John Newton and John Pontifex describe the intimidation and murder of Christians in Pakistan, India, Nigeria and other countries.
“Christians are always wondering where and when the next attack will come,” said the priest.
We listened intently as Fr Abid Tanveer, who lived through the worst attack on Pakistan’s Christians in a decade, described the devastation when a 7,000-strong mob rampaged through the Christian quarter of Jaranwala in August this year. Visiting Aid to the Church in Need’s UK office to relate his experiences, he told us that militants attacked 26 churches and chapels, as well as a Christian cemetery and hundreds of houses: “Jaranwala has revealed how far the extremists are prepared to go in terms of destroying homes and churches.” The mob tore down crosses, burned Bibles and ransacked churches in response to allegations that two Christian men had torn pages from the Koran.
Pakistan’s Christians are effectively second-class citizens, which makes them extremely vulnerable. They suffer ongoing discrimination, as illustrated by the fact that menial jobs like street sweepers often specify that only Christians should apply. Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws – which stipulate life imprisonment for desecrating the Koran and execution for disrespecting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad – mean that false accusations continually pose a danger to the Christian community, and, as in Jaranwala, accusations can quickly spiral into orchestrated attacks.
In this situation of vulnerability, Christian women and girls are at risk from kidnapping and assault. In April, a 13-year-old Catholic girl, Sehar, was kidnapped at gunpoint. Around midnight three men on motorbikes broke down the door to the family home; Sehar’s brother recognised one of them as local man Allah Rakha. Her mother expressed fears he would convert Sehar to Islam before marrying her. As brick-kiln workers the family are poor and of low social status. Christian families complain that authorities favour the kidnappers, and, even on the rare occasions when the victims return home, their abductors often escape punishment.
An atmosphere of impunity for perpetrators also seems to pervade neighbouring India, where politicians from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stand accused of encouraging extremist activity. Attacks in 2023 include the disruption of a Sunday morning service at the Sion Prayer Church in Delhi by nationalist organisation Bajrang Dal who forced their way in and beat members of the congregation, announcing over megaphones that India was a Hindu nation. When Christians attempted to file a complaint at the police station, more than 100 members of Bajrang Dal gathered to stop them. Some members followed the Christians in and tried to drown out their conversation with officers by chanting “Jai Shri Ram” (“Victory to [the Hindu deity] Lord Rama”).
The violence raging in Manipur, in India’s far north, has often been described by media outlets as “ethnic clashes” – with some going so far as to assert (as one analysis on the BBC did) that “the conflict is strictly rooted in ethnicity, not religion”.
But Aid to the Church in Need’s contacts in the region disagree, pointing out that in Imphal where 249 churches were destroyed in Meitei tribal areas the narrative of the violence just being “ethnic clashes” makes no sense. Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal stressed that these churches were attacked by other Meitei. Many church attacks were apparently initiated by militant Meitei groups who promote the tribe’s traditional religious beliefs and practices. Manipur’s BJP Chief Minister Biren Singh has been accused of encouraging these groups for political ends, but mainstream media have been reluctant to consider the complex role of religion in the conflict.
The United Christian Forum recorded 525 anti-Christian attacks across India by September 2023 – making it on course to top 2022’s all-time high of 599, as the Christmas season may see a fresh surge of attacks. Festive violence last year included the nativity scene at St Mary’s Church in Periyapatna, Karnataka State becoming the target of vandalism and a man dressed as Father Christmas being beaten by extremists in southern Vadodara, Gujarat State.
Father Christmas may have been co-opted by vapid commercialism in the West, but in India he is still a potent religious symbol, capable of stirring strong feelings among those who see Christianity as an alien intruder in their country.
Nigeria also suffered from violence last Christmas, setting the tone for 2023. Around 40 Christians were killed in the week leading up to Christmas, and on the feast itself one worshipper was murdered and 53 were kidnapped after armed men drove into Angwan Aku village, Kaduna State on motorbikes and fired at worshippers as the Christmas morning service was about to start. This deadly trend continued into the new year: in January Fr Isaac Achi died when St Peter and St Paul parish in Kafin Koroin, Niger State was torched in the early hours. Assistant parish priest Fr Collins only survived following hospital treatment. The attacks did not stop and on Good Friday more than 35 people were murdered by gunmen who opened fire on a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Benue State in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Makurdi Diocese alone has 2 million IDPs – most of them Christian – spread across seven camps. So it was far from surprising that Nigerian NGO Intersociety claimed that 2,500 Christians were killed in the first six months of 2023. Nigeria may have suffered no mass atrocities in 2023 comparable to the massacre at St Francis Xavier, Owo on Pentecost 2022, but countless raids, kidnappings and killings mean that the description of Nigeria as “the worst country to be a Christian in” still seems very apt.
While Nigeria, India and Pakistan have seen particularly egregious violations in 2023, Christian persecution is by no means confined to these countries: state repression restricts believers in China; Church leaders in the Holy Land described growing anti-Christian incidents – including attacks on holy sites, schools and even funeral processions; and in Chile churches continue to be torched, especially in the Araucanía and Biobío regions. 2023 was a very hard year for Christians in many places around the globe.
We must add that in so many countries where Christian persecution occurs, other religious communities experience major problems too; Hindu girls are also targeted for abduction in Pakistan, and India’s Muslims also experience the nationalists’ wrath.
But lest we end on a negative note at Christmas, it is worth knowing that our beleaguered Catholic brethren have not been abandoned in their time of need. Their brothers and sisters around the world have offered their love and their help to them via Aid to the Church in Need. In Pakistan, Jaranwala’s Christians received emergency assistance shortly after the attacks – and an initiative has been launched to try to tackle the abduction of Christian girls. In India, Imphal Diocese is feeding and sheltering those displaced by the violence in Manipur. And in Nigeria, Church-run programmes are helping women and orphans who lost their husbands and fathers in extremist attacks.
When he visited the UK in October 2023, Nigeria’s Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme said: “Without Aid to the Church in Need the Church would not be standing in my diocese – your benefactors are in my prayers every day.” The Church may be suffering persecution but we can stand with them.
John Newton and John Pontifex are the co-authors of Aid to the Church in Need’s biennial report Persecuted and Forgotten? which looks at the oppression of Christians around the globe.
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