India's Christian Dalits Remain Untouchable Under Government Benefits Scheme
ICC's India Correspondent

12/28/2014 
Washington, D.C.
International Christian Concern

The term "Dalit" is a term used in India to describe people from Hinduism's lowest caste. Forced into poverty for generations from the India's Caste system, the people from this caste used to be called "Untouchables," but for the most part, that term died out with the British Empire. Today, an estimated 25 million Dalits across India have converted to Christianity, but are forced to choose between openly out their faith and a government benefit program that gives benefits only to Dalits coming from select religious backgrounds.

This choice has significantly affected the constitutional right India's citizens have to freely choose a religion for themselves. It also has left millions of Dalits to have to decide between choosing to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior and receiving government benefits that have the ability to take their families out of poverty. All added up, this discrimination has affected the official appearance of India's religious landscape. 

The Scheduled Caste Order of 1950

The Scheduled Caste Order of 1950 was signed on August 10, 1950 by the then President of India and states that, "No person who professes a religion other than Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste." This order was later amended to include Sikhs in 1956 and Buddhists in 1990. Essentially, this order has come to define who can receive India's Scheduled Caste benefits and who can and cannot. Scheduled Caste benefits were introduced by India's government shortly after independence in order to assist Dalits climb the social ladder and break free of the poverty they were locked into by the caste system. 

Rev. Madhu Chandra Singh told ICC that, "Dalit Christians suffer caste oppression both before and after their conversion." This is something that India's Supreme Court denies happens. According to the supreme court, once a person leaves Hinduism that person also leaves the caste system and is no longer in need government assistance. Unfortunately, this in untrue and Dalits often face more oppression after their conversions, as Rev. Singh went on to explain."After their conversion, Dalit Christians begin to suffer religious persecution from religious fanatics but also a denial of Scheduled Caste benefits because of the Schedule Caste Order of 1950 which I term a double discrimination of Dalit Christians."

Government Benefits vs. Christianity

Mr. Ratnam, whose name has been changed for security reasons, is an elder of a Baptist church in his village. Every Sunday, thirty to forty Christians, all from the Dalit caste, gather for worship in a structure intentionally located outside of the village.

Recently, Mr. Ratnam approached his pastor, Pastor Aharon, and requested the pastor issue a letter that would say Mr. Ratnam and his family are not Christians and are not the members of the local Baptist church. Mr. Ratnam told ICC that, "I need this letter in order to show the government that we are low caste Hindus, so that my son can do higher studies under the Schedule Caste reservation quota." Without this letter, Mr. Ratnam's son would not be considered allegeable for this government assistance and would likely not be able to continue his education.

Mr. Ratnam continued saying, "I know that I love Jesus and I will continue to do so. God understands my situation. I do not want my children to struggle like we do as unskilled laborers barely meeting the ends. I want my children to study and to escape the struggles that we are going through because we are uneducated. Myself and my family could be denied the Scheduled Caste benefits because I go to church and believe in Jesus." 

Every Christian family in this village has similar stories of what they term discrimination. Both by the government, because of being denied the Scheduled Caste reservation benefit, and by general society for still being from the Dalit caste. For many in the village, once the authorities discover a Dalit is a Christian, their Scheduled Caste benefits are taken away and they become a target for Hindu radicals; all while remaining on India's lowest social rung.

For Hindu radicals, this connection between government benefits and religious identity is a very convenient way of de-incentivizing Hindu Dalits from choosing to convert to Christianity. It also is a way radicals convince Christian Dalits to convert to Hinduism, using the promise of Scheduled Caste benefits, which would provide greater opportunities for Dalits, to convince them to convert. One such incident took place in Asroi village, 19 miles from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, where Hindu radicals in Aligarh declared a "successful ghar wapasi" (re-conversion) of 72 Dalits who had become Christians in 1995.

One of the 72 Dalits, who converted to Hinduism, said it was because they were unhappy with the rights they were denied under the Scheduled Caste benefits system because they changed their religion. "We found ourselves in a worse position being Christians," he said. "As Hindus we had no status, but at least we were given Scheduled Caste benefits."

