Modi is at it again

 The BJP-led State Assembly in the state of Haryana has introduced an anti-conversion bill which if approved by the governor, would make Haryana the 11th state in India to introduce an anti-conversion law.  

The bill’s language prohibits religious conversions effected through misrepresentation or fraudulent means such as by force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or marriage. The law also mandates that individuals converting from one religion to another submit a statement that the conversion was not through any of the prohibited means. 

“We are increasingly concerned about India’s anti-conversion laws,” said ICC President Jeff King. “These laws are primarily used to suppress and persecute Christians. Such legislation only emboldens the Hindu nationalists to attack Christians and suppress the freedom of religion. The international community cannot ignore these draconian measures used to attack the Church and other religious minorities.” 

Similar laws exist in nine other states: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakand, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh. Those state governments have not defined the terms "inducement," "coercion," "force," or "fraud" in the context of religious conversions. Because of this legal ambiguity, these laws have been widely abused by radical Hindu nationalist groups to harass and intimidate Christians while claiming to be under the auspices of state law. 

A local pastor in Haryana, who requested anonymity, told International Christian Concern (ICC), “There has been a gradual shutdown of house churches in the region where I live, through threats and violence. The new law will be one more step to validate what they have been doing to Christians. it is going to be difficult, not because of the content of the law, but how the law can be misused to target innocent Christians.” 

Dr. John Dayal, a prominent voice of the Christian community in India, said, “The bill in Haryana climbs a couple of steps higher than even the terrible Karnataka law that precipitated a massive civil society protest and grassroots movement.”

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Girl killed in Iraq for singing songs on TikTok

 The 20-year-old daughter of a Muslim Cleric who converted to Christianity was found murdered on March 7 in northern Iraq. The assassination of Iman Sami, who was known as Maria, is suspected to have been retaliation by her family following a TikTok video she posted where she was singing Christian spiritual songs.  

Jeff King, ICC’s President, shared his concern that “For someone born as a Muslim to be open about exploring Christianity is a tremendous act of bravery, as most Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) in the region face intense pressure from both their families and communities. Maria’s TikTok post should not have ended with her death. Iraq is just emerging from a very difficult time when Christians experienced a horrific genocide. It is an important step toward healing for Iraq to pursue an investigation of due process into issues related to freedom of speech and religion.”   

A Christian close to Maria said, “A member of my Bible study group gave her a Bible last month. Mostly she turned to Christianity, and her family knew because of this video she posted on TikTok.”  

Christian news site Ankawa Today published on Facebook, “Iman Sami, known as Maria, was found by the police last night. She suffered in her life because of her early marriage, where she drowned in marriage at the age of only 12 years. After separation from her husband, she lived alone. She was an activist in the field of women’s rights and a brave woman. She has videos on the TikTok app that reached hundreds of thousands of views. Her brother and uncle killed her yesterday!”   

The murder of Maria was discovered just one day after Iraq’s National Day of Coexistence and Tolerance, a day declared on the anniversary of Pope Francis’ visit last year. Iraq’s Christian community continues to suffer the severe consequences of the ISIS genocide, and Muslim Background Believers are specifically at a high risk of targeted violence because of their conversion to Christianity. The persecution faced by Iraq’s Christian community has forced most to flee the country.  

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Peshawar pushes for more jihad

 Gunmen targeted two priests traveling home from church in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on January 30, killing one and injuring the other. Father William Siraj (75 years) died instantly from multiple gunshot wounds, while Father Naeem Patrick was treated for a gunshot wound to his hand.  

The memorial service for Father Siraj will be held today, January 31, at Peshawar’s All Saints Church, which was attacked in 2013 by militants who killed over 70 parishioners and wounded more than 100. According to public statements by the authorities, the identities of the assassins are unknown as they escaped on motorcycles, but an investigation is ongoing and the manhunt has expanded.

Jeff King, ICC’s president, said, “Our hearts are heavy with the news of yet another fatal attack against Pakistan’s Christian community. We are lifting them up in prayers today as they gather for the memorial service, and we also pray for a speedy recovery of Rev. Naeem Patrick. The congregation of All Saints Church has experienced so much loss through the years. We hope for a speedy investigation into this assassination, and urge for the due process of justice.”

