India's
Supreme Court Orders Protection of Christians
On January 5, 2009, India's
Supreme Court ordered the protection of all minorities and singled out
Christians who have suffered violence in Orissa because of Hindu extremists.
The Supreme Court announced a no
tolerance policy toward persecution of minorities, saying, "We will not accept
the persecution of any minority.If the
state government is unable to protect them it should resign."
Orissa's state government had reacted
slowly to the violence that erupted in August and has resulted in numerous
deaths, thousands of burned homes and churches and driven tens of thousands of
people from their homes.Thousands of
Christians still fear returning to their homes.The Orissa state government is presently under control by Hindu
fundamentalist groups.
Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan
said, "We are a secular country.We
cannot allow persecution of minorities."He and other justices were highly critical of Orissa's handling of the
violence and delayed reaction by the state government of Orissa.
Letter From Valson
Dear Praying Friend,
I am writing to ask your fervent prayers for another urgent situation in Orissa.
Today, 11/5/08, I received a call from our director of ministry in Orissa. He called and told me that just hours ago, Maoist rebels shot and killed another key Hindu leader in Khandamal district.
The Maoist rebels are the same people who assassinated a major Hindu leader back in August. Though they claimed responsibility for the attack, radical Hindus savagely accused Christians of taking revenge for attacks plotted by the dead leader. They accused Christians of hiring Maoists to do their "dirty work." In response, the radical Hindus attacked tens of thousands of Christians and destroyed thousands of homes, churches and businesses.
A coalition of political parties commissioned an investigation of the attacks, and their study, released yesterday, revealed that at least 500 Christians were killed in those attacks, although the national and state official number has remained at 31 for some time.
Now, the Maoists have attacked and killed another major Hindu radical leader. They say that they want to kill more. Given recent history, the latest Maoist assassination and radical response makes Orissa Christians justifiably nervous. They do not know what to do. Pray for God's peace and His wisdom for Orissa's Christians during these uncertain days. Pray that God will restrain the enemy
All of the unrest and persecution of Christians in Orissa has also terrified the Hindu landlord who has kindly allowed our Bible students to rent facilities to run the Bible school. With the recent attacks, he has told our director that the Bible school must move to new facilities by the end of November. Under the present state of affairs in Orissa, it will take a miracle of the Lord to find another place to house the school (we rent three separate buildings to house students and classes). Pray that God will open a way.
I am grateful to you for your prayers. God's blessings and peace be to you.
Blessings in Jesus' Name,
T. Valson Abraham
STAMPEDE AT HINDU TEMPLE LEAVES 150+ PILGRIMS DEAD
More than 150 pilgrims, mostly women and children, lost their lives in a stampede near the Nain Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh, India, following rumors of a landslide.
The rumors caused a commotion which started the stampede. Pilgrims pushed their way down the hill, crowding people against an iron railing along the steep 4-km road to the temple. The iron railing collapsed, causing people to roll down the steep slope to their deaths. Heavy rains made the way slippery, causing even more to fall.
Hundreds of others were severely injured, and the death toll is expected to mount. Eyewitnesses said that the screams, howls and cries for help from women and children filled the air.
About 20,000-25,000 were visiting the temple for a religious festival, instead of the usual 15,000.
With the heavy rains and large crowds, the police were having a hard time controlling the people anyway. When the landslide rumors got started, the whole situation got out of hand.
The rumors may have started after the heavy rains caused 8-10 large stones from a retaining wall to fall. In reality, there was no danger from a landslide, but once the rumor got started and a few people panicked, the panic quickly spread, like a match to dry underbrush.
Stampedes at temples and religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, especially where thousands of people are gathered during religious festivals and pilgrimages. In Maharashtra, nearly 265 people were killed in a stampede in 2005.
