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China Keeps Church Leaders from Public Worship Attempt
Police put pastors under house arrest over weekend, before detaining at least 160 on Sunday.
DUBLIN, April 11 (CDN) — Police in China held "about two dozen" pastors and elders of Beijing's Shouwang Church under house arrest or at police stations over the weekend to keep them from attending a Sunday worship service in a public location, according to Bob Fu of the China Aid Association.
Three top leaders of the church remain in jail and several others are under strict surveillance after hundreds of Chinese police yesterday cordoned off the walkway to a third-floor outdoor meeting area adjacent to a property purchased by the church in Haidian district, Beijing, and arrested at least 160 members of the 1,000-strong church as they tried to assemble.
The church members were bundled into waiting vans and buses to prevent them from meeting as planned in the public space, Reuters and The Associated Press (AP) reported, and most had been released by today.
Church leaders claimed officials had pressured their landlords, forcing them out of both rented and purchased locations and leaving them no choice but to worship in the open.
"The government cornered them into making this decision," Fu said, adding that the church had initially tried to register with the government. "They waited for two years, and when the government still denied them registration, they tried to keep a low profile before finally deciding to buy the Daheng New Epoch Technology building."
Shouwang is a very unique church, he said.
"Most members are well-educated, and they include China's top religious scholars and even former government officials, which may be a factor in the government's response to them," he said.
As one of the largest house churches in Beijing, Shouwang is unique in insisting on meeting together rather than splitting the congregation into smaller groups meeting in several locations, Fu said. Zion church, for example, may have more members than Shouwang, but members meet in smaller groups across the city.
"This is based on the founding fathers' vision for Shouwang Church to be a 'city on a hill,'" as stated in the Bible in Matthew chapter five, Fu explained. "So they've made a conscious decision not to go back to the small-group model. Either the government gives them the keys to their building or gives them written permission to worship in another location, or they will continue meeting in the open."
Police arrested anyone who showed up to take part in the service, AP reported.
'Most Basic Necessity'
Church leaders last week issued a statement to the congregation explaining their decision to meet outdoors.
"It may not be the best decision, but at this time it is an inevitable one," the statement said, before reminding church members that the landlord of their premises at the time, the Old Story Club restaurant, had come under government pressure and repeatedly asked them to leave, while the previous owners of the Daheng New Epoch Technology building, purchased a year ago by the church for 27.5 million RMB (US$4.2 million), had refused to hand over the keys. (See, "Church in China to Risk Worshipping in Park," April 7.)
The church had already met outdoors twice in November 2009 before officials gave tacit consent to move to the Old Story Club restaurant. Officials, however, again prevented Shouwang Church from meeting in May and August of last year.
Fu said it was common for government officials across China to pressure landlords into revoking leases for house church groups.
"For example, right now I know of at least two churches that were made 'homeless' in Guangzhou this week, including one church with at least 200 members," he said.
Shouwang's statement pointed to Article 36 of China's Constitution, which grants every citizen freedom to worship, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified by China, which states that every citizen has the right to observe his religion or belief "either alone or in community with others and in public or private."
For this reason the church planned to meet outdoors until officials granted legal, written permission to worship in an approved location – preferably at the building purchased by the church.
The document also advised church members not to resist if they were held under house arrest or arrested at the Sunday venue.
"Objectively speaking, our outdoor worship must deliver this message to the various departments of our government: attending Sunday worship is the most basic necessity for Christians in their life of faith," the statement concluded.
The number of Protestant house church Christians in China is estimated at between 45 and 60 million, according to Yu Jianrong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Rural Development Institute, with a further 18 to 30 million people attending government-approved churches.
http://www.compassdirect.org
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Plinky Prompt: 100 Word Story with No E's Allowed
Blowing a Gale
It was a cold morning this mid-Spring morning. Wind blowing strongly in harsh gusts – far too cold for Spring this wind chill factor. Still, good away from it – soaking up amazing rays from a blazing sun if cold wind blasts allow.
What a start for this day away from work. Two days now cold. Why is it this wind blows so cold in Spring? Could warm days front again this Spring? No cold days can long stay in the midst of Spring I maintain. Still, as cold as it is today, warmth will again proclaim.
My story – Cold as it is.
Posted in General, Plinky Prompts	| Tagged 100, again, allowed, amazing, blasts, blazing, blowing, blows, cold, days, e's, factor, front, gusts, harsh, long, maintain, midst, morning, no, Plinky, proclaim, prompt, rays, soaking, spring, start, stay, story, strongly, Sun, warm, warmth, wind, wind chill, Word | Leave a comment
Signs of Witness Intimidation Mount in Orissa, India
Fear factor results in transfer of rape case; meantime, 6-year-old girl says politician is killer.
NEW DELHI, April 2 (CDN) — Due in part to intimidation of witnesses in Kandhamal district, a judge this week granted a change of venue for the trial of men accused of gang-raping a nun during anti-Christian attacks in Orissa in 2008.
The trial will be transferred from Baliguda, Kandhamal to Cuttack, near the Orissa state capital of Bhubaneswar. Justice Indrajit Mohanty of the Orissa High Court on Tuesday (March 30) ordered the inter-district transfer of the trial. The nun, Meena Lilita Barwa, had argued that witnesses would be intimidated into refraining from testifying if the trial were held in Kandhamal district.
She also argued that Kandhamal's intimidating atmosphere made it too dangerous for her appear in court there. Christians were hopeful that the transfer would lead the administration to review police and court processes in Kandhamal district.
Police have arrested 19 people for allegedly assaulting the nun on Aug. 25, 2008 and parading her half-naked through the streets.
Hindu Politician Identified as Killer
After a series of trials in which murder suspects in the 2008 Kandhamal district violence have gone free as Hindu extremist threats have kept witnesses from testifying, a 6-year-old girl has identified a powerful local politician as the man who killed her father.
In testimony at Fast Track Court No. 1 on March 14, Lipsa Nayak of Kandhamal identified Manoj Pradhan, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Orissa, as the man who cut and burned her father to death when Hindu extremists attacked Christians following the Aug. 23, 2008 death of a local Hindu leader.
Pradhan has been accused in nine cases of murder and in 14 cases of arson. So far he has been exonerated on the murder charges against him for "lack of witnesses." Christian leaders say that Pradhan has been intimidating witnesses because of his position as a member of Legislative Assembly. Lipsa's mother, 32-year-old Kanak Rekha Nayak, has said that Pradhan and his associates have threatened to harm her family if they identified him as the killer.
The Nayak family lived in Tiangia, Budedipada, in Raikia block of Kandhamal district. During the anti-Christian attacks that followed the death of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, Lipsa's parents and her sister had taken refuge in the forest to escape the fury of the Hindu extremists, but the rampaging mob tracked them down.
Lipsa, then 4 years old, along with her mother and 2-year-old sister, watched in horror as the crowd allegedly beat her father, Parikhita Nayak, for two hours and then killed him by cutting him into pieces and burning him.
Prosecution and defense lawyers questioned Lipsa for more than 90 minutes, and she reportedly answered all questions without wavering. Asked by the judge if she could identify the killer of her father, she pointed to Pradhan, the MLA from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from G. Udayagiri, Kandhamal.
Her mother later told media, "They played with him for a few hours before cutting him into pieces and dousing him with kerosene."
Accused as a primary suspect in the murder along with Pradhan is Kali Pradhan. The government of Orissa has set up two Fast Track courts to try cases related to the violence that spread to more than a dozen districts of Orissa. Maoists have taken responsibility for the killing, though Hindu extremists accused Christians in an effort to spark anti-Christian violence. The attacks killed more than 100 people and burned 4,640 houses, 252 churches and 13 educational institutions.
Christian leaders have denounced the legal process in the Kandhamal violence, saying not only that witnesses have been threatened and the intimidated but that police investigations have been negligent or corrupt.
"There has been no conviction in any case of murder," said Dr. John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council. "More than 70 people were killed, and trial is being held only for 38 or so of those deaths. Eleven murder cases have been tried with no one being indicted or sentenced for murder so far – because of terrible investigation by the police, a poor show by the prosecuting lawyers and shoddy judicial process."
The 123 cases tried in the Fast track courts have resulted in 97 convictions and 323 acquittals, including several cases decided on Wednesday (March 31). Seven people in two separate cases were convicted of arson and rioting cases. Nata Pradhan, Jahala Pradhan, Ashok Mallick, Bapa Pradhan, and Udayanath Pradhan from Raikhala-Gadiapada village were sentenced for two years imprisonment for destroying the house of Birendra Nayak of the same village. They were also fined 2,500 rupees (US$55). In the other case, Ratnakar Pradhan and Parsuram Pradhan from village Tatamaha, Raikia block were convicted of riot and arson.
