in May 2014." Among these communal clashes are attacks on Christian communities. "Attacks on Christians in Uttar Pradesh are on the rise," Rev. Victor Das told ICC. "Aggressive Hindu radicals are creating terror in the minds of Christians and other minorities."

In a letter to President Obama, Congressmen Joseph Pitts and Keith Ellison have requested the issues of religious inclusion and the protection of religious minorities in India be discussed in addition to the topics announced by the White House. "Reports indicate that there has been an increase in violence against Muslims and Christians," the letter read. "Prime Minister Modi's visit could open a dialogue about the positive steps his government can take in preventing oppression and encouraging religious inclusion."

ICC's Regional Manager, William Stark, said, "Following Prime Minister Modi's victory in the general elections, many Christians in India were afraid for the future of the freedom of religion in India. What has followed during Prime Minister Modi's first one hundred days in office has done little to calm those fears. Christians across India continue to face restrictions on exercising their faith freely and many have been attacked by radical Hindu groups operating with near impunity. This must not be allowed to continue under India's new national government. Positive action must be encouraged by President Obama in his meetings with Prime Minister Modi to ensure the rights of all of India's citizens, including Christians and other religious minorities, are respected and enforced."


For interviews, contact William Stark, Regional Manager for South Asia: RM-SAsia@persecution.org

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You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference International Christian Concern (ICC) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

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"Obama got that wrong. Christians, of whom around 120,000 have taken refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, will not be going home even if their tormentors suddenly disappear.

"I spent 10 days talking with Christian refugees in Irbil, the capital of the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, this month, and they are adamant they will not be returning to Mosul and nearby towns on what is known as the Nineveh Plain.


"It is not simply that these Christians have gone through tremendous trauma. It is not only because they lost everything, including their homes and businesses, and in some cases spent days and even weeks in detention while being badgered to convert to Islam, where they saw babies taken from mothers’ arms to be held for ransom and busloads of young people ferried off into the unknown..."

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"During a Hindu purification ritual of the church, its cross was torn down and replaced by an image of Shiva. The Hindu nationalists responsible for this released a YouTube video and a press release announcing that 72 Christians had become Hindus..."

"...What does God's word say to this news?  

"First, he wants us to defend ourselves.  Moses taught the people, "If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed" (Exodus 22:2).  Those who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem did so with their swords at their sides (Nehemiah 4:18).  

"Second, he wants us to pray for the salvation of our enemies.  The Lord asked his prophet, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23).  Have you prayed today for Jesus to reveal himself to jihadists in the Middle East and around the world?  

"Third, he wants us to be ready for eternity, whenever and however it begins for us.  James warned us, "you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" (James 4:14).  The safest way to live every day is to be ready to meet God, obeying his word and fulfilling his will.  

"You're one day closer to eternity than ever before.  Is that fact good news for you today?"  

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"The Special Rapporteur called for the urgent adoption of an IDP law based on international human rights standards, as a vital element “to enable all actors to respond effectively to their needs with budgets in place.” He insisted that adoption of a draft law, scheduled for 14 October, must not be further delayed and that other normative measures should be taken in the interim period.

"Churches and civil groups have been stepping up to the plate to meet these needs as best they can in light of a government that can’t afford uniforms or helmets for its army. It’s a herculean effort, considering many of these churches and ministries have experienced severe losses of their own..."

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"When Aria escaped from her captors, she learned that the terrorists had killed her brother.   

'"That made me very sad. I only had one brother. He was only married for six months. I was sad to hear this. They killed him and other men when they took me. They shot him in the head. My mother slept next to my brother's body all night,” she said."

9/25/2014
Washington D.C.
International Christian Concern

Imprisoned Christian Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan Shot Dead by Police
Another Inmate Accused of Blasphemy Wounded During the Attack

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Christian pastor Zafar Bhatti was shot and killed by a policeman in Adiyala jail located in Rawalpindi, next to Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. In July 2012, Bhatti was accused of blasphemy and has since been imprisoned at Adiyala jail awaiting trial. Bhatti's cellmate, Muhammad Asghar, who has a history of mental illness and is also accused of blasphemy, was wounded in the attack.

According to reports from human rights group Life for All, Bhatti had been receiving death threats in prison both from other inmates and from guards before being murdered. "This is a barbaric act," Xavier Williams of Life for All told The Express Tribune. "There had been threats. The court should have instructed police to ensure Bhatti's safety."

"[The] killing of a person who is falsely accused is mockery of the judicial system," Williams told Dawn. "The protectors of the innocent have become the predators."    

Bhatti was accused of blasphemy on July 11, 2012 when First Information Report (FIR) #526 was registered against him in the New Town police station. The FIR alleged that Bhatti sent blasphemous text messages to Ahmed Khan, then deputy secretary of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, a Pakistani Muslim organization.

On July 16, Bhatti was arrested by police and then brutally tortured for several days as police attempted to extract a confession from him. When Bhatti did not confess to the allegations leveled against him, the police presented him to the court to be formally charged.

In court, Bhatti's family was able to meet Bhatti and found him in a "fragile condition." Family members asked police why Bhatti had been beaten so badly, to which the police responded, "The family should thank God that he was still alive, otherwise, they would have killed him for what he had done." Bhatti was remanded to Adiyala jail on December 18 after the court refused to accept his bail plea.

At least 48 people accused of blasphemy have been extra-judicially killed in Pakistan, including seven in prison or outside of the courts, according to Life for All. Christians and other religious minorities are disproportionately accused and convicted under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws. In 2013, thirty-six individuals were accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. Of that thirty-six, thirty were religious minorities and twelve of those were Christians. Christians make up only two percent of Pakistan's population; the fact that one-third of blasphemy accusations made in 2013 were leveled against Christians is highly disturbing.

ICC's Regional Manager for South Asia, William Stark, said, "This most recent incident involving Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law should once again bring the abuse of this law back into international discussions. Originally written to protect against religious intolerance, the law has warped into a tool used by extremists and others to settle personal scores and persecute Pakistan's vulnerable religious minorities. Beyond being disproportionately accused and convicted of blasphemy, the vast majority of blasphemy accusations brought against Christians are false, like the accusations leveled in this particular incident. Unfortunately, pressure for Islamic radical groups and general discrimination against Christians in Pakistan has transformed trial courts into little more than rubber stamps for blasphemy accusations brought against Christians, regardless of the evidence brought to bear in the case. Also, little is done to ensure the safety of those merely accused of blasphemy, leading to the deaths of at least 48 people, many of whom could have been proven innocent."

For interviews, contact William Stark, Regional Manager for South Asia:  RM-SAsia@persecution.org

# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference International Christian Concern (ICC) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.