India's Great Lie?

"The government is forcing us to lie," a government official in the Andhra Pradesh's bureaucracy, who was able to rise to his post thanks to the Scheduled Caste benefits, said. To accomplish this, the official was forced to hide his Christian faith. The official told ICC that he has decided to finally come out, as he could no longer maintain this double life. "Whatever the consequences, God will take care of us," the official told ICC.

Franklin Caesar, a Christian rights activists told ICC that, "This system is against the fundamental rights provided to all India's citizens in the Constitution. The Presidential Order of 1950 has destroyed fundamental and constitutional rights of Dalits from Christian and Muslim backgrounds; the benefits must be delink from religion."

According to sources at the Catholic Church in India, more than 60 percent of India's 25 million Christians are from the Dalit caste, despite the fact that changing religion causes them to lose Scheduled Caste benefits. Unofficially, it is rumored there are millions more Dalits who consider themselves Christians privately, but due to fear of losing their Scheduled Caste benefits, officially report themselves as Hindus. If Dalits from Christian backgrounds would be allowed to receive Scheduled Caste benefits, India's religious landscape would likely change overnight.

Everyday in India, Dalit Christians are forced to choose between living openly as a Christian and receiving government benefits meant to assist Dalits who have suffered discrimination in India for generations. This choice between government aid and the ability to openly believe one's religion of choice is a clear denial of Dalit Christians' Article 25 freedom of religion rights. With Hindu nationals currently in power, it is highly unlikely that this situation will change any time soon, denying constitutional rights for millions and artificially inflating the numbers of Hindu in India's multi-religious society. 


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.

"Even as Opposition parties up the ante over alleged incidents of religious reconversion, the Dharm Jagran Samiti has declared that it will ensure India becomes a Hindu Rashtra by 2021.

"Speaking in Agra on Thursday, a Dharm Jagran Samiti (DJS) functionary said Muslims and Christians will have to convert to Hinduism if they want to stay in this country.

"The DJS has been at the forefront of the reconversion - or ‘ghar wapsi’ - programmes in recent times in which some Muslims have been reportedly ‘reconverted’ to Hinduism.

"However, their action drew widespread condemnation, leading to the arrest of one activist.

“'Our target is to make India a Hindu Rashtra by 2021. The Muslims and Christians don’t have any right to stay here.

“'So they would either be converted to Hinduism or forced to run away from here,” Uttar Pradesh DJS head Rajeshwar Singh said..."

"You’ve probably heard a lot of things about Christianity in China, such as: “China’s the worst persecutor of Christians.” “Crosses are being torn down left and right.” “China will hold the world’s largest Christian population by 2030,” etc.

"Haggai Institute President John Bachman says sorting fact from fiction requires understanding and context.

“'Everything you hear about China is true–somewhere in China,” Bachman states, quoting a colleague from Hong Kong.

“'The situation of Christianity in China has never been stronger, but it’s also much more complex than we hear.”

"A better way to summarize Christianity in China is to explain, as Bachman says, China’s “great diversity of realities...'”

"Islamic extremists are forbidding Muslims to wear Christmas symbols in Indonesia. Christian Today reports the ban also includes swapping Christmas greetings with friends..."


"...Earlier this month, Islamic extremists in the Sukaharjo District attacked shopping centers because some shops were selling Christmas-themed goods..."

 "...Extremists also opposed the display of a Christmas tree in the city hall of Jakarta.
 
"Also, a Muslim leader has demanded that Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo not participate in any Christian celebrations and to make sure that those celebrations are “low-key to not disturb the sensibility of Muslims...'”
 
"...Finally, in Aceh, the mayor issued a law that forbids Muslims from taking part in any Christmas services or events in the province."

"The Pope has grieved the violence that has "ravaged and displaced" so many hundreds of thousands of Christians in the Middle East.

"In a special Christmas letter to the faithful of the region, Pope Francis says: "I write to you just before Christmas, knowing that for many of you the music of your Christmas hymns will also be accompanied by tears and sighs."