Church leaders from across the world have expressed their sadness at the assassination and have urged the authorities to conduct a full investigation. Bishop Azad, a senior bishop in the Church of Pakistan, stated, “We strongly condemn the firing on clergy of the Diocese of Peshawar and instant killing of Pastor William Siraj and injuring of Rev. Patrick Naeem earlier today. We demand justice and protection of Christians from the government of Pakistan.”  

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, added that he “join(s) Bishop Azad in condemning this abhorrent act, and I pray for justice and safety for the Christian community in Pakistan. Please pray for the family of Pastor William Siraj, all who mourn him, and for Rev. Patrick Naeem. As we mark Candlemas today, we pray for the light of Christ’s justice, hope and peace for our brothers and sisters in the church of Pakistan.”

Christians are a minority in the Muslim-dominated country of Pakistan and are regularly subjected to targeted acts of violence. As ICC documented in its 2021 Persecutor of the Year report, “The persecution of Christians in Pakistan is severe and complex… In recent years, major terrorist attacks on Christian places of worship have not been reported. However, many Pakistani Christians fear the possibility of these attacks.” Sadly, the targeting of Christian clergymen only increases these types of fears.

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Wanted terrorist arrested in the DRC

 Rashid Mohamed Salim, one of Kenya’s most wanted terrorists, was cornered and captured by local youths on Saturday in a village in the DRC. Salim was handed over to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and arrested.

“This young man is a great terrorist. He is a very big player in the activities of slaughtering Christians in this part of Beni,” a source in Beni told ICC. We have been receiving pictures and short films of him cutting the throats of Christians and the police. It is said that he is the one who captures them or has them captured via his telephone by fellow rebels when he is in the process of acting and publishes them as propaganda. He is already an Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) commander.” 

Salim was put on the Kenyan Anti-Terror Police radar in November 2021 with the government offering a $100,000 reward for him and four others on terrorism charges. He was feared to be on his way back to Kenya from Cabo Delgado where he had joined Mozambique’s Islamic State group.

Since his arrest, videos have emerged of Salim explaining the motivations behind the ADF insurgency. Asked about a video that showed him beheading a FARDC officer, Salim said, “I was given a machete by the ADF rebels to behead the government’s soldier that we had captured. They told me to draw attention to all the people of the world that there was Islam in Congo, and they were invited to come and spread the Islamic religion so that Islam can rule the whole world. So, I killed the FARDC soldier in the name of Allah.” 

Asked where he acquired the new FARDC, Salim said, “I was given by the ADF rebels when they captured us. In the forest, we have a commander called Abdalla who looks like an East African, but he is most likely Ugandan for he speaks some Luganda.” 

University-educated Salim was radicalized as a teen at a popular Mosque in Mombasa, Kenya. He has been linked with recruiting youth into terror groups in East Africa, and for various terrorist activities. 

His arrest comes three days after the Kenyan government assured safety for locals and foreigners following security alerts by European and American embassies in Nairobi urging their nationals to avoid public places.  

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al-Shabaab has attacked the same village in Kenya seven times this month

On January 26, 2022, six gunmen suspected to be al-Shabaab terrorists ambushed a convoy of vehicles near Kenya’s Somali border, and began shooting. Six people were injured in the attack and three were able to escape due to security measures in place.

According to one of the survivors, the six fully armed terrorists emerged from the right side of the road, pointing guns at the approaching vehicles. He recalled, “It was 5:00 p.m., an hour before the dusk to dawn curfew imposed this month in Lamu, and we wanted to come out of Lamu County before 6:00 p.m. We were almost getting to the second [to] last security check when I saw a group of six men appearing from the roadside bushes. They started firing [at] our truck, but we managed to stop before getting too close to them, and we escaped through the passenger’s door and entered the forest on the left side of the road. I was with my co-driver. We abandoned the truck on the road.”

Thankfully, the road had recently been tarred and bushes along it cleared due to the recent surge in attacks this month, in an effort to help citizens escape. The Somali-based al-Shabaab group has made Lamu’s Boni Forest its hideout, and has easily been able to stage attacks across the Kenyan border.

One of the vehicles attacked in the recent incident was carrying a group of government court officers. All six occupants were shot and evacuated by a multi-agency team to the nearest hospital for treatment.

This is the seventh terrorist attack in Lamu since the new year. Just three days prior, a group of suspected al-Shabaab militants detonated explosives at a Chinese company yard. A church leader in Lamu expressed his concerns about the safety of Christians and the impact the attacks are having on the church.