At the same time, Fast Track Court I Judge S.K. Das acquitted 20 people persons in three separate cases for lack of evidence.
"Witnesses are being coerced, threatened, cajoled and sought to be bribed by murderers and arsonists facing trial," said Archbishop of Orissa Raphael Cheenath in a statement. Previously he had demanded that the cases of politically powerful persons such as Manoj Pradhan be transferred out of Kandhamal to ensure proper justice.
"We are deeply concerned about the high rate of acquittals in the Fast Track Courts," Cheenath said. "Victims filed 3,232 complaints in the various police stations of Kandhamal. Of these, the police registered cases in only 832 instances."
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik filed a written admission in the Orissa Assembly in November 2009 in which he said 85 members of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), 321 persons of Hindu nationalist umbrella group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and 118 persons of Hindu extremist youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, had been arrested for their involvement in the Kandhamal riots.
While the government says that situation is normalizing in Kandhamal, Christian leader like Dr. John Dayal give a different story.
"While it is possible to visit one half of the district of Kandhamal and discover only peace, it is the other half of the district which speaks of the continuing tyranny," he said. "The bloodshed has stopped because of belated police action, but the miscarriage of justice and the lost peace continue to haunt thousands of people who have not been able to go back to their homes for fear of their lives. Thousands of children cannot go to school, especially the girls. What is worse is that many girls have been trafficked."
The district collector banned all Christian organizations from coming to the district to bring aid to victims after the 2008 violence, he added, "and it took an appeal to the Supreme Court of India by the archbishop of Bhubaneswar for much needed relief to be given to the people in the then refugee camps."
He expressed doubts about the government portrait of normalcy in Kandhamal.
"Even if the church does its best, only half of the 5,600 or so houses burned to the ground will ever be rebuilt," he said. "The district collector and other officers of the civil and police system who are guilty of gross dereliction of duty continue to be in control. Thousands of men continue to be without jobs. Is this normalcy?"
Firebrand Arrested
On March 20, a controversial leader of the VHP, Praveen Togadia, was arrested as he tried to defy orders prohibiting him from entering Kandhamal. Togadia had played a major role in whipping up passions among the Hindus of Kandhamal after the killing of Saraswati.
Togadia had led a procession with the body of Saraswati through different areas of the district for more than 100 kilometers, sparking off or intensifying violence against Christians.
The government of Orissa came under heavy fire from civil society for allowing the procession, and on the latest occasion the local administration was careful to detain Togadia under the Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides for authorities to make arrests to prevent potential offenses. Togadia was later released on bail.
Togadia termed the prohibition on his visit a "ban" that was "illegal and undemocratic." In response to the "ban" on Togadia, the Hindu extremist Sangh Parivar and the BJP protested with a 12-hour bandh (shut down) in Kandhamal on March 20, while the VHP held demonstrations in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Bolangir, Sambalpur and Cuttack. VHP also blocked National Highway 217 for one hour and burned an effigy of Chief Minister Patnaik.
"The state government didn't stop foreign missionaries from going to tribal areas of Kandhamal and other parts of Orissa," VHP leader Swadesh Pal Gupta said. "They were being provided with full support and freedom. But when a leader who is an International Secretary General of VHP tries to go to Kandhamal, the government stopped him. We are staging a nationwide protest against this."
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Anti-Christian Sentiment Marks Journey for Bhutan's Exiles
Forced from Buddhist homeland, dangers arise in Hindu-majority Nepal.
KATHMANDU, Nepal, February 23 (CDN) — Thrust from their homes in Bhutan after Buddhist rulers embarked on an ethnic and religious purge, Christian refugees in Nepal face hostilities from Hindus and others.
In Sunsari district in southeastern Nepal, a country that is more than 80 percent Hindu, residents from the uneducated segments of society are especially apt to attack Christians, said Purna Kumal, district coordinator for Awana Clubs International, which runs 41 clubs in refugee camps to educate girls about the Bible.
"In Itahari, Christians face serious trouble during burials," Kumal told Compass. "Last month, a burial party was attacked by locals who dug up the grave and desecrated it."
Earlier this month, he added, a family in the area expelled one of its members from their home because he became a Christian.
Bhutan began expelling almost one-eighth of its citizens for being of Nepali origin or practicing faiths other than Buddhism in the 1980s. The purge lasted into the 1990s.
"Christians, like Hindus and others, were told to leave either their faith or the country," said Gopi Chandra Silwal, who pastors a tiny church for Bhutanese refugees in a refugee camp in Sanischare, a small village in eastern Nepal's Morang district. "Many chose to leave their homeland."
Persecution in Bhutan led to the spread of Christianity in refugee camps in Nepal. Though exact figures are not available, refugee Simon Gazmer estimates there are about 7,000-8,000 Christians in the camps – out of a total refugee population of about 85,000 – with many others having left for other countries. There are 18 churches of various faiths in the camps, he said.
"Faith-healing was an important factor in the spread of Christianity in the camps," said Gazmer, who belongs to Believers' Church and is awaiting his turn to follow five members of his family to Queensland, Australia. "A second reason is the high density in the camps."
Each refugee family lives in a single-room hut, with one outdoor toilet for every two families. The Nepalese government forbids them to work for fear it will create unemployment for local residents.
Life was even harder for them before 2006, when Nepal was a Hindu kingdom where conversions were a punishable offence.
"When I began preaching in 2000, I had to do it secretly," said Pastor Silwal of Morang district. "We could meet only surreptitiously in small groups. I used my hut as a make-shift church while many other groups were forced to rent out rooms outside the camp."
A fact-finding mission in 2004 by Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers found that police pulled down a church structure built by Pentecostal Christians in the Beldangi camp by orders of Nepal's home ministry. The rights group also reported that Hindu refugees ostracized the Christians, who had proceeded to rent a room outside the camp to meet three times a week for worship services and Bible study.
When the Jesus Loves Gospel Ministries (JLGM) organization sent officials from India to the Pathri camp in Morang in 2006, they found that local residents resentful of the refugees had taken note of a baptism service at a pond in a nearby jungle.
"In August, we were planning another baptism program," JLGM director Robert Singh reported. "But the villagers put deadly poisonous chemicals in the water … Some of the young people went to take a bath ahead of our next baptism program. They found some fish floating on the water and, being very hungry – the refugees only get a very small ration, barely enough to survive on – they took some of the fish and ate them. Three of them died instantly."
Singh also stated that poisoned sweets were left on the premises of the refugee school in the camp. They were discovered in time to avert another tragedy.
Life for Christian refugees improved after Nepal saw a pro-democracy movement in 2006 that caused the army-backed government of Hindu king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah to collapse. The king was forced to reinstate parliament, and lawmakers sought to curb his powers by declaring Nepal a secular state.
Though Christian refugees are now allowed to run churches openly in the camps, ill will toward them has yet to end. When Pastor Silwal asked camp authorities to allow him to open a church in 2006, Hindu neighbors protested, saying it would cause disturbances. Camp authorities allowed him to open a tiny church in a separate room on the condition that its activities would not disturb neighbors.
Earlier in his life in Bhutan, said the 40-year-old Pastor Silwal, he had been a stern Hindu who rebuked his two sisters mercilessly for becoming Christians. He forbade them to visit their church, which gathered in secret due to the ban on non-Buddhist religions in place at the time. They were also forbidden to bring the Bible inside their house in Geylegphug, a district in southern Bhutan close to the Indian border.
"I became a believer in 1988 after a near-death experience," Pastor Silwal told Compass. "I contracted malaria and was on the verge of death since no one could diagnose it. All the priests and shamans consulted by my Hindu family failed to cure me. One day, when I thought I was going to die I had a vision."
The pastor said he saw a white-robed figure holding a Bible in one hand and beckoning to him with the other. "Have faith in me," the figure told him. "I will cure you."
When he woke from his trance, Silwal asked his sisters to fetch him a copy of the Bible. They were alarmed at first, thinking he was going to beat them. But at his insistence, they nervously fetched the book from the thatched roof of the cow shed where they had kept it hidden. Pastor Silwal said he tried to read the Bible but was blinded by his fever and lost consciousness.
When he awoke, to his amazement and joy, the fever that had racked him for nearly five months was gone.
Pastor Silwal lost his home in 1990 to the ethnic and religious purge that forced him to flee along with thousands of others. It wasn't until 1998, he said, that he and his family formally converted to Christianity after seven years of grueling hardship in the refugee camp, where he saw "people dying like flies due to illness, lack of food and the cold."
"My little son too fell ill and I thought he would die," Silwal said. "But he was cured; we decided to embrace Christianity formally."
In 2001, Bhutan4Christ reported the number of Bhutanese Christians to be around 19,000, with the bulk of them – more than 10,500 – living in Nepal.