"He calls on the international community to step up its efforts to promote peace through negotiation and diplomacy, "for the sake of stemming and stopping as soon as possible the violence which has already caused so much harm."

"He says: "How much longer must the Middle East suffer from the lack of peace? We must not resign ourselves to conflicts as if change were not possible!"

"He singles out Islamic State as "a newer and disturbing terrorist organisation, of previously unimaginable dimensions, which has perpetrated all kinds of abuses and inhuman acts."

"Christians have been "brutally driven out" of their native lands where they have been present since apostolic times, along with members of other religious and ethnic groups.

"'I think in particular of the children, the young mothers, the elderly, the homeless and all refugees, the starving and those facing the prospect of a hard winter without an adequate shelter," he says. "This suffering cries out to God and it calls for our commitment to prayer and concrete efforts to help in any way possible...'"

"A pastor of Somali origin living in Kenya fears that extremist death threats against him for leaving Islam could soon be carried out.

"Al-Shabaab militants first put a price on the head of Pastor Mahad Birik in 2009, through Kenyan and Somali media and over mosque loudspeakers.

"The church leader, who lives in Nairobi, says longstanding threats have heightened since film footage of him describing his conversion was broadcast in the Somali media two months ago.

"The pastor, a father of two, says: 'My family is now living in a sleepless state. My life and that of my family is in imminent danger.'

"Pastor Mahad is no stranger to persecution. He reports several recent occasions when men, apparently of Somali origin, have followed him or tried to locate him. He was brutally attacked in 2008 and 2009, and has been forced to relocate his family at least once. Raised in northern Kenya by parents from Somalia, he was disowned by his family when he became a Christian. His relatives took his first wife away – and all his property."

Boko Haram Releases Video of Mass Execution of Non-Muslims
Militants Filmed Massacre of Around 100 Defenseless Non-Muslims with AK-47s from Point-Blank Range 

12/22/2014 Nigeria
International Christian Concern

Late Saturday evening, international journalists received a video from members of the Boko Haram insurgency depicting the execution of around 100 non-Muslims in a dormitory-style hall reportedly located in Bama, a remote town in northeast Nigeria. A previous video released by the insurgency declaring the establishment of its Islamic caliphate depicted the execution of dozens of civilians laid face-down in a mass grave dug in former Christian stronghold, Gwoza. Saturday's release went above and beyond previous Boko Haram productions, paralleling the barbarism of videos issued by the Islamic State in Iraq. The number of dead remains unconfirmed as additional reports from Bama (only 40 miles north of Gwoza) continue to make their way to international press outlets.

Set to music, the 11-minute video depicts Boko Haram militants, some dressed in camouflage, others in flannel and jeans, loading fresh magazines into AK-47s before filing into a long, dormitory-style hall filled with "infidels" (or non-Muslims) curled against one another on the floor. Upon entering, some of the men depicted begin to indiscriminately shoot at the bodies covering the floor before targeting those that move in response to the gunfire. The victims' cries, heard between the gunshots, are drowned out by young men chanting, "Allahu Akbar" (or "Allah is Great") while peering in on the massacre through the hall's barred windows.

While it remains unclear how many of the victims were professed Christians, the film's speaker states, "We have made sure the floor of this hall is turned red with blood, and this is how it is going to be in all future attacks and arrests of infidels (or non-Muslims)." The speaker continued, saying, "From now, killing, slaughtering, destruction and bombing will be our religious duty anywhere we invade."

The mass execution follows the insurgency's abduction of an estimated 185 women and children following the massacre of dozens of villagers in Gumsuri village on December 14. Eyewitnesses of the attack reported 33 villagers killed by Boko Haram militants shouting, "Allahu Akbar." News of the attack and mass kidnapping was released to international press Thursday after survivors made the several-day journey to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, Nigeria's most northeastern state and birthplace to the Boko Haram insurgency.

Established in the 1990s as a peaceful separatist movement by Mohammed Yousef, Jama'tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (or "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teaching and Jihad"), commonly referred to as Boko Haram, became a radicalized and violent Sunni Jihadi insurgency in 2009 when Abubakar Shekau assumed leadership.

