NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Having spent a month in jail on baseless charges before his release on bail, Pastor R. Kirubendran was baffled at hostilities from police, media and villagers after serving a community in northern India without problem for several years. An explanation likely lies in the pattern of false accusations by Hindu […]
Hindu Extremists Jail Pastors, Close Churches in India
Baseless charges leave leaders and their families in anguish.
June 6, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
Christian in Pakistan Sentenced to Death under Blasphemy Law
Attorney and father shocked at verdict in case lacking evidence.
May 31, 2023 By - 4 Comments
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A court in Bahawalpur, Pakistan on Tuesday (May 30) handed the death penalty to a 22-year-old Christian on an unsubstantiated conviction under the country’s blasphemy laws, sources said. Lazar Allah Rakha, attorney for Noman Masih, said that the sessions court announced its verdict at the New Central Jail Bahawalpur, in […]
Muslim, Police in Pakistan Beat and Confine Pregnant Christian
Mother of five held in employer’s home for a week.
May 26, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Christian housecleaner in Pakistan was beaten and illegally confined for a week by her Muslim employers after she tried to leave her job due to pregnancy, she said. Asma Gulfam, a 28-year-old Catholic maid in the Paka Ghara area of Sialkot District, Punjab Province, said she had worked for […]
Two Christians, 18 and 14, Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan
Family devastated as youths jailed on baseless charge.
May 22, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Babar Sandhu Masih was resting after lunch on Thursday afternoon (May 18) when he heard a commotion outside his house in the Qurban Lines neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan. Masih went outside to find his neighbor, policeman Zahid Sohail, beating his son and another Christian boy. His son Adil, 18, and […]
Christian Widow Accused of Blasphemy Released on Bail
School worker threatened with life imprisonment under draconian statutes.
May 15, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A court in Pakistan on Saturday (May 13) released on bail a Christian woman charged under a blasphemy statute that calls for life in prison, her attorney said. Lazar Allah Rakha told Morning Star News that Arifwala Additional Sessions Judge Ijaz Ahmad Phulwaran on Friday (May 12) admitted the post-arrest bails of […]
Christian Widow, Muslim Charged with Blasphemy in Pakistan
Illiterate workers accused of intentionally burning pages of Koran.
April 24, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Christian widow and a Muslim gardener were arrested in Pakistan this month on blasphemy charges after they were accused of intentionally burning papers containing koranic verses, attorneys said. The accusations arose when 46-year-old Mussarat Bibi and the Muslim, Muhammad Sarmad, were cleaning the storeroom of the Government Girls Higher […]
Excessive Bail Bond Required of Christian in Pakistan
Jailed on baseless blasphemy charge for more than three years.
February 20, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Catholic who spent more than three years in jail on a baseless blasphemy charge had to pay an exorbitant amount of bail for release this month, just one example of gross injustices against him and other Christians, his attorney said. The maximum amount for bail under Section 295-C of […]
Police Thwart Plan to Burn Church Buildings in India
One worship site torched.
February 16, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Plans to burn several church buildings in central India came to an end on Sunday (Feb. 12) after officers arrested three Hindu extremists, but not before they had set one structure ablaze, police said. Pastor Mahesh Kumre of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chaukipura village (under tribal-dominated Sukhtawa block), Madhya […]
Christian Girl Kidnapped by 60-Year-Old Muslim in Pakistan
Police slow to respond to alleged forcible conversion, marriage.
February 13, 2023 By - 1 Comment
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Arif Gill said he lost hope of finding his 15-year-old daughter – abducted by a 60-year-old Muslim who forcibly married her and converted her to Islam – until police in Pakistan finally registered a case after nearly two months. Sitara Arif, also known as Saira, was kidnapped on Dec. 15 […]
Pastor in India Kept in Jail on Baseless Charges, Christians Say
Anti-conversion statutes again weaponized by Hindu extremists.
February 10, 2023 By - Leave a Comment
NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – A pastor in northern India remains in jail after more than three months despite winning bail because Hindu extremists filed new false charges against him, his wife said. “We are going through troubled times, and we don’t know when this will come to an end,” said Preeti Masih, whose husband, […]