When persecution by the Bhutanese government began, frightened families raced towards towns in India across the border. Alarmed by the influx of Bhutanese refugees, Indian security forces packed them into trucks and dumped them in southern Nepal.
Later, when the homesick refugees tried to return home, Indian security forces blocked the way. There were several rounds of scuffles, resulting in police killing at least three refugees.
Simon Gazmer was seven when his family landed at the bank of the Mai river in Jhapa district in southeastern Nepal. Now 24, he still remembers the desolation that reigned in the barren land, where mists and chilly winds rose from the river, affecting the morale and health of the refugees. They lived in bamboo shacks with thin plastic sheets serving as roofs; they had little food or medicine.
"My uncle Padam Bahadur had tuberculosis, and we thought he would die," said Gazmer, who lives in Beldangi II, the largest of seven refugee camps. "His recovery made us realize the grace of God, and our family became Christians."
The plight of the refugees improved after the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stepped in, receiving permission from the government of Nepal to run the refugee camps. According to the UNHCR, there were 111,631 registered refugees in seven camps run in the two districts of Jhapa and Morang.
Though Nepal held 15 rounds of bilateral talks with Bhutan for the repatriation of the refugees, the Buddhist government dragged its feet, eventually breaking off talks. Meantime, international donors assisting the refugee camps began to grow weary, resulting in the slashing of aid and food. Finally, seven western governments – Canada, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the Netherlands – persuaded Nepal to allow the refugees to resettle in third countries.
The exodus of the refugees started in 2007. Today, according to the UNHCR, more than 26,000 have left for other countries, mostly the United States. A substantial number of the nearly 85,000 people left in the camps are ready to follow suit.
Although they now have a new life to look forward to, many of Bhutan's Christian refugees are saddened by the knowledge that their homeland still remains barred to them. So some are looking at the next best thing: a return to Nepal, now that it is secular, where they will feel more at home than in the West.
"I don't have grand dreams," said Pastor Silwal. "In Australia I want to enroll in a Bible college and become a qualified preacher. Then I want to return to Nepal to spread the word of God."
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Assailant in Street Attack in Turkey Ordered Released
Court ignores 'religious hostility' of Turk who held knife to Christian's throat.
ISTANBUL, February 12 (CDN) — An Istanbul court has ordered the release of a jailed Turk who publicly threatened and held a knife to the throat of a Christian he attacked six months ago.
In a ruling on Wednesday (Feb. 10), the Kadikoy Seventh Court of First Instance convicted Yasin Karasu, 24, of making death threats and mounting an armed attack against Ismail Aydin. Shouting to attract passersby as he held a knife to Aydin's throat on Aug. 3, Karasu had denounced the Christian as a "missionary dog" who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelizing others.
The crime is punishable by four years in prison, but Justice Tahsin Dogan ruled that Karasu should be released unconditionally, without serving the remainder of his sentence.
After the attack last August, the 48-year-old Aydin had declined to press charges against his assailant, who was taken into police custody at the scene. But state prosecutors charged Karasu under criminal statutes for making armed threats, obstructing another's freedom, and attempted harm with a weapon.
He was then sent to prison for the duration of criminal investigations into the case.
After an initial hearing on Jan. 12, Karasu appeared in Istanbul's Kadikoy district courthouse this week for a second trial hearing. Arriving in handcuffs from Istanbul's Metris Prison where he has been incarcerated for the past six months, Karasu erupted in several emotional outbursts as he entered the courthouse with an escort of gendarmerie guards.
At the outset, the prisoner heatedly refused to accept the lawyer his father hired to represent him in court. After a guard removed his handcuffs before he entered the courtroom, Karasu took out of his pocket several handwritten pages, which he said he would submit in his own defense.
Under Turkish law, Karasu's conviction should have left him with a four-year jail term for his death threats and armed attack on Aydin. But the prosecutor, applying a frequently used law of procedures, cited the defendant's "respectful behavior, condition and manners in the courtroom in his favor" and declared that Karasu's good conduct had earned him a one-sixth reduction (eight months) in his sentence.
Together with the six months Karasu has already been jailed, that reduced his four-year prison term to a remaining two years and 10 months.
Nevertheless, the court ruled for Karasu's unconditional release. The Court of Appeal must approve this sentence, however, and his actual release then must be formally approved in writing by the Administrative Board of Penalties.
"It seems that the judge did not take into account at all that this crime was committed with religious hostility," one member of the legal committee of Turkey's Association of Protestant Churches told Compass. "That, in my view, should have aggravated the crime and sentence."
Human rights lawyer Orhan Kemal Cengiz, after reviewing Wednesday's court record, agreed.
"This is also a crime against the freedom of religion," Cengiz said. "This should be another factor to be taken into account, and the sentence should be increased accordingly."
Karasu had taken Aydin hostage by grabbing him around the neck, holding a knife blade to his throat and forcing him along the street to a busy intersection in Istanbul's Kadikoy district. Within minutes both TV crews and police arrived at the scene, watching as Karasu wrapped Aydin's head in a large Turkish flag and continued to taunt him as a traitor to the nation.
"I want to see him set free," Aydin commented outside the courtroom before this week's hearing. Aydin, who converted to Christianity 22 years ago, said he had forgiven Karasu.
Aydin said Karasu had made contact with him several times during the year previous to his attack, asking him questions about the Christian faith. He said Karasu, who was unemployed when he attacked him, had experienced emotional problems and depression while completing the last months of his military service.
Karasu's father, who traveled from Erzurum to attend this week's hearing, told Compass that he could not understand what had caused his son to launch such an attack against Aydin. Confirming that his son had received psychological treatment in the past, he declared his intention to take him back to Erzurum after his release, so that he could live at home and undergo more psychological therapy.
Posted in Christianity, Islam, Turkey	| Tagged accept, accordingly, account, actual, Administrative Board of Penalties, against, aggravated, agreed, appeared, applying, approve, armed, around, arriving, assailant, Association of Protestant Churches, attack, attacked, attempted, attend, attract, behavior, betrayed, blade, bust, case, caused, charges, Christian, Christianity, Christians, cited, commented, committed, committee, completing, condition, conduct, confirming, contact, continued, converted, convicted, conviction, court, courthouse, Courtof Appeal, crews, crime, criminal, custody, death threats, declared, declined, defendant, defense, denounced, depression, district, dog, duration, earned, emotional, entered, erupted, Erzurum, escort, evangelizing, experienced, factor, faith, Father, favor, flag, forcing, forgiven, formally, free, freedom, freedom of religion, frequently, gendarmerie, good, grabbing, guards, handcuffs, handwritten, harm, head, hearing, heatedly, held, hired, holding, home, hostage, hostility, human rights, ignores, incarcerated, increased, initial, intention, intersection, investigations, Islam, Ismail Aydin, Istanbul, jail, jailed, judge, justice, Kadikoy Seventh Court of First Instance, knife, large, launch, law, lawyer, leaving, legal, live, making, manners, member, Metris Prison, military, missionary, mounting, Muslim, muslims, nation, neck, obstructing, ordered, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, others, outbursts, outset, own, pages, passersby, past, Persecution, pocket, police, press, previous, prison, prisoner, problems, procedures, prosecutors, psycholgical, publicly, punishable, questions, received, record, reduced, reduction, refused, release, released, religious, remainder, removed, represent, respectful, reviewing, ruling, scene, sentence, service, serving, set, shouting, son, state, statutes, street, submit, Tahsin Dogan, taunt, term, therapy, threatened, threats, throat, traitor, travelled, treatment, trial, Turk, Turkey, Turkish, TV, unconditionally, undergo, understand, unemployed, used, view, watching, weapon, without, wrapped, Yasin Karasu | Leave a comment
Convictions Few in Anti-Christian Violence in Orissa, India
Posted on November 12, 2009 by particularkev
BJP legislator, a key suspect in Kandhamal violence, acquitted again and out on bail.
NEW DELHI, November 11 (CDN) — Following six acquittals last week in trials for those accused of the 2008 anti-Christian violence in India's Orissa state and the release on bail of a key suspect, Christians are losing heart to strive for justice, according to a prosecuting attorney.
The acquittal of six suspects last week raises the total to 121, with just 27 convicted in the Orissa violence by Hindu extremists.
"The victims are so discouraged due to the increasing number of acquittals that they neither have hope nor motivation for the criminal revision of their cases in the higher court," attorney Bibhu Dutta Das of the Orissa High Court told Compass.
He said the acquittals are the result of defective investigations carried out by police.
"This has been done intentionally, to cover-up the fundamentalists," he said.
Das said that in many cases police fraudulently misrepresented the ages of culprits so that the ages of the accused in court would not match the age denoted in the victims' First Information Reports, leaving the court no option but to let the alleged culprits go.