A video released by the insurgency earlier this year depicted Shekau-thought to have been killed by Nigerian security forces last year-promising to sell more than 270 mostly Christian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants in April "on the market." More than eight months following their abduction, 220 girls remain missing and are suspected of having been forcibly converted to Islam and sold into lifetimes of sexual and domestic slavery as child brides to their militant captors for as little as $12 USD.

Open Doors' World Watch List ranked Nigeria the most dangerous country in the world for Christians to reside in 2013. Since its radicalization in 2009, Nigerian Christians have been all but eradicated from the country's northeast by Boko Haram. Responsible for the deaths of more than 14,000 Nigerians since 2009, Boko Haram has single handedly killed an estimated 1,800 Christians this year alone.

ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, Cameron Thomas, said, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of this inexcusable atrocity. Militants, armed with AK-47s and a perverted theology of violence and bloodshed, have decimated community after community on their rampage across Nigeria's northeast. Boko Haram has laid waste to the Nigerian church, slaughtering believers for their refusal to convert to Islam, abducting and enslaving schoolgirls for their Christian faith, and murdering pastors for preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. The insurgency can and must be eliminated before its caliphate spreads, claiming innocent lives with each and every advance."

The speaker in the video, who said, "We have made sure the floor of this hall is turned red with blood, and this is how it is going to be in all future attacks and arrests of infidels."

A Boko Haram militant shooting one of around 100 defenseless victims slaughtered on film.  

For interviews, contact Cameron Thomas, Regional Manager for Africa: RM-Africa@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.

"Pabel, a 33-year-old evangelist of the Colombia Para Cristo ministry and an outreach partner of The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, mysteriously disappeared last month. Eight days after his disappearance in late November, Pabel’s body was located in the mountains of the Paez Indian Territory. The two murderers responsible for his death confessed and are in Indian custody.

"In her grief over the tragic loss of Pabel, his widowed wife is responding through God’s grace, which in itself is a very powerful testimony..."

"...As a Christian, this grieving widow willingly forgave the men responsible for her tremendous loss, indicating that she would also ask God to forgive them..."

Sadness Overshadows Christmas for Families of Egyptian Christians Kidnapped in Libya
Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for the Middle East with ICC's Egypt Representative

12/21/2014 
Washington, D.C. 
International Christian Concern

It has been nearly four months, and still there has been no news of the fate of four Egyptian Christians who were taken off a bus as they returned to Egypt from working in Libya. The families have attempted to press the Egyptian government to seek the fate of the four men, but no steps have been taken, leaving the families heart-broken. They are just a few of the families of Christians who are suffering as a result of targeting by extremists groups in Libya."Why did they take my son?"

On August 25, Gamal Matta Hakim, Raafat Matta Hakim, Romany Matta Hakim, and their cousin, Adel Sedky Hakim boarded a microbus to travel back to Egypt. As they made their way past Sirte, Libya the bus was stopped by militants from Ansar al-Sharia, an Islamic extremist group. As ICC previously  reported, the militants took the four Christians off the bus and forced the driver to continue on with the three other Muslim passengers.

"My husband had left us and traveled to Libya to work there for saving money from us to meet our needs because he didn't find work here," Manal, 28, the wife of Gamal told ICC.

"More than three months have passed since the kidnapping of my husband and still we don't know anything about him. We don't know if he is still alive or if the captors killed him. My children ask me every day, 'When will our father come back? We have missed him so much.' I answer them with tears and say he will return back soon, God willing and ask them to pray to God for his safe return," Manal said.

Sedky Hakim, father of Adel, expressed his sadness to ICC, asking, "What did my son do to be taken captive? Why did they take him? He didn't do anything wrong to anyone. He had traveled there to work hard and struggle to save money for us."

The Ansar al-Sharia group has been active in much of the fighting across Libya. On November 19, the United Nations Security Council added the group to its terrorist list and enacted sanctions against the group to attempt to restrict funds and arms from reaching them, Al Arabiya reported.

