IRFN (October 19-24): Hindus Threaten Christians With Death for Failure to Convert

Oct 24, 2008

Feature: Gethin Chamberlain talks to homeless survivors in Kandhamal district who were forced to abandon Christianity as a fresh wave of sectarian violence is unleashed across the Indian state of Orissa.  The Guardian UK has more since October 23.

1.  Malaysia: Clerics Ban Tomboys

KUALA LUMPUR - On October 24 the AP reported that Malaysia's main body of Islamic clerics has issued an edict banning tomboys, ruling that girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam, according to an official. Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufi of the Northe Perak state, said that the National Fatwa Council forbade the practice of girls behaving or dressing like boys during a meeting on October 23. Harussani said an increasing number of Malaysian girls are behaving like tomboys, and that some of them engage in homosexuality.  Though homosexuality is not explicitly banned in Malaysia, it is effectively illegal under a law that prohibits sex acts "against the order of nature."

2.  China: US Condemns Beating of Priest's 2 Sons

BEIJING – The US has condemned the “brutal beating” of the two sons of a detained Beijing priest, Zhang Mingxuan, on October 23, Reuters reported on October 23. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said that "[w]e are gravely concerned by the brutal beating of Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan's two sons by public security officials, and we are also deeply concerned by the continuing official harassment of Pastor Zhang, a prominent Beijing house church leader, including his arbitrary detention and the forced relocation of his family." Zhang and his wife were removed from Beijing in July in a bid to control dissidents in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.

3.  Jordan: Calls to Release Poet

AMMAN – Writers in Jordan are calling for the immediate release of the poet Samhan, whose recent collection of poetry, Grace Like A Shadow, has been accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, the BBC reported on October 22.  One of Jordan's leading religious figures, the grand mufti, has accused Mr Samhan of blaspheming against "God, the angels and Prophet Muhammad."  Jordanian law bans publication of any material seen as harmful to Islam.  Saoud Qubeilat, the head of the Jordanian writers association, told the daily al-Ghand that Samhan’s poetry relied on figures of speech and could only be taken as blasphemous if read superficially, and that the arrest of Samhan would stifle freedom of expression in Jordan.  The penalty in Jordan for insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad is up to three years in jail.

4.  Afghanistan: Aid Worker Killed by Taliban

KABUL – Two gunmen killed Gayle Williams, an African-British aid worker, on October 20 in the city of Kabul, the Washington Post reported on October 21. Afghan security officials said the incident occurred about 8 a.m., when two men on a motorcycle drove up to the woman as she walked to work and opened fire with automatic weapons. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Muhahi claimed responsibility for the attack told the AP that "[t]his woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan. Our leaders issued a decree to kill this woman." Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises, the charity organization Williams worked for, released a statement, saying "[s]he was a person who always loved the Afghans and was dedicated to serving those who are disabled. Needless to say we are all in shock." The capital city is now blanketed with police checkpoints. Embassies, military bases and the U.N. are erecting cement barriers to guard against suicide bombings.      

5.  India: Hindus Threaten Christians with Death for Failure to Convert

KANDHAMAL - Hundreds of Christians in the Indian state of Orissa have been forced to renounce their religion and become Hindus after lynch mobs threatened them with death if they refused to convert, the Guardian UK reported on October 19. The wave of forced conversions marks a dramatic escalation in a two-month span of sectarian violence which has left at least 59 people dead, 50,000 homeless and thousands of houses and churches burnt to the ground. Last week, in the worst-hit Kandhamal district, The Guardian UK witnessed the scale of the violence employed in a conversion program ostensibly sanctioned by members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The VHP has said that to avoid future violence India’s anti-conversion laws need to be enforced to prevent the “allurement” by material benefits such as free education and healthcare by Christians missionaries and aid workers.  However the VHP has not invoked the use of anti-conversion laws during the forced violent conversion of the Christians in Orissa.  Police have done little to prevent the forced conversions, and Christian leaders have accused the authorities of not responding to the religious violence since it began on August 23, claiming they are reluctant to rile the majority Hindu community in the run-up to parliamentary elections next year.