Persecution

The alleged suicide of a young Pakistani Christian man who was being held in jail sparked protests Wednesday as dozens of mourners clashed with police at his funeral.

Less than a day after Fanish Masih was found dead in his cell in Sialkot, a town in Punjab province, some 700 people gathered for the 19-year-old’s funeral on Wednesday.

A photographer with The Associated Press said he witnessed dozens of younger attendants tossing stones at police, who responded by beating protestors with batons and firing tear gas at mourners during the funeral procession. more >>

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Compass Direct News) – A convert from Islam who has led a push for Muslim-Christian understanding in Ethiopia has been in jail for nearly four months since his arrest for “malicious” distribution of Bibles.

Christian sources in Ethiopia said that, contrary to Ethiopian law, 39-year-old Bashir Musa Ahmed has not been formally charged since his arrest on May 23 in Jijiga, capital of Somali Region Zone Five, a predominantly Muslim area in eastern Ethiopia. Zonal police arrested him after he was accused of providing Muslims with Somali-language Bibles bearing covers that resemble the Quran, the sources said.

An Ethiopian national, Ahmed is known as a bold preacher of Christianity and is credited with opening discussion of the two faiths between Christian and Muslim leaders. He is well-known in the area as a scholar of Islam, but his case has gone largely unreported in Ethiopia. more >>

Indian Christians in the eastern state of Orissa live as if they are prisoners, reported a co-worker of a ministry supporting persecuted churches.

More than 4,000 Christians in Orissa still are seeking refuge in relief camps and are unable to return to their villages for fear of death or forcible conversion to Hinduism.

Though this number is down from about 50,000 displaced persons earlier this year, it is still an unacceptable figure given the government has had a year to ensure security for the Christian community in Orissa. more >>

Women dressed in white will hold a prayer vigil outside the Iranian embassy in London tomorrow to highlight the plight of two female Christian converts from Islam who have been jailed without charge for the last six months.

"Their health is now rapidly deteriorating due to the overcrowded conditions and limited facilities," reported Elam Ministries, a ministry that specializes in serving the growing church in Iran.

The vigil, expected to draw many Christian women from all over U.K., is being organized by Iranian Christian women, and is supported by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). more >>

There is a deeply rooted mindset among Muslim extremists that makes them especially hostile to Christians in Pakistan, a bishop from Lahore told American church leaders this week.

An unintended effect of the United States’ war on terror has been how Muslim militants connect Christians, regardless of their ethnicity, to Westerners, said the Rev. Dr. Alexander John Malik, the Episcopal Bishop of Lahore.

“Such a mindset creates problems for Christians in Pakistan and puts the church under pressure,” said Malik, according to the National Council of Churches. more >>