The Al-Qaeda affiliated group has as its aim implementing a strict version of Islamic law across Libya. They were implicated in the 2012 attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. In response, the U.S. State Department also specifically labeled them as a distinct terrorist entity January 10, 2014.

Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya has repeatedly shown their intention to directly target Christians in Libya.

A Bounty On the Heads of Christians

The four men taken off the microbus is just one of a troubling number of incidents that have targeted Christians in Libya. Below is just a sampling of recent events targeting Egyptian Christians. 

The day after the four were kidnapped in Sirte, Mina Shehata Awad was also on a bus trying to leave Libya. He had worked there for five years as a carpenter and was on his way home for the final time, Hany, Mina's brother told ICC.

"Mina is my best friend," Mustafa Mahmoud, a Muslim worker who was on the bus with Mina, told ICC. "On August 26, on our way to Egypt by a microbus, a group of masked gunmen wearing Libyan military clothes in a checkpoint in Site city stopped our microbus. They asked all the 27 passengers in the microbus to show them their passports, and when they read the name of Mina in his passport they said to him, 'You are Christian.' Mina answered, 'Yes I'm Christian.' They then ordered the Mina to get out of the microbus, and asked the driver to take the rest of the passengers and leave," he told ICC. 

"We said to them why did you take him, and we begged them to let him go with us, but they threatened us with their weapons and ordered us to leave. The driver took us and fled, leaving Mina with the gunmen," Mustafa recounted.

In February, seven Christian workers were dragged out of their apartment building before being driven out of town and executed. Antar Nashed Boles, the brother of one of those who was killed told ICC, "When I was in Libya, I saw written phrases on the walls of the housing buildings in Benghazi, "A reward of 10,000 Libyan Dinar ($7,600 USD) to anyone who informs about a Christian."

These kinds of threats make the situation extremely dangerous for those who are living in Libya, but for many of them there seems to be no way of escape.

No Clear Answers 

Yousry R.B., who is still working in Tripoli told ICC, "The situation has becomes so difficult for us here in Libya. I want to return back to Egypt but I cannot find any safe way to travel to Egypt. The airport of Tripoli was destroyed and there isn't any flight to Egypt, and traveling by car is unsafe especially for us (Christians) because we are targeted by Ansar Al-Sharia. And I'm afraid that my fate will be the same fate of my captive cousins if I travel by land."

Wagih and Mousa Hakim, brothers of three of the four taken by Ansar Al-Sharia, have been pressing the government for answers to what is happening. "On August 27, I went to the foreign ministry and the Libyan Embassy in Cairo and reported the situation, and from this moment up till now, I haven't received any response from any one," Wagih told ICC. 

Mousa said, "We sent by fax many complaints to the president, the prosecutor, Defense minister, Interior minister and human rights organization asking them to help us to find our captives but none of them has answered us till now."

"The situation is extremely difficult to all the Egyptian Christian workers in Libya right now and we try to find a safe way for them to return back to Egypt immediately," Mousa continued.

For now there seems to be no clear answer for how Christians can safely leave the country to return back to Egypt. There are also no clear answers about the fate of those who've been taken, leaving hurting families searching for answers.

 "I don't know how my children, Maria and Makari, and I will spend the coming Christmas without my husband with us," Mariam, 24, Raafat's wife told ICC. "It will be a very sad Christmas for us, and we cannot celebrate it without my beloved husband." 

"I appeal to God to make a miracle and release him from the hands of those bad captors and come back to us soon to celebrate Christmas together."

For interviews, contact Todd Daniels, Regional Manager for the Middle East: RM-ME@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.

"A fire chief in Utica, New York will not take down a Christmas-themed sign that is on display outside the firehouse despite calls from atheists to remove the sign.
 
"The sign reads, “Happy Birthday Jesus We love you.” The sign is displayed outside Firehouse No. 4, but atheists have complained and asked that the sign be taken down. They have called the sign “exclusionary and alienating...'"
 
"...Fire Chief Russell Brooks said he refuses to take down the sign, despite letters and calls. The firehouse has displayed the sign every Christmas for about 10 years..."