RLPB 300. Iran: repression escalates

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 300 | Wed 11 Mar 2015

IRAN: REPRESSION ESCALATES
(plus Nigeria Update)
By Elizabeth Kendal

A balance of power existed in Mesopotamia (the 'Fertile Crescent' of Iraq-Syria) from 1918 to 2003, when the US-led coalition invaded Iraq and overthrew the minority Sunni-led regime. Since then, Shi'ite majority Iraq has essentially become an Iranian vassal, and Iran has become the ascendant regional hegemonic power. Today, as Islamic State pursues gains in Iraq, the only regional power fighting against IS with 'boots on the ground' is Iran. After the mostly Shi'ite Iraqi army collapse in June 2014, Iraq's Shi'ite political and religious leaders called for Shi'ite volunteers to rise up and defend Baghdad and the Shi'ite holy places. Numerous Shi'ite militias emerged, backed by Iran and controlled by the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Ultimately these Shi'ite militias will do Iran's bidding in Iraq, just as Hezbollah does in Lebanon. The West will not challenge the Iranian ascent as the West could not cope with Iranian retaliation.

As Iran's power has risen its human rights record has deteriorated -- from horrendous, to worse than horrendous -- primarily due to the impunity it now enjoys. Virtually nobody is talking about human rights now that Iran is fighting IS and enriching uranium. Consequently the threat to political and religious dissidents is greater than ever and increasing all the time. This comes at a time when urban Iranians are rebelling: for example, by posting photos to social media of themselves dancing or without headscarves and so on. Iranians are also rejecting Islam in unprecedented numbers, with many coming to faith in Christ. Today the Iranian Church is one of the fastest growing Churches in the world. The regime's response is to ramp up repression and its power enables it to do so with impunity.

One of Iran's most cruelly-treated Christian prisoners is Pastor Behnam Irani (42). Married with two children, Irani was close to death through 2013 before finally receiving surgery for internal injuries and bleeding intestinal ulcers. He has spent lengthy time in solitary confinement, endured many beatings and recently had his prison term extended yet again. He is not due for release until 2017.

On Christmas Day 2014, the regime arrested nine believers worshipping in a house church in the city of Roudehen in Tehran Province and their whereabouts remains unknown. At dawn that day the regime hanged seven prisoners in Shiraz. By the end of December 2014 an estimated 92 Christians were in jail in Iran, with only 13 serving court-issued sentences. On 16 February Iranian Intelligence agents raided the homes of house-church Christians, Saheb Fadaie, Yasser Mosayebzadeh and Mehdi Reza Omidi. Omidi has been arrested before, spending time in detention in 2012 and receiving 80 lashes in late 2013 for drinking communion wine and owning a satellite dish. After confiscating Bibles, laptops and other materials, the security agents ordered the believers to report for questioning. When they did, officials advised them to leave Iran.

[photo: Arrested in August 2013, Maryam Naghash-Zargaran  (37) is currently serving a four year prison sentence in Evin Prison for 'crimes against national security' (i.e. witnessing to Muslim). In September 2013, Maryam suffered a heart attack in prison. While her heart condition has been treated, she remains exceedingly frail.]

In the early hours of 4 March Iran hanged six Sunni Kurds at Rajai Shahr Prison for the crime of 'enmity of God'. The hangings have shaken those who had come to know the men at Rajai Shahr Prison, including Pastor Saeed Abedini (36, a US citizen). Arrested in July 2012, Abedini has been in Rajai Shahr Prison since November 2013. Abedini's family in Iran visited him in prison on the day of the hangings. His wife Naghmeh (in the US) reports that her husband was deeply shaken, very emotional and missing his children greatly. Doubtless his emotional fragility is also aggravated due to the routine violence in Rajai Shahr (a super-maximum prison housing Iran's most violent criminals) which has left Abedini with internal injuries.