“This January has been characterized by a series of terrorist attacks, right after we celebrated the New Year, where over 15 people have been killed and several houses torched. Christians have been living in camps since the third of January because the villages are not safe. They go to the farms during the day and return to the camps in the evening where they eat together and sleep while security officers guard them. This is unacceptable.”

He continued, “The body of Christ is hurting here in Lamu. Christians are not safe because, historically, Lamu is known to be an area dominated by Muslims, but many ethnic groups have come and settled here legally. A big percentage of the settlers in Lamu are Christian farmers and this has led to an exponential group of Christianity which poses a threat to the Muslim community. We need protection from the government, including us who are involved in Muslim evangelism.”

Despite the ongoing persecution the church is currently facing, the church leader expressed confidence in the gospel of Christ. “The enemy of the cross might look like he is winning, but the truth is this period of persecution is producing bolder and courageous believers, sharpened on all ends, and sent to carry out a great and effective outreach among the Muslim communities and planting more sound churches in Lamu for the glory of God.”

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DRC under siege

 On January 24 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one person was fatally shot by police and several others were arrested in Beni town while protesting the “state of siege” declared by President Felix Tshisekedi in May 2021.

A local source informed ICC that chanting erupted in the streets as early as 4:00 a.m., with protesters claiming that the siege has done nothing to solve insecurity in the region.

“The protesters started grouping and chanting early this morning and took to the streets at 6:00 a.m., defying the crackling of bullets to disperse them,” said the source. “They were demanding the lifting of the siege that lasted eight months without any fruitful outcome. The police engaged them in running battles until late in the evening where one person is believed to have been killed by police. Shops, banks, schools, and hotels remained closed as crowds drawn from different pressure groups called for an end to the state of siege that has failed to solve the conflict situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.”

The protests come two months after Uganda deployed troops to the DRC in an effort to defeat the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorist group, an affiliate of ISIS known to terrorize the primarily Christian nation.

The source continued, “The people here are disappointed by the fact that the government is using the state of siege to force the population to sleep at 7:00 p.m. and extort money from those caught after curfew, yet the (extremist) Muslim rebels continue to invade, kill, loot, and destroy property. The president has his military men, from the governor, mayor, and the local administrators, but we are still being oppressed under the imposed siege.”

Over Christmas, six people were killed in a bomb blast at the Ishango restaurant in Beni town. The local population, which is primarily Christian, is asking for heightened security measures that would allow them to return to normalcy and bring back the region’s economic vibrancy. A church leader in Beni told ICC:

“The president’s state of siege was a good thing in fighting terrorism in these two provinces, but a keen end-to-end follow-up has been lacking and that’s why the population is coming out to pressure the government to reconsider these measures. Several groups wrote to the military mayor of the city of Beni on January 19, notifying him that if the siege continued, there shall be demonstrations today. He never bothered to take any action. The church also sees this as harassment by the government.”

The extent of damage and loss of lives following the protests are not yet known. ICC will continue to monitor the situation and provide any necessary updates.

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Nigeria, defend yourself against Fulani militants

 Fulani militants killed 18 Christians in Ancha village on Tuesday evening, January 11, marking the second attack on the Christian community in Nigeria this week.

“A loud voice shouted, ‘Allahu Akubar’ (Allah is the greatest) at midnight,” an eyewitness told International Christian Concern (ICC). “The community has now been attacked seven times by Muslim militants.”

Those killed included the church secretary of the local Baptist church. More than 100 homes were burned down, and food stores and crops were destroyed. Six people are currently in the hospital receiving medical treatment for bullet wounds.

“My life is now at risk,” eyewitness John Rivi Bulus told ICC through tears, “The Fulani are now after my life; all my family members have now been killed by the Fulani militants…I am left alone.”

“There is a plan for jihad in Nigeria, but the Nigerian government continues to remain silent,” said an Irigwe youth leader. “We are pleading with Christians in the Diaspora to come to our assistance.”

ICC’s contact in Nigeria is currently at the devastated village and has reported that the situation is “very bad,” and that further details would be available soon.

“We will continue to monitor this tragic situation and send out information as it is received,” said ICC President Jeff King. “Right now, our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria are in need of our prayers.” 

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