"There can be two persons by the same name, so age is a major identification factor that is considered," said Das.
Christian leaders in Orissa said the state government's claims of justice for the victims of the anti-Christian violence ring hollow as the number of acquittals is far more than convictions.
An Orissa state Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) who was facing charges in 14 cases of "murder, burnings and assaults" in last year's Kandhamal district violence against Christians has been released on bail in one of the murder cases.
Manoj Pradhan, MLA from the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in G. Udayagiri block, faces a murder charge in a slaying in Tiangia village. The Orissa High Court awarded him bail in the case, and he was released from Phulbani jail on Oct. 30.
On that day he was also acquitted of arson in a house-burning in Banjamaha village due to "lack of evidence." In trials relating to the Orissa violence of August-September 2008, the Hindu extremist perpetrators have reportedly intimidated many witnesses to keep them from testifying.
"With Manoj Pradhan, who has charges of murder against him, released on bail, this is a big threat to the witnesses of cases against him," attorney Das told Compass.
If Pradhan remains free, Das said, he likely will be acquitted in all other cases as he will be able to threaten witnesses.
"Pradhan is already acquitted in six cases, whereas eight cases are still pending against him," Das said.
Special Public Prosecutor Bijay Pattnaik told reporters that Pradhan was acquitted of the arson charge as only one witness stepped forward.
"He was let off for want of evidence as there was a lone witness in the case," Pattnaik said. "Only the victim testified in the case, and the charges against Pradhan could not be proved."
Fast Track Court-I Judge Sobhan Kumar Das on Oct. 30 acquitted Pradhan of the house burning, which took place on Oct. 1, 2008. Earlier Pradhan was acquitted in two murder trials due to "lack of evidence."
In another case, witnesses had testified to the involvement of Pradhan in the kidnapping of Kantheswar Digal – subsequently murdered on Aug. 25, 2008 – in Sankarakhole village, Phulbani district, but their testimony failed to convince the court to condemn the BJP politician.
Pradhan was arrested and jailed in October 2008 and was elected as BJP MLA from the G. Udayagiri constituency while in jail.
Three Years of Prison
On Oct. 29 a fast track court at Phulbani sentenced three persons to three years rigorous imprisonment for destroying evidence in the murder of a man during the 2008 attacks in Kandhamal. Judge Das also imposed a fine of 1,000 rupees (US$21) each on Senapati Pradhan, 65, Revenswar Pradhan and Tidinja Pradhan, both 62. Failure to pay the fine would result in an additional three months of prison.
The three men were charged along with seven others for killing tribal elder Sidheswar Pradhan in the village of Solesoru, Tikabali block, on Aug. 25, 2008.
Prosecutors said the three men clubbed Sidheswar Pradhan to death in front of villagers and family members, and that his body was set on fire. But the Judge Das convicted the three only of destruction of evidence in the case, exonerating them of the murder charges saying, "It could not be proved."
Padisti Nayak, a 65-year-old widow, was reportedly burned alive on the same day. She had stayed back and not fled even after hearing the news of violence against Christians, believing the attackers would not harm an elderly woman.
Twelve days later Iswar Digal, her son-in-law who had fled to a refugee camp, contacted a district magistrate for information about her. When authorities inspected the family's gutted home in Solesoru, they found only charred human remains, flesh and bones, which they collected as evidence of the violence.
The court acquitted the other seven of all charges due to lack of evidence against them.
Nabijini Pradhan, nephew of Sidheswar Pradhan, told Asia News that his family has since been receiving death threats.
"I cannot believe the murderers were acquitted," he reportedly said. "Our family is at risk; we are getting death threats; they want to eliminate us. They killed and burned my uncle's body to destroy every shred of evidence."
Human rights activist Dhirendra Panda, a Hindu, told Asia News that some investigators are linked to Hindu extremists.
"Justice has been derailed, and some investigators are linked to the Sangh Parivar extremists," Panda reportedly said. "They are determined to protect the accused, willing to manipulate cases rather than ensure justice for victims. Now not only are the religious rights of the population undermined, but also the core values of humanity and democracy."
Posted in Christianity, Hinduism, India	| Tagged accused, acquittals, acquitted, activist, additional, age, ages, alive, alleged, anti-Christian, arrested, arson, Asia News, assaults, attackers, attacks, attorney, awarded, bail, Banjamaha, believe, believing, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bibhu Dutta Das, big, Bijay Pattnaik, BJP, Block, body, bones, burnings, cases, charges, charred, Christian, Christianity, Christians, claim, clubbed, collected, condemn, considered, constituency, contacted, convicted, convictions, convince, core, court, criminal, culprits, death, defective, democracy, denoted, derailed, destroying, destruction, determined, Dhirendra Panda, discouraged, district, elder, elderly, eliminate, ensure, evidence, exonerating, extremists, facing, factor, failed, failure, family, Fast Track Court-I, few, fine, FIR, fire, First Information Report, fled, flesh, found, fraudulently, free, front, fundamentalists, G. Udayagiri, government, gutted, harm, hearing, heart, high court, higher, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, hollow, home, hope, house, house-burning, human, human rights, humanity, identification, imposed, imprisonment, increasing, India, information, inspected, intentionally, intimidated, investigations, investigators, involvement, Iswar Digal, jail, jailed, judge, justice, Kandhamal, Kantheswar Digal, key, kidnapping, killing, lack, leaders, legislator, linked, lone, losing, magistrate, major, manipulate, Manoj Pradhan, match, Member of Legislative Assembly, members, men, misrepresented, MLA, motivation, murder, murdered, murderers, Nabijini Pradhan, name, nephew, New Delhi, news, option, Orissa, Padisti Nayak, pay, pending, perpetrators, Persecution, persons, Phulbani, police, politician, prison, prosecuting, protect, proved, receiving, refugee camp, religious, remains, result, Revenswar Pradhan, revision, rights, rigorous, ring, risk, Sangh Parivar, Sankarakhole, Senapati Pradhan, sentenced, shred, Sidheswar Pradhan, slaying, Sobhan Kumar Das, Solesoru, son-in-law, Special Public Prosecutor, state, strive, suspect, testified, testifying, testimony, threat, threaten, Tiangia, Tidinja Pradhan, Tikabali, trials, tribal, uncle, undermined, values, victims, village, villagers, violence, widow, willing, witnesses, woman | Leave a comment
First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church
By Hilary White
ROME, November 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a move that is a surprise to no one, the UK branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), the largest of the groups that broke away from the mainstream Anglican Church over the ordination of woman and the latter's support for active homosexuality, has been the first to formally accept the offer of Pope Benedict to enter into communion with the Catholic Church en masse.
Although the TAC is not large, being made up of only 20 or so parishes, the vote by the group to accept the invitation is expected to be a strong symbolic blow to the mainstream Anglican Church in its motherland of Britain, where it has been a leader in the acceptance of woman clergy and homosexuality. It is widely acknowledged that the Vatican's decision to extend its hand to traditionalist Anglicans comes in response to repeated requests, made public last year, by the TAC.
In a surprise announcement on October 20, the Vatican said that a document was being prepared that would create "personal ordinariates" that will allow "traditionalist" Anglicans to come into the Catholic Church in groups while retaining their liturgical and pastoral traditions, including the possibility of a married clergy. William Cardinal Levada, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that the move had come in response to many requests from Anglicans around the world, clergy, laity and bishops, who objected to the growing acceptance of homosexuality in Anglicanism, especially in North America and Britain.
The website of the TAC in the UK reported last week, "This Assembly, representing the Traditional Anglican Communion in Great Britain, offers its joyful thanks to Pope Benedict XVI for his forthcoming Apostolic Constitution allowing the corporate reunion of Anglicans with the Holy See, and requests the Primate and College of Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion to take the steps necessary to implement this Constitution."
The leadership of the Traditional Anglican Community in Canada told LSN in an interview late last month that the life and family issues are a major factor in the attraction of the Catholic Church. Bishop Carl Reid of the Traditional Anglican Communion in Canada, told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN), "When it comes to issues of morality, especially family and pro-life, our membership is very strongly on the same page as are Roman Catholics."
The pope's offer to Anglicans who adhere to traditionally Christian moral doctrine has infuriated the left in both the secular and religious worlds. Benedict XVI has been attacked most recently by former Catholic theologian and notorious opponent of Catholic moral teaching, Hans Kung, as well as innumerable journalists and editors who see the move as the Vatican turning back the ecclesial clock towards a pre-1960s traditional style. Kung accused Benedict, his former university colleague, of ecclesiastical "piracy" and said that the move undermines the decades-long work of "ecumenical dialogue."