Also imprisoned in Rajai Shahr is Pastor Farshid Fathi (35). Arrested in December 2010, Fathi was transferred to Rajai Shahr in August 2014. Mohabat News reports that on 5 March the imam of the ward in which Fathi is detained ordered his Bible to be confiscated. When Fathi protested the imam filed a complaint, accusing Fathi of insulting him. If Fathi is found guilty of insulting the imam, he could have two years added to his sentence. He has already had one year added to his six-year sentence, a decision he is appealing.  His wife and two children fled to Canada in 2011. During his fourth Christmas in prison (2014) Fathi wrote to his family and supporters: 'Although the beauty of Christmas or the signs of Christmas cannot be found in this prison, with the ears of faith I can hear the everlasting and beautiful truth: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel".' The letter is signed, 'Your captive brother who is free in Christ.'

NEW REPORT: The Persecution of Christians in Iran
a report by 'Freedom Declared', an All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (UK)
March 2015

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL:

* continue building his Church in Iran. As Jesus promised: 'I will build my church, and the gates of  hell shall not prevail against it.' (Matthew 16:18 ESV)

* impart great wisdom and grace to the Iranian Church so that believers will navigate the risks, endure through persecution and continue to 'shine as lights in the world' (Philippians 2:15).

* reveal himself inside Iran's prisons as he surrounds, comforts, strengthens and lifts up -- as if on eagle's wings -- all who put their faith in him; may Iran's Christian prisoners be profoundly aware of God's eternal presence and everlasting love and may they radiate his glory as they prove that nothing 'will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord' (from Romans 8:38-39 ESV).

'Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.' (Hebrews 13:3 ESV)

-------------------------------

NIGERIA Update:  In RLPB 298 (24 Feb) we prayed for missionary Rev. Phyllis Sortor (71), who had been abducted by a criminal gang, south of Abuja, Nigeria. The mission reports that Sortor was released back into the care of the church on Friday 6 March. Please thank the Lord and continue in prayer for the hundreds of children taken captive and sold into sex-slavery by Boko Haram.

-----------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE  
------------------------------------------------------------

REPRESSION ESCALATES IN IRAN

Virtually nobody mentions Iran's human rights record now that Iran is fighting IS in Iraq and enriching uranium. Meanwhile, Iran's response to political and religious rebellion is to ramp up repression and its power is enabling it to do so with impunity. These are dangerous days for the Church in Iran. Christians (especially converts from Islam) are routinely harassed by Iranian Intelligence agents who confiscate their property and advise them to leave the country. Christian prisoners are being placed in extremely harsh and life-threatening situations. They miss their families, are subjected to violence and their sentences keep being extended. They are deeply shaken hearing about the regime's mass executions. Yet amidst all this God is at work and the Church is growing. Please uphold the severely persecuted Iranian Church.

------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012).

RLPB 299. INDIA: Supreme Court ruling a coup for Hindutva

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 299 | Wed 04 March 2015

INDIA: SUPREME COURT RULING A COUP FOR HINDUTVA
By Elizabeth Kendal

'Scheduled castes' and 'scheduled tribes' are those deemed to be backward, requiring affirmative action and government benefits. India declared Independence in 1947. In the 1950s the Nehru government passed a law limiting the definition of 'scheduled caste' to members of the Hindu faith. The theory behind the law was that upon leaving Hinduism, converts would escape the constraints of caste and be free to rise above it. In reality, caste in India is like a stain that never washes out -- it is inescapable. Consequently, scheduled caste Hindus who convert to Christianity still suffer caste discrimination, yet without access to benefits or reserved job or university places, leaving them truly impoverished. Unfortunately, as Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) ideologues rightly note, caste discrimination extends deep into the Church. Christians have been appealing through the courts for more than a decade for benefits and reservations to be allotted equitably: according to need, not religion [RLPB 276 (2 Nov 2014)].  Hindutva, however, promotes religious apartheid and strongly opposes equity.

In 1976 the court ruled that if a Christian born to scheduled caste (Hindu) converts-to-Christianity, wants to 'return' (i.e. convert) to Hinduism and receive scheduled caste benefits, he/she should be free to do so. The ruling thus set a limