New Year's Resolution for the Taliban: More Sharia Law

 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a member of the Taliban’s interim government and chief enforcer of the group’s strict interpretation of Sharia law, has said that the executions and other brutal punishments will be carried out as a part of the group’s rule in Afghanistan. This announcement has struck fear into the hearts of Afghan Christians who are concerned that they will be viewed as criminals by the Taliban due to their conversions to Christianity.

In an interview with The Associated Press (AP), Turabi dismissed international outrage over the brutality of the Taliban’s rule in the 1990s. As the Taliban’s Justice Minister and head of the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, effectively the religious police, Turabi oversaw brutal punishments, such as executions and amputations, that took place in sports stadiums and mosques.

“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi told the AP. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”

“Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” Turabi continued, telling the AP that it had a deterrent effect. He went on to explain that the new government was still studying whether to carry out punishments in public.

On August 15, the Taliban entered Kabul in a lightning-fast victory over the former government’s forces. On September 7, the group formed an interim government filled with religious hardliners from the Taliban’s oppressive rule in the 1990s.

Turabi’s announcement that the Taliban intends to return to the group’s brutal and oppressive enforcement of Sharia law has many Afghan Christians bracing for persecution.

According to the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sharia, Afghan Christians will be viewed as apostates due to their conversions from Islam to Christianity. As apostates, Afghan Christians will be subject to Sharia’s deadliest consequences, including execution.

Afghanistan’s Christian community, estimated to be between 8,000 and 12,000, is almost exclusively comprised of converts from Islam. It is this status as converts that makes Afghan Christians direct targets for persecution and likely to suffer under the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan.

ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, William Stark, said, “We here at International Christian Concern are very concerned for the safety of Afghan Christians under the rule of the Taliban. Since forming their interim government, the Taliban have been showing us how they intend to rule Afghanistan. For Afghan Christians, and other marginalized communities, the Taliban’s brutal and oppressive rule will likely mean increased persecution. Afghan Christians are particularly vulnerable due to their backgrounds as converts. Under the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia, Afghan Christians will not be viewed as a religious minority. Instead, they will be treated like criminals if their identities are discovered. The international community must take action to protect and rescue this vulnerable community.”

For interviews, please contact: press@persecution.org.

Hindus beat up pastor in a police station in India

 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a Christian pastor in India’s Chhattisgarh state was attacked and beaten by a mob of radical Hindu nationalists while in a police station in Raipur. The attack has shocked the Christian community who now feel that their safety cannot be guaranteed even in the presence of India’s police.

On September 5, Pastor Ankush Bariayar was summoned to the Purani Basti Police Station in Raipur by the Station House Officer. According to local reports, Pastor Bariayar was falsely accused of engaging in illegal religious conversions by radical Hindu nationalists.

When Pastor Bariayar, accompanied by two other pastors, arrived at the police station, a mob of nearly 50 radical Hindu nationalists burst into the Station House Officer’s office and began to beat the pastor with shoes and fists.

“The entire thing happened as if it was well planned,” an eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, told ICC. “I think the police knew about the attack before it took place. It is sad that Christians are not safe even inside the police station.”

“They told me to my face that they would kill me,” Pastor Bariayar told ICC. “I thought I was safe, being with the police in their premises, but I was wrong. In the beginning, the police did not do anything to protect me from the attack. After they hit me with the shoe and punched me in my face, the police then tried to stop them from beating me.”

A First Information Report (FIR no. 0234) was filed against seven members of the mob that attacked Pastor Bariayar. At the time of writing, only two of the seven identified in the report have been arrested.

“Don’t we have the right to go to the police station and talk to the police?” Dr. Arun Pannalal, President of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, asked the media. “Why didn’t the police stop the attackers and protect Pastor Bariayar?”

“We have the right to choose any religion and propagate that religion,” Dr. Pannalal continued. “This is a fundamental right given by the constitution. The government must take the strictest action against the attackers who brazenly attacked the pastor. This needs to be taken to the highest level of law and order in the state.”

Radical Hindu nationalists across India continue to promote false narratives against Christians to justify religious intolerance and violence. The issue of illegal religious conversions is often used to vilify Christians and justify anti-Christian policies like anti-conversion laws.

In states where anti-conversion laws are enacted, including Chhattisgarh, they are widely abused. Radical Hindu nationalists falsely accuse Christians of forcefully converting individuals to Christianity to justify harassment and assault. Local police often overlook violence perpetrated against Christians due to false accusations of forced conversion.

William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, said, “We here at International Christian Concern are deeply disturbed by this attack on Pastor Bariayar. The fact that it was allowed to happen in the police station in the presence of the Station House Officer indicates the impunity enjoyed by many radical Hindu nationalists. This is a symptom of a larger problem in India. Religious intolerance and religiously motivated violence have become so normalized that attacks on Christians in the presence of police, outside the station, have come to be expected. The only thing that has shocked Christians here is the location of the attack and not the attack itself. Strict action must be taken against the perpetrators of this attack and the police officers who have allowed this climate of impunity to exist.”

For interviews, please contact: press@persecution.org.

Example of sharia law in Egypt

 International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on August 26, 2021, a 17-year-old Christian woman was detained by Egyptian police as she was leaving a Cairo church. Upon the last communication with her, she was able to confirm her arrest. However, her current status and health condition remain unknown.

The young woman is a Christian convert from Islam, something which she had successfully kept secret from her family for a number of years, with only an atheist relative knowing. He advised her to leave Egypt for her own safety. She successfully applied to a university in Texas and was awarded the Presidential Scholarship, worth $22,000.00 per year, along with other smaller scholarships. She was working through the American Embassy in Cairo to plan her travel.

The reason for her arrest is unclear, but it occurred as she was leaving the church to visit the American Embassy. It is possible that her family discovered her plan to leave the country, and her conversion to Christianity, and called the police. Muslim converts are frequently threatened by their family members and detained by the Egyptian authorities, making their situation particularly perilous.

A partner shared with ICC, “They had taken everything from her, including any money she had. We had been in communication with her up until a few minutes before this. We waited and waited to hear from her, but there was no word. We did not know what to think or how to find her. Several hours later, we received messages from her on a phone borrowed from a fellow prisoner. We knew it was her because she said things only she would know. That is how we found out about her arrest.”

“That is the last we know of her. We are terribly concerned for her safety now and in the future. Any help is greatly appreciated,” continued the partner.

An individual connected with the case shared, “Her phone is still off. So we have no idea where she is or if she is safe. Since I tried to FaceTime her to see that she was actually the one we were communicating with, and that she was physically okay, her phone has been off. Egypt is a police and intelligence state that has special interests like the mafia and is characterized by false reports that are far from true, fabricating facts and fabricating accusations.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said in the 2021 Report, “Egypt’s constitution identifies Islam as the state religion and the principles of Shari’a as the primary source of legislation. While Article 64 states that 'freedom of belief is absolute,' only Muslims, Christians, and Jews can practice their religion publicly and build places of worship.” Conversion from Islam to another religion is not tolerated.

Claire Evans, ICC’s Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “We are extremely worried for the welfare of this young woman, whose whole future stands ahead of her. An Egyptian prison is already a traumatic experience, particularly so for women and converts to Christianity. We urge the authorities to promptly release her so that she can step into that future which every human deserves a chance to pursue. A future full of opportunities to safely practice their faith in safety.”

For interviews, please contact: press@persecution.org.