John Allen, the leading American "liberal" Catholic journalist in Rome, gave a more sedate analysis, saying that the invitation to the Anglicans who are in agreement on the nature of truth, doctrine and biblical inerrancy, is indeed part of the pope's greater plan to combat the growing secularist "dictatorship of relativism" that the pontiff has warned is undermining the very structure of our civilization.
"Benedict XVI is opening the door to … traditionalist Anglicans in part because whatever else they may be, they are among the Christians least prone to end up, in the memorable phrase of Jacques Maritain, 'kneeling before the world,' meaning sold out to secularism," Allen wrote in a column today.
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, an American priest-blogger with connections inside the Vatican, has commented that with this decision (one that was fought by many bishops in his own Church), the pope has earned the title, "Pope of unity."
The Anglicans who may take advantage of the new "canonical structure," Zhusldorf wrote, "are Christians who are separated from clear unity with the Church. Pope Benedict stresses the importance of his role as Pope as being one of promoting unity. It is not just that they a Christians who tend to agree with him. They are separated. He is trying to reintegrate them."
"If we are going to fight the dictatorship of relativism," Fr. Zuhlsdorf continued, "we need a strong Catholic identity. If we are going to evangelize, we need a strong Catholic identity. If we are going to engage in true ecumenism, we need a strong Catholic identity. Liturgy is the key component in his 'Marshall Plan' for the Church."
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Posted in Anglicans, Canada, Christianity, Church of England, Roman Catholicism, United Kingdom, USA	| Tagged accept, acceptance, active, advantage, agree, agreement, allowing, American, analysis, Anglican, Anglicanism, Anglicans, Apostolic Constitution, assembly, attraction, Benedict, biblical inerrancy, bishops, blogger, blow, branch, Britain, Canada, canonical, cardinal, Carl Reid, Christianity, church, civilization, clear, clergy, clock, colleague, college, column, combat, communion, component, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, connections, constitution, corporate, create, decision, decsion, dialogue, dictatorship, doctrine, document, door, earned, ecclesial, ecclesiastical, ecumenical, ecumenism, editors, en masse, engage, enter, evangelize, factor, family, Father, fight, first, formally, former, forthcoming, fought, greater, group, groups, growing, Hans Kung, head, Hilary White, Holy See, Homosexuality, identity, implement, importance, infuriated, inside, invitation, issues, Jacques Maritain, John Allen, John Zuhlsdorf, journalists, joyful, key, kneeling, laity, largest, leader, leadership, left, Liberal, life, liturgical, mainstream, major, married, Marshall Plan, meaning, memorable, moral, morality, motherland, move, nature, necessary, North America, notorious, objected, opening, opponent, ordinariates, ordination, parishes, pastoral, personal, phrase, Piracy, plan, pontiff, Pope, possibility, prepared, priest, Primate, pro-life, promoting, reintegrate, relativism, religious, repeated, representing, requests, reunion, role, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, Rome, secular, secularism, secularist, sedate, separated, sold, steps, stresses, strong, structure, symbolic, TAC, teaching, thanks, theologian, title, Traditional Anglican Communion, traditionalist, traditions, true, truth, UK, undermines, United Kingdom, unity, University, USA, Vatican, vote, votes, warned, Website, William Cardinal Levada, women, world, worlds, XVI | 1 Comment
NEPAL: CHRISTIANS INCREASINGLY VULNERABLE IN SECULAR STATE
Posted on August 9, 2009 by particularkev
As law and order breaks down, Christians come under attack.
KATHMANDU, Nepal, July 30
(Compass Direct News) – Three years after a pro-democracy movement led to the proclamation of Nepal as a secular state, some Christians say they are in greater peril than ever.
They are now being targeted by militant Hindu organizations that blame the church for the abolition of Hinduism as the state religion and the end of monarchy. A little-known, shadowy organization that claimed to be building an army of suicide bombers has achieved notoriety with two brutal attacks on Catholics in two years.
Since May, when the Nepal Defense Army (NDA) – which claims to have links with militant Hindu organizations across the border in India – struck one of Kathmandu valley's oldest and biggest churches, the group has threatened to drive all Christians from the country. And now a group claiming to be the parent organization of the NDA has warned that on Aug. 10 it will start a "Save the Hindu nation" movement.
Police say Ram Prasad Mainali, the elusive NDA chief, hired a local woman to plant a bomb at the Assumption Church on May 23 during mass. Two women and a schoolgirl were killed in the attack. The NDA also claimed responsibility for killing a Catholic priest, John Prakash Moyalan, in southern Nepal last year.
Though police have issued an alert for his arrest, Mainali continues to evade capture, and it is murmured that he has political connections. Undeterred by the hunt, he continues to threaten the Christian community.
Last month, the Rev. Pius Perumana, a senior Catholic priest, received a phone call.
"The caller said he was in charge of the NDA in Kathmandu valley," said Perumana of Ishalaya Catholic Church, located in Godavari on the southern rim of the capital. "However, I recognized the voice. It was Ram Prasad Mainali himself."
Godavari is an important Catholic hub that includes a Catholic pastoral center, a shelter for destitute, HIV-infected women and homeless children, a day care center and a small clinic.
Perumana said he has received at least five threatening calls from the Hindu supremist ordering him to close all Christian organizations and leave Nepal, he said. The NDA leader has also been calling Protestant pastors, demanding money. In districts outside Kathmandu, where security is weak, some pastors are said to have paid up out of fear.
Mainali's success has spawned at least one copycat extortion attempt.
"At least one pastor in Kathmandu has received an extortion letter," said Chirendra Satyal, spokesman of the Assumption Church. "The writer claimed to be the vice-president of a Hindu group, the National Defence Party (NDP), calling it the mother organization of which Mainali's NDA was the military arm. The pastor was asked to pay 7.5 million Nepalese rupees [US$98,190]."
The letter warned that starting on Aug. 10, the underground organization will start a "Save the Hindu nation" movement.
No Christian Corpses
Until three years ago, Nepal used to be the only Hindu kingdom in the world where Christians faced discrimination by the state, ostracization by society and imprisonment if found guilty of preaching Christ.
Things officially changed in 2006 after a pro-democracy movement led to the ouster of the army-backed regime of Hindu King Gyanendra, and Parliament proclaimed the Himalayan kingdom a secular, federal state.
But three years later, nothing has changed in reality, said the Rev. Nayaran Sharma, bishop of the Protestant Believers' Church.
"We bought a plot of land in a forest in Gorkha district in western Nepal so that we could have an official graveyard," Sharma told Compass. "But when the locals heard of it, they made us return the land, saying they did not want corpses in their midst as they would attract evil."
Even three years after Nepal became secular, Christians have to be buried clandestinely on private property with the danger of graves being dug up, he said.
"Churches have not yet been registered by the government, and so we don't get state assistance like the Hindu temples and Muslim mosques do," Sharma said. "Temples are provided free land, electricity and water; the madrassas – the Muslim schools – receive state funding, and the government subsidizes the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca."
Christians make up about 2.5 percent of Nepal's 25 million population. Nearly 75 percent of the population in Nepal is Hindu.
Christians are said to be both angered and disheartened by the new, 601-member constituent assembly mandated to draft a new constitution by May 2010.
"There's not one Christian among the 601, though the government had the power to nominate members from unrepresented communities," Sharma said. "Though Christianity has been in Nepal for almost 350 years, Christians are still like orphans. There is no one to speak for us, and we are discriminated against beyond imagination."
Soft Targets
Political instability and the subsequent lawlessness and impunity leave Christians vulnerable to violence, as Sanjay Ekka, a Catholic priest from India's impoverished Jharkhand state, learned on Monday (July 27).
Ekka came to Nepal in 2000 to teach at St. Xavier's School, a Jesuit-run school in eastern Jhapa district. Five years ago, he was brought to the capital city of Kathmandu to run the Loyola Students' Home, a hostel for boys from the Tamang community of Nepal, who, like Ekka's own tribe, the Oraons, are among the poorest, least educated and most oppressed groups in Nepal.
Despite the similarities of the two tribes, the 40-year-old Ekka was subjected to a savage attack on Monday (July 27) by an expelled student that left his left arm severely slashed and deep gashes on his hip.
"It's another sign of the growing lawlessness in the country," says the Rev. Lawrence Maniyar, former principal of St. Xavier's School in Kathmandu valley, which was founded in 1951. "With crimes soaring, Christians are being targeted as they are seen as soft targets."
Another factor endangering Christians in Nepal is the tension in the nascent republic's relations with its southern neighbor and largest trading partner, India. As the smaller neighbour, Nepal has lived in fear of being annexed since 1975, when the kingdom of Sikkim decided to abrogate monarchy and become part of India after a controversial referendum.
Tensions worsened in 1989, when India imposed a virtual blockade of Nepal, hitting the fragile economy of the land-locked kingdom. A substantial number of Christian priests in Nepal are from India.
