Police backed by Hindu extremists arrested Avinash Lal, an independent Pentecostal pastor from Jabalpur in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state and six other Christian leaders the night of Tuesday, April 18, on charges of “fraudulent conversion.” They were released on bail at midnight, charged with “conversion by allurement” and “illegal religious gatherings.” State police burst into the home of Pastor Lal around 8:30 p.m. When he tried telephoning for help, activists from the extremist Hindu group, Bajrang Dal, grabbed his mobile phone. “Police barged into our house, and in loud and threatening voices, they shouted abuses and began pounding the furniture with their batons,” he said. “They slapped me while another policeman grabbed [another Christian leader] by his ears. All the while we could hear the loud ranting of the Bajrang Dal fundamentalists outside.” (Compass Direct)

GOVERNOR OF INDIAN STATE URGED TO REJECT ANTI-CONVERSION BILL

Christian organizations in India have urged the governor of the country’s northwestern Rajasthan state not to sign the Rajasthan Freedom of Religion Bill 2006. In an appeal on behalf of the All Indian Christian Council, the Catholic Union and the Justice and peace Commission, among others, National Integration Council member John Dayal said Gov. Pratibha Patil should use her statutory powers to reject and return the bill and not to make it law. Dayal said the bill is “partisan in its purpose and intent as it seeks to protect the community from which the conversions are taking place. The provisions of the bill are over-inclusive and provide enough loopholes for abuse of the powers.” He added that bill would go against constitutional guarantees and tarnish the image of Rajasthan and India. The bill was rushed through Rajasthan’s State Assembly this month despite strong opposition by groups opposed to the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (Assist News Service/Wikipedia)

* Radio programs in 12 languages (English, Urdu, Hindi, Nepali, Chattisgarhi, Bangla, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telegu, Marwari, Marathi and Santhali) air to India from HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra. The programs are produced at the ministry’s studios in New Delhi, India.

ANTI-MISSIONARY ‘WITCH-HUNT’ HAUNTS CITY IN EASTERN TURKEY

Fanned by local media and a Muslim mufti, an anti-missionary “witch-hunt” targeting Christians in Bingol, a city in eastern Turkey, left a Muslim woman beaten in her tailor shop last month while police allowed her attacker to walk free. Guler Morsumbul has not yet found a lawyer willing to represent her in court Monday, April 24, against the man who attacked her six weeks ago, supposedly for “Christianizing” his daughter. On the morning of Wednesday, March 8, Mehmet Caf entered the Muslim woman’s tailor shop in Bingol’s city center, vandalized the premises and beat Morsumbul’s face. In front of police and Morsumbul’s neighbors, Caf claimed that Morsumbul had been trying to convert his 13-year-old daughter, reported Bingol’s local Kent Haber newspaper. The newspaper quoted Caf who claimed that Morsumbul and other “missionaries” had forced his daughter and 100 other students to attend a secret mass. A relative said this is just one of many incidents since reports of missionary activity first appeared in a national newspaper three years ago. “Whoever has a grudge against someone else, whoever wants to destroy someone’s business, simply calls the other person a Christian,” the relative said. (Compass Direct)

RECORD 200 MILLION BELIEVERS TO TAKE PART IN GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER

After an explosive, five-year history, this year’s Global Day of Prayer set for Pentecost Sunday, June 4, plans to include a record 200 million Christians from around the world. Beginning in 2001 with 45,000 people who gathered in a stadium in a Cape Town, South Africa, the Day of Prayer has become a worldwide event. This year the Global Day of Prayer will unite Christians with live broadcasts and private and public gatherings in almost every country of the world. Following the vision of businessman/founder Graham Power, the Global Day of Prayer will exemplify the first 10-day gathering in the upper room leading up to the first Pentecost. A prayer guide, covering the period of May 25-June 4, is available to focus the prayers of people around the world. For more information visit www.gdopusa.com or www.globaldayofprayer.com. (WayMakers)

SOUTHERN BAPTIST MEMBERSHIP, GIVING INCREASES WHILE BAPTISMS DROP

Recently compiled statistics for the Southern Baptist Convention show that baptisms -- which rebounded in 2004 after a four-year decline -- slumped again in 2005, reported the Baptist Press. According to the Annual Church Profile, baptisms last year dropped to 4.15 percent -- the lowest level since 1993. Also on the decline was participation in Sunday school, mission education for men and boys, and the Woman’s Missionary Union. However, the denomination also saw growth in key areas with a net increase of 234 churches in 2005 and a slightly higher total membership at 16,270,315. Giving was also up last year as total offerings increased 5.4 percent to more than $10.72 billion. (Religion Today)

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