Displaying items by tag: India

In India, a dust storm affecting three districts in Rajasthan state and Uttar Pradesh has killed 111 and injured hundreds more, with numbers still rising and more storms forecast. Electricity is disrupted, hundreds of trees uprooted, hundreds of houses damaged or destroyed, and livestock killed. Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed after being struck by intense bursts of lightning. Dust storms are common in this part of India during summer, but loss of life on this scale is rare. Pray for hospitals and emergency services without electricity. In Kenya, over 100 people died and 200,000+ have been displaced by four weeks of floods, landslides and heavy rains. The Red Cross described it as a humanitarian disaster. Severe weather hit central USA on 2 and 3 May, with unusually violent thunderstorms, tornadoes and tennis-ball-sized hailstones taking down trees and power lines. See

Impoverished families trafficked from central Indian states are forced to make thousands of clay bricks daily in appalling conditions. Victims don’t speak out due to intimidation. Officials can’t ascertain the truth. Fortunately, one 13-year-old boy told officials how he worked nine hours a day. His courage emboldened others. Teenage girls described carrying heavy stacks of bricks on their heads. A single mother shared the agony of not getting medical care for her sick child. Soon the local authorities had enough information to complete a rescue operation and bring the victims to safety. On 23 March, IJM reported, ‘nearly 150 children, women and men were rescued from bonded labour slavery in a single Indian brick kiln. Years ago, local leaders would not admit slavery still existed, let alone help families in need. Today the families are receiving medical care, food, ID cards, police protection and release certificates that break any bonds to former owners.’

A power struggle in the Maldives is taking centre stage in a battle for regional influence between India and China. Maldives President Yameen declared a state of emergency after the supreme court ordered him to free political prisoners and opposition politicians he jailed. Security forces then stormed the court and arrested two judges and a former leader. The remaining judges annulled a previous ruling. It is being called an assault on democracy. The political drama sparked concern in India, which issued a strong statement saying it is imperative for the government to adhere to a free trade agreement it made with the Maldives. India views China as a geopolitical foe in Asia and is pushing to maintain geo-strategic supremacy in the Indian Ocean, with backing from the US and Japan. Meanwhile, it has expanded its influence by building ports in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti (now home to its first overseas military base). See also

Six house church leaders were released on 16-17 October, after being detained for a month on false charges that they had forced Hindus to convert to Christianity. The five men and one woman rejoiced that during their time in jail they were able to share the gospel with fellow prisoners. The arrests occurred soon after state officials in Jharkhand passed the strictest anti-conversion law in India. Local Christians fear increased persecution as a result of the new law. Pray that the six church leaders will continue their work and use their testimony to share the gospel with boldness.

On 6 October, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, will meet India's prime minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, a human rights group, urges the EU leaders not to 'turn a blind eye' to the rising persecution of Christians and Muslims in India. 'How many more victims of government-condoned violence against Muslims and Christians will the EU tolerate before it puts the issue on the agenda with Prime Minister Modi?’ No person should live in fear of being killed, tortured, or oppressed because of their religious beliefs. The persecution of religious minorities in India has become worse under the government of the BJP, which is the political arm of the nationalist Hindutva movement. The party has been accused of inciting hatred and riots against religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims.

India's politics are complicated by caste, racial and religious prejudices, and cultural identity. The constitution outlawed the caste system, but it is very much alive. It also guarantees religious freedom, but increasing persecution threatens that liberty. On 17 July Indians will elect a new president. The leading candidates, Mr Ram Nath Kovind and Mrs Meira Kumar, are Dalits (formerly known as ‘untouchables’). Mr Kovind is anti-Christian and anti-Muslim. Mrs Meira is said to ‘represent the values that bind India as a nation.’ Prime minister Modi wants a Hindu nation. There is a very real danger that Christians could be marginalised by the outcome of this election. An Indian Christian pastor is urging Christians reading this prayer alert to pray, ‘binding demonic spirits that are forcing through anti-conversion laws and trying to wipe out the Christian presence in India. Bind the spirit of confusion and pray for truth to reign, for God's perfect plan for India to prevail.’

'The villagers started punching and kicking us, all over our bodies. They asked us to praise Hindu gods. We refused. They kicked us harder.' This is what happened to Sohan, after he decided to follow Jesus and began sharing the gospel with others. His attackers then called the police and accused him of converting people to Christianity. He was imprisoned for four days, and saw God work in amazing ways. Sohan says, 'I preached the gospel and prayed for an inmate who was sick. He was healed and believed in Christ instantly. My other cellmate was a person suffering from intense depression. He kept saying that he wanted to kill himself. I prayed for him and the suicidal thoughts left him. He also accepted Christ. I also met a young man falsely accused of raping a woman; he was very upset and felt hopeless about his life. I shared the gospel with him, and he also accepted Christ. This way I saw God's immense power and deliverance.' Open Doors partners were able to bail Sohan out of prison, and are helping him to fight the false claims filed against him.

Trafficked from Bangladesh and sold into a brothel in Mumbai, Babli started learning Hindi last year at the shelter where she was put up after being rescued. She can now read, write and speak the language fluently, thanks to Hindi classes that help girls identify their trafficking routes and record more accurate testimony. ‘I was brought to Kolkata from Bangladesh, but I couldn't read the names of train stations that I crossed on my way to Mumbai’, Babli said. Two northern Hindi-speaking towns of Varanasi and Gorakhpur have been identified as hubs in the trafficking routes towards the major cities. Activists say that identifying routes is important - not only to step up police vigilance in these areas, but also to protect the girls who go back home after a court case and are once again exposed to trafficking risks. An inadvertent outcome of these lessons at the shelter is that some of the girls have obtained places in regular schools this year.

Many Christian children in Pakistan face discrimination, abuse, hostility and even violence at government schools. A class of schoolgirls in Pakistan were taking an exam in Home Economics. The examiner was tasting the food they had cooked. But when she got to the Christian girls she refused to touch what they had cooked, saying it would make her unclean. She tipped the food in the bin, and the girls failed the exam. Four Christian girls at a Punjabi high school were forced to bring their own drinking glasses and water bottles to school after Muslim students complained they were unclean. There are also many who cannot go to school at all because their parents cannot afford the fees. Instead, children are forced to work as menial labourers, often in high-risk jobs.

The son of a murdered Pakistani politician is facing death threats from Islamists because he supported an imprisoned Christian woman who is on death row. Human rights activist Shan Taseer asked for people to support Mrs Asia Bibi, over Twitter this week. Bibi has been sentenced to death, accused of "insulting" Islam after she defended her Christian faith. Muslims in Pakistan are now accusing Taseer of blasphemy against Islam. His father, Salman Taseer, was a Pakistani politician who was killed by one of his own bodyguards for opposing the country's blasphemy laws in January 2011. Shan Taseer's Twitter account can no longer be seen, but tweets with hashtags supporting him are spreading from different accounts.