"The heads of three Catholic organizations have been asked to leave Nepal," said Bishop Anthony Sharma. They are the Rev. Boniface Tigga, principal of St. Xavier's School in Kathmandu valley, the principal of St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, identified only as Sister Nancy, and Sister Teresa Mandassery, who heads the Navjyoti Day Care Center for the mentally challenged in Kathmandu. All three are from India.
"Now the animosity is out in the open," said Maniyar of St Xavier's in Kathmandu valley. "There has been growing union trouble in St. Xavier's School. While we were holding talks with the union representatives, they told us to our face, 'You priests from Kerala [in southern India] think you can run the school the way you want."
Maniyar said it is useless trying to explain reality to such people.
"We are in Nepal not because we are Indians," he says. "We are here because we are Jesuits. It is an international organization with an administrative structure of its own, and we have to follow our superiors and go where ever they want us to."
Posted in Christianity, Hinduism, India, Islam, Nepal, Nepal Defense Army, Roman Catholicism, Sikkim	| Tagged 1951, 1975, 1989, 2006, abolition, abrogate, achieved, administrative, alert, angered, animosity, annexed, annual, arm, army, army-backed, arrest, asked, assembly, assistance, Assumption Church, attack, attacks, attempt, attract, beyond, biggest, bishop, blame, blockade, bomb, bombers, Boniface Tigga, border, bought, boys, breaks, brought, brutal, building, buried, call, caller, calling, capital, capture, center, challenged, changed, charge, chief, children, Chirendra Satyal, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, churches, claimed, claiming, claims, clandestinely, clinic, close, communities, connections, constituent, constitution, continues, controversial, copycat, corpses, country, crimes, danger, day care, decided, deep, demanding, destitute, discriminated, Discrimination, disheartened, districts, down, draft, drive, dug, eastern, economy, educated, electricity, elusive, end, endangering, evade, evil, expelled, explain, extortion, face, faced, factor, fear, federal, follow, forest, former, found, founded, fragile, free, funding, gashes, Godavari, Gorkha, government, graves, graveyard, greater, group, growing, guilty, Gyanendra, heads, heard, Himalayan, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, hip, hired, hitting, HIV, holding, homeless, hostel, hub, hunt, identified, imagination, important, imposed, impoverished, imprisonment, impunity, increasingly, India, Indians, infected, instability, international, Ishalaya Catholic Church, Islam, issued, Jesuit, Jesuits, Jhapa, Jharkhand, John Prakash Moyalan, Kathmandu, Kerala, killed, killing, king, Kingdom, land, land-locked, largest, law, lawlessness, Lawrence Maniyar, leader, learned, least, leave, led, left, letter, Links, local, located, Loyola Student's Home, madrassas, mandated, mass, Mecca, member, members, mentally, midst, militant, monarchy, money, mosques, mother, movement, murmured, Muslim, muslims, Nancy, nascent, nation, National Defence Party, Navjyoti Day Care Center, Nayaran Sharma, NDA, NDP, neighbor, Nepal, Nepal Defense Army, Nepalese, new, nominate, notoriety, officially, oldest, only, open, oppressed, Oraons, order, ordering, organization, organizations, orphans, ostracization, ouster, paid, parent, Parliament, part, pastoral, pastors, pay, people, peril, Persecution, pertner, phone, pilgrimage, Pius Perumana, plant, plot, police, political, poorest, power, preaching, priest, principal, private, pro-democracy, proclaimed, proclamation, property, Protestant, Protestant Believers Church, provided, Ram Prasad Mainali, reality, received, recognized, referendum, regime, registered, relations, religion, representatives, Republic, responsibility, return, Rev, rim, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, run, rupees, Sanjay Ekka, savage, save, school, schoolgirl, schools, secular, security, senior, severely, shadowy, shelter, sign, Sikkim, similarities, Sister, slashed, small, smaller, soaring, Society, soft, southern, spawned, speak, spokesman, St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, St. Xavier's School, start, starting, state, struck, structure, student, subjected, subsequent, subsidizes, substantial, success, suicide, superiors, supremist, talks, Tamang, targeted, targets, teach, temples, tension, Teresa Mandassery, threatened, trading, tribe, trouble, undeterred, Union, unrepresented, useless, valley, Vice President, violence, virtual, voice, vulnerable, warned, water, weak, western, woman, women, world, worsened, writer | Leave a comment
EGYPT: POLICE COLLUSION SUSPECTED IN ATTACK ON CHURCH IN MINYA
Strangely, officers arrest Copts; roof collapses after Muslim suspects set fire to church building.
ISTANBUL, July 17 (Compass Direct News) – Villagers in Ezbet Basillious, Minya suspect local police in Egypt of corruption and collusion after two Copts were arrested for an arson attack on their own house church on Saturday (July 11).
Egyptian State Security Investigations (SSI) officers later arrested three Muslim suspects in accordance with eyewitness testimony that local police had ignored. The suspects were seen entering the Church of St. Abaskharion Kellini with cans of kerosene and leaving it shortly after, shouting "Allahu Akbar [God is great]."
The two Copts who were arrested, 35-year-old Reda Gamal and Fulla Assad, 30, are still in custody.
Suspicions of police collusion come not only from the inexplicable arrests of the Copts but also from the lack of police presence while the church was burning. Guards who were stationed outside the property had left their posts, and according to some reports they had moved to a nearby café and were drinking tea while the property burned.
"It sounds like a pre-arranged situation, that they [the arsonists] knew this was the agreed time, [when] the guards were away," a source told Compass. "Mahmoud Muhammad Hussein, the head guard, and Mustafa Moussa, one of the village guards, were heard telling people, 'Say Reda set fire to the church.' So the local police were involved."
The attack in Ezbet Basillious, 90 kilometers south of Cairo, took place shortly before noon. The perpetrators entered the building where the church met using a connecting door from an adjoining residence. The fire cracked walls and caused the roof to cave in.
It took police two hours to arrive at the scene, according to Suleiman Faiz, a local schoolteacher.
Three Copts were taken to the police station, initially only for questioning – Gamal, Assad and Assad's 75-year-old mother-in-law. Assad and her mother-in-law live in a home next to the house used by the church, and it was through their connecting door that the attackers entered the locked building.
The two women were present in the house at the time and witnessed three men carrying cans of kerosene. Mary Abdelmassih, a reporter for the Assyrian International News Agency, said the arsonists threatened them at knife-point to remain quiet and not call for help.
After questioning, Assad and her mother-in-law returned home. The following day Assad was arrested, and at press time she and Gamal were still being held.
"This Copt, Gamal, they took him as a pawn in order that later they could twist the church's arm to give up its rights," Abdelmassih said. "This happens every time, there is no change in the scenario at all."
Buildings in Egypt require government permission to be used for religious gatherings, and typically churches find it very difficult to obtain.
Officials promised the Abaskharion Kellini house church a prayer license on July 3 that would enable the building in which it meets to be used as a place of prayer; the congregation has struggled in vain for 30 years to construct another church building for worship. Having received verbal assurance that a prayer license would be granted for the building in which it met, the diocese's bishop held a consecration service there, and SSI officials then closed the house church and placed it under guard pending formal permission.
The attack marked the third recent incident of violence against the Coptic community in Minya, with new church premises being the precipitating factor in each case. Muslim mobs on June 6 attacked a building in Ezbet Boushra-East on suspicion that it would be converted into a worship place, and the same thing happened on July 3 at a building in Ezbet Guirgis Bey.
"People are really fed up, and if they lose patience there will be fighting in the streets," a source who requested anonymity told Compass. "A lot of young people are getting so exhausted from this persecution that they might do anything; they've had enough."
Schoolteacher Faiz, 34, told Compass that initially the attack on the Abaskharion Kellini house church made him and others angry.
"You can imagine the amount of anger one would have to a very unfair situation like this," he said. "Equality and justice for everybody is essential. We love Egypt and would like it to take its place among the respectable nations on earth."
Faiz said he hopes some day Egypt becomes free of corrupt police in order to have full freedom of religion.
"We trust that these little actions and these little conspiracies from low-ranking police forces, and those who have infiltrated police with radical ideas, which are against the country's interest, are found out and corrected," he said. "Because we still trust the higher ranking people in leadership."
