Persecuted & Forgotten Part 3: Update on Central African Republic, India, and Sri Lanka
Written by Katie Ascough
Six countries are highlighted as having worsened in Christian persecution in the 2017-19 edition of Persecuted and Forgotten by ACN (due to be released in Ireland during the Week of Witness 25 Nov – 1 Dec).
Last week, we looked at three of these countries: China, Burma (Myanmar), and the Philippines. Today, we will look at the deepening crisis in the other three countries where Christian persecution has worsened: the Central African Republic, India, and Sri Lanka.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The massacre of more than 110 people, mostly Christians – including two priests and
a pastor – at a Church-run displacement camp highlighted the scale of the internal conflict afflicting the country. Muslim communities had also suffered, with reports of a “violent wave of ethnic cleansing” in the west of the country.
In May 2018 at least 19 people, including Father Albert Baba, were killed and about 120 injured in an attack during Mass on 1 May at Our Lady of Fatima’s Church, Bangui. Parish priest Father Moses Otii said attackers “outnumbered the police and the police retreated. Then the attackers started shooting at the church and throwing hand grenades at the people.”
In November 2018, 101 Christians and 11 Muslims were killed when a group called the Union for Peace attacked a Church-run camp in Alindao. Among those killed in the massacre on 15 November were Pastor Gabriel Singa and two priests, Father Mada Blaise and Father Célestin Ngoumango. The camp, which sheltered over 26,000 people, was totally destroyed. Bishop Cyr-Nestor Yapaupa of Alindao said: “The old people and the handicapped were simply burned alive, if they were not already shot dead or beheaded...The attackers simply fired indiscriminately on the people.” UN troops allegedly colluded with militants.
In May 2019 the body of 77-year-old Sister Ines Nieves Sancho was found beheaded and mutilated in Nola, south-west Central African Republic near the Chad border. During the night of 19 May, assailants entered her home, dragged her to the workshop where she held sewing lessons for local girls, and slit her throat. Ex-Séléka militants, calling themselves 3R, were blamed for the attack.
INDIA
During the period July 2017 to July 2019, attacks on Christians were reported in 24 of India’s 29 states. According to one calculation, there were 440 anti-Christian incidents in 2017, 477 in 2018, and 117 in the first quarter of 2019. Attacks included the killing of converts and sexual violence, such as the gang-rape of five women working for a Christian NGO in Jharkhand. More than 100 churches closed in 2018 because of extremist attacks or intervention by authorities.
According to one study, not only has communal violence remained high, but the failure of authorities to address attacks on religious minorities has engendered a climate of impunity. “[G]roups and organisations wishing to promote cultural and religious nationalism are becoming bolder,” said Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of the Indian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Census data showing the number of Hindus has fallen below 80 percent sparked concern
among nationalists who believe forced conversions are changing society. During May 2018 elections in Karnataka, a fake letter from Archbishop Machado of Bangalore circulated claiming the Catholic Church was planning to proselytise the Lingayat Hindu community. Nine of India’s 29 states have laws “restricting religious conversions”.
In September 2018 an elderly Christian woman was beaten in Veppur village. Four festival worshippers carrying a statue of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha stopped her, saying that by walking on the road she had made it impure and defiled the festival. They hurled stones at Christians who tried to rescue her, and 10 suffered minor injuries. One resident said: “They tell us, ‘We belong to [Hindu extremist group] RSS, and you are Christians. We cannot both walk on the same road.’”
On 3 February 2019, a 40-strong mob attacked Philadelphia Church near Chhattisgarh State’s capital, Raipur. Worshippers were beaten with sticks, and 15 required hospital treatment. According to reports, Hindu villagers cut Christians off from the village’s water supply, banned them from burying their dead, and refused to give them jobs after they declined to participate in Hindu practices. Police investigating the attack allegedly told Christians they would be driven out if they continued to preach.
In May 2019 local officials sent 50 workers to demolish a church-run school and hostel for tribal children near Lichapeta village, Odisha State. Headmaster Vijay Kumar Pusuru said, “When we protested peacefully, they beat us.” Problems started after a leader of the local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) group alleged the school was evangelising the children – a claim Pusuru denies. Demolition was ordered after authorities “lost” the papers relating to the school’s land allotment application. One-hundred of the school’s 250 pupils lived in the hostel, and the hostel’s destruction left 12 children homeless who were subsequently taken into care.
SRI LANKA
Following the end of the civil war in 2009, attacks on both Christians and Muslims have risen, largely carried out by Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists. Ninety attacks on Christians were recorded in 2017, with 67 between January and September 2018 alone. Discrimination against Christians included assaults on churches, denial of burial in public cemeteries, and refusals to enrol Christian children in school.
In June 2017 government minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakse threatened to debar human rights lawyer Lakshan Dias unless he retracted the claim that 195 anti-Christian incidents occurred
from 2015 to June 2017, a statement Mr Dias had made on a TV talk show on 14 June. Mr Rajapakse said, “He is a traitor...He is eagerly waiting to grab an opportunity to create unrest in the country.” Dias received a police summons in response to a complaint.
In July 2018, 50-60 villagers carrying sticks and rods surrounded Harvest Mission Church in
Kiran, Batticaloa District during their Sunday service. Among the attackers were members of local government agency Korakallimadu Grama Niladhari. The mob said that they would attack the congregation if they did not halt their religious activities within 15 minutes. The attackers left after the pastor stopped the service.
In April 2019 more than 300 people, including at least 45 children, were killed and more than 500 people injured in bomb attacks on three churches and hotels across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Explosions hit St Anthony’s Church, Kotahena; Katuwapitiya Church, Katana; and Zion Church, Batticaloa. Islamist group Daesh (ISIS) affiliates claimed responsibility for the attacks.
CONCLUSION
Now we have seen the underbelly of Christian persecution in six countries where persecution has worsened over the past two years. It is important to remember that many incidents go unreported. We must never forget to pray for and support our brothers and sisters in Christ who are discriminated against, beaten, tortured, raped, and even killed for their Christian faith.
All information with credit to 2017-19 edition of Persecuted and Forgotten by ACN
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