Posted in Christianity, Egypt, Islam, Orthodox	| Tagged Abaskharion Kellini, accordance, actions, adjoining, agreed, Allah Akbar, anger, angry, anonymity, arrest, arrested, arrive, arson, arsonists, Assad, assurance, Assyrian International News Agency, attack, attackers, bishop, building, buildings, burning, cafe, Cairo, call, cans, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, Church of St. Abaskharion Kellini, churches, closed, collapses, collusion, community, congregation, connecting, consecration, conspiracies, construct, converted, Coptic, Copts, corrected, corrupt, corruption, cracked, custody, difficult, door, drinking, earth, Egypt, Egyptian, enable, entering, equality, essential, exhausted, eyewitness, Ezbet Basillious, Ezbet Boushra-East, Ezbet Guirgis Bey, factor, fighting, fire, forces, formal, free, freedom of religion, Fulla Assad, Gamal, getherings, God, government, granted, great, guard, guards, head, heard, help, higher, house church, ideas, ignored, imagine, incident, inexplicable, infiltrated, interest, involved, Islam, justice, kerosene, knife-point, lack, leadership, leaving, license, little, local, locked, love, low-ranking, Mahmoud Muhammad Hussein, marked, Mary Abdelmassih, meets, Minya, mobs, mother-in-law, moved, Muslim, muslims, Mustafa Moussa, nations, officers, patience, pawn, pending, people, permission, perpetrators, Persecution, police, police station, posts, prayer, precipitating, premises, presence, present, press time, promised, property, questioning, quiet, radical, ranking, Reda Gamal, religious, reporter, requested, residence, respectable, rights, roof, scenario, scene, schoolteacher, service, shortly, shouting, situation, source, SSI, State Security Investigations, stationed, streets, struggled, Suleiman Faiz, suspected, suspicions, tea, telling, testimony, threatened, time, trust, twist, unfair, used, uspects, vain, verbal, village, villagers, violence, walls, witnessed, women, worship, young | Leave a comment


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1. Marina Beach 2. Government Museum, Chennai 3. MGR Film City 4. Breezy Beach 5. Marundeeswarar Temple 6. Arignar Anna Zoological Park All Tourist Places
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"The Detroit of India"
Chennai Tourism
Formerly known as Madras, Chennai is the capital city of the state of Tamil Nadu, in the southern part of India. Located on the Coromandel coast of Bay of Bengal, Chennai is as dynamic as it is immersed in tradition. This 'capital of the south', is one among the four metropolitan siblings of India, having a rich cultural history which it perfectly balances with its metropolis lifestyle.
Amid its chaos of traffic and sweltering humid climate, Chennai is worth visiting for its temples steeped in south-Indian culture, British-era museums and monuments, culinary delights and Marina Beach (Second largest urban beach in the world). Chennai's skyline is famous for its towering skyscrapers, but the heart of Chennai has an old-world charm to it that refuses to be overshadowed.
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Shopping in Chennai
Chennai is famous for being one of the best shopping destinations in the country, and be it street shopping or shopping in the classiest of malls, Chennai has everything you could possibly need. If you are someone who loves shopping, then Chennai won't leave you disappointed. T Nagar, also known as Thyagaraya Nagar, is the most famous shopping district in the town, and you buy anything starting from trinkets and junk jewellery to expensive Chennai Silk Sarees.
Some of the important and famous shopping destinations in Chennai are Pondy Bazar, Anna Salai, T-Nagar, Anna Nagar, Egmore and Mylapore. For the people looking for high-end branded shopping, there are also several malls in Chennai like the Spencer Plaza, Chennai Citi Centre, Express Avenue and Phoenix Market City.
Nightlife in Chennai
Despite being a metropolitan, Chennai's nightlife is not as happening as you would expect it to be. Though the nightlife scene has been improving in the recent years, yet most of the bars and pubs only regulate in high-end hotels due to some regulations. The bars and pubs are prohibited from regulating after midnight. Some of the mid-range hotels also have drinking room where you can have a nice time. Some of the famous bars and nightclubs in Chennai are The Westminster, Zara's 10 Downing Street, The Leather Bar, Pasha and Elixir. Make sure to dress neatly as most of these places have a strict dress code.
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History of Chennai
The city of Madras, started out its journey towards becoming modern day Chennai - capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, manufacturing hub of the country and hence the 'Detroit of India' ; as a part of the famous Vijayanagara kingdom. The 400 year old city thus has a colorful history which has contributed to its rich heritage, grandiose architecture, culture and traditions. It has been ruled by all major South Indian dynasties such as the Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas and the Vijayanagaras. Due to its ideal location on the Bay of Bengal coast, it tempted not just the British, but also the Portuguese and the Dutch before them. The Portuguese were the first to come in 1522, and constructed the beautiful church Sao Tome. The land was part of the Vijayanagara kingdom when the British arrived, who quickly established their supremacy over the city, with the support of the diminished Dutch and Portuguese forces. The Madras Presidency was thus established in South India in the late 18th century. The development of railways and ports thus made the city an important linchpin for the British, and it was the only Indian city to be bombed by the Germans during the First World War. Following India's independence in 1947, the city was named as the capital of Tamil Nadu. Madras also played a major role in the Tamil agitation against the Centre's attempt to impose Hindi as the main language for communication in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the city was engulfed in political violence during the Sri Lankan civil war. In 1998, the city was renamed Chennai, in honor of Damarla Venkatadri Nayaka, who was the chieftain of Chennapatnam when the British arrived in India over a century ago, thus retaining in its name a legacy of its historical roots.
Restaurants and Local Food in Chennai
Chennai's local cuisine consists of traditional South Indian food such as sambar, dosas and idlis. Ranging from street side stalls to upscale restaurants, you can enjoy a complete gourmet experience in Chennai.
Chennai like any sparkling city that is constantly growing and expanding in all its spheres, fosters a cuisine that provides countless options. The city has a vibrant street food culture as well as well laid out and flattering fine dining experiences. While you can try a number of cuisines and foods here, one must not miss what Chennai is known for- traditional and authentic South-Indian cuisine. Hence do not miss the filter coffee as well as items like Idli, Dosa, Appam, Vada, Upma, Sambhar, Parotha, Chettinad Chicken, Pepper Chicken, Chicken Stew, Sweet Pongal, Kesari, Payasam and much more. Read more about Street Food in Chennai.
Here is a list of some amazing Cafes in Chennai
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Suggested Itinerary for Chennai
Day 1 - Reach Chennai by morning. Start your sojourn South-Indian style by having Chennai's famous idlis, vadas, and dosas at one of the popular restaurants like Sangeetha's or Murugan Idli shop. Team it up with a glass of steaming hot filter coffee. Next, head out to Mylapore to get a flavor of traditional Tamil culture which includes the famous Kapaleshwara temple, and shops selling local artefacts and jewellery. In the evening, pay a visit to the bustling Marina beach and perhaps even catch a local performance or play if you're lucky, in addition to the beautiful sunset!
Day 2 - Take a day trip to Dakshinchitra museum, located around 25 km to the south of Chennai city. After a scenic ride along the ECR coast, revel in the museum's portrayal of South Indian culture, art, and craft. Further, explore some local South Indian cuisine for dinner at restaurants in Alwarpet or Adyar.
Day 3 - Devote this day to satisfy your shopping cravings by visiting some of the city's famous shopping areas like T. Nagar and Pondy Bazar, where you can find traditional Kancheevaram silk and other local goodies. For a relaxed afternoon and evening, take a ride through Guindy National Park, and check out the Government Museum and the Birla Planetarium. If time permits, a stroll through IIT Madras would offer you glimpses of deer and peacocks amidst the lush green foliage of the campus. End your trip with an experience of Chennai's nightlife at Besant Nagar beach with a dinner and drink at one of the lovely restaurants there like BOATs (Based On A True Story).
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FAQs on Chennai
What is famous about Chennai?
Accessible from all over the country and has excellent transport facilities.
One of the most visited Indian cities by foreign tourists, Chennai houses almost 2467 heritage buildings within the metropolitan area - highest within any city limit in the country. The Mylapore and Triplicane areas are famous for their beautiful, serene temples and delicious cuisine, while North Chennai areas like Sowcarpet are dotted with shops selling everything under the sun, including clothes, bicycles, food and electronic items.
Vestiges of the British rule like the stunning Madras University and Queen Mary's College, the Ripon Building and the museums are lovely examples of the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture that the metropolitan is known for. The modern metropolis of Chennai - a buzzing city of glorious beaches, monuments standing as a testament to the time, and the people who have preserved age-old traditions - is sure to sneak its way into your hearts.
What is not so good about Chennai?
Temperatures are very high from March to October. Most of the people do not speak Hindi and English, knowledge of basic Tamil may be required. Auto drivers are known to charge higher rates to non-locals
Who should visit Chennai?
Chennai is ideal to be used as a base for people looking for a trip to South India. Chennai is also suitable for beach lovers.
If you're a nature lover, or even if you just want to escape the bustle of the city and find some peace and quiet, a visit to the Pulicat Lake (and Bird Sanctuary) is a must. Home to a vast variety of rare species of birds, including egrets, herons, flamingos, and sandpipers, this lake is one of the most famous bird sanctuaries in the country. Tourists can opt to go on boat rides and cruises and watch a beautiful sunset amidst the melodious chirping of the birds.
What is the best time to visit Chennai?
Being one among the most popular religious capital cities in India, Chennai is quite a crowd puller for its ancient culture and art. Its geographical location on the beautiful coastline mostly keeps the city's weather hot and humid. Hence, the best time to visit Chennai is the pre-monsoon and the winter season, i.e. between October and February. This time of the year is considered as the best time to explore the metropolitan city as summers are scorching and monsoons bring torrential downpours and cyclones.
What is the local food in Chennai?
What is the best way to reach Chennai?
This city is well connected with major cities in the country and daily trains are easily available. Chennai is also well connected to both national and international cities via air. From the airport, the cheapest way to the city is by taking the suburban train into the city which only costs Rs 12. The suburban train connects you to Chennai Central and Egmore, the two main passenger train stations.
How much does a package cost for Chennai?
The packages for Chennai start at INR 6768 which can be further customized based on number of people, days, hotel category, vehicle type and customizations. You can have a look at all packages here
What are the top hotels in Chennai?
There are 849 in Chennai which can be booked through Holidify. The most popular hotels in Chennai are Phoenix Serviced Apartment - Anna Nagar, Aditi Home Stay, TEMPLE TREE HOMES, HOTEL VAITHEE PARK, Thariff Residency, Vadapalani, SGN GUEST HOUSE. You can see all the hotels in Chennai here
What are the things to do in Chennai?
The top things to do in Chennai are Marina Beach, Government Museum, Chennai, MGR Film City, Breezy Beach, Marundeeswarar Temple, Arignar Anna Zoological Park. You can see all the places to visit in Chennai here
What are the places near Chennai?
The top places near to Chennai are Pulicat which is 40 km from Chennai, Bodinayakkanur which is located 40 km from Chennai, Pondicherry which is located 136 km from Chennai, Mahabalipuram which is located 48 km from Chennai, Kanchipuram which is located 64 km from Chennai
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Chennai Reviews
Thia Milone 1 year ago
I took my children there yesterday. We all very sad to see that an elephant chained to tree. It was all by itself and clearly under a lot of distress as it rocked back and forth and whipped the chain around. The area it is kept in is large but has no fence or moat to keep the elephant in. This needs to change. Elephants are extremely emotional, intelligent, social animals, and chaining them to tree alone is incompletely inhumane. I really hope they make changes to this. All of the other animals seemed to have free range of appropriate size enclosures.
Sanjeet Singh 1 year ago
Been there for three days , need 2-3 more to cover Chennai. City of Chennai has old world charm. What I can say after three days that people are good, helpful most of the time, local street food or mid range food joints are very cheap but one thing that is negative is that auto drivers there tends to overcharge you in double or triple.
Sukanya Ghosh 2 years ago
Good for shopping, food and medical facilities. I wouldn't recommend the beaches such as Marina Beach, it was very dirty and crowded. Still developing compared to the other metropolitan cities. The weather is very harsh so do use a lot of sunscreen. Transport may be a problem, apart from that Chennai makes for a good short trip.
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Washington|Democrats Seek Help for Carmakers
Democrats Seek Help for Carmakers
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE NOV. 11, 2008
WASHINGTON — Democratic Congressional leaders said Tuesday that they were ready to push emergency legislation to aid the imperiled auto industry when lawmakers return to Washington next week, setting the stage for one last showdown with President Bush.
"Next week, during the lame-duck session of Congress, we are determined to pass legislation that will save the jobs of millions of workers whose livelihoods are on the line," the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said in a statement.
His call for the session, the first since the election, came shortly after the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said Congress and the administration "must take immediate action" to stave off a possible collapse of the American auto industry.
Ms. Pelosi stopped short of saying Congress would adopt legislation to provide emergency financial aid to the automakers, giving the Treasury Department the option of using money from the $700 billion bailout program instead.
But with the White House insisting that the bailout money be reserved for financial institutions, that option seemed unlikely, leading a senior Democratic official to say Democrats would try to force Mr. Bush's hand.
Congressional aides said that Democrats, should they move ahead with emergency legislation, would have to decide whether to put forward a stand-alone measure for the auto industry or include the aid in a wider economic stimulus measure. Such a package as the latter is likely to include extended unemployment benefits, aid to strapped states and cities, new money for health care and food stamps and possibly money for public works — all programs Mr. Bush has resisted.
Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi have urged the Bush administration to help the major automakers, especially General Motors, which is fast depleting its cash reserves and seems to be hurtling toward bankruptcy. G.M. shares, pummeled for weeks, fell an additional 13 percent on Tuesday to $2.92, its lowest point since 1943. G.M. on Monday warned shareholders that it might not be able to continue as a "going concern."
At a meeting on Monday at the White House, President-elect Barack Obama also urged Mr. Bush to help the automobile companies, and Congressional aides said Democratic leaders were coordinating their activities with his transition team.
"In order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers," Ms. Pelosi said in her statement, "which would have a devastating impact on our economy, particularly on the men and women who work in that industry, Congress and the Bush administration must take immediate action."
She added, "I am confident Congress can consider emergency assistance legislation next week during a lame-duck session, and I hope the Bush administration would support it."
A senior Democratic official, who did not want to be identified talking publicly about party strategy, said Ms. Pelosi had decided to challenge Mr. Bush to work with the Democrats or veto aid to the teetering auto companies — and take the blame if one of them fails.
The White House has resisted calls by Congress to use the $700 billion to help the automakers, saying that money is better spent easing the credit crunch at the heart of the economic crisis.
Tony Fratto, the deputy White House press secretary, said it was not clear what the Democrats were proposing to do. But Mr. Fratto said Congress might better focus its efforts by easing restrictions on $25 billion in plant-retooling loans for the automobile industry that were approved in September.
The automakers have called for at least $25 billion more in assistance, and industry experts say G.M., Ford and Chrysler need quick access to unrestricted cash to help meet payroll and other basic obligations.
Mr. Bush, at his meeting with Mr. Obama on Monday, reiterated his longstanding desire to a reach a free-trade agreement with Colombia, which Mr. Obama and other Democrats have opposed. Some officials suggested Mr. Bush would back aid for the automakers in exchange for Democratic support on the free-trade deal, a notion that the White House dismissed.
A standalone bill would have the best chance of winning passage in Congress, where Republicans for the moment still retain a powerful minority in the Senate, and the best chance of winning Mr. Bush's signature.
But many Democrats, and many leading economists, have said there is a need for a broader stimulus, and Democrats have been working on a package that would include an increase of unemployment benefits, new infrastructure spending, financial assistance for states struggling with increased Medicaid costs and increased food stamps.
Whichever path they choose, Democrats could be headed for a confrontation with Mr. Bush and were setting the stage for a dramatic lame-duck session, including a potential reunion on Capitol Hill of Mr. Obama, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the defeated Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Mr. Obama does not intend to play a leading role in the session. Aides said he was focused on the economic packages he would offer as president, as well as working behind the scenes with Congressional Democratic leaders. But aides have not definitively ruled out the prospect of Mr. Obama casting his vote if it was needed. His Senate replacement will not be named by then.
The Senate had long planned to come back into session next week to deal with a public lands bill, and both the Senate and the House had planned to begin organizing for the next Congress.
But it was not certain that the House would convene for a formal post-election session, in which dozens of retiring and defeated lawmakers will be called back to work. House Democrats have said they are not inclined to spend time considering a stimulus package if it was only going to be vetoed by Mr. Bush.
With the auto companies reeling and Mr. Bush sending no signal that he would act, Ms. Pelosi said she had asked Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman of the Financial Services Committee, to begin drafting legislation directing that part of the $700 billion bailout be used to help the automakers.
"Emergency assistance to the automobile industry would be conditioned on executive compensation restrictions, a prohibition on golden parachutes, rigorous independent oversight and other taxpayer protections to ensure that any companies that benefit from this assistance and not the taxpayers bear the full burden of repaying any costs that are incurred," Ms. Pelosi said in her statement.
Ms. Pelosi's position drew quick support from Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan and a top ally of the auto industry, who said he was working with other Michigan lawmakers on a measure to help the industry "re-emerge as a global, competitive leader in fuel efficiency and in new, path-breaking, energy-efficient technologies that protect our environment."
General Motors, and to a lesser extent, Ford, were also mobilizing their car dealers and suppliers across the country to exert pressure on the White House and Congressional Republicans to support federal relief, according to industry sources.
They noted that Kentucky, the home state of Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has auto manufacturing facilities that could make him sympathetic to moving quickly on aid.
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Democrats Seek Emergency Help For Automakers. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
G.M., Once a Powerhouse, Pleads for Bailout NOV. 11, 2008
Economic Crisis and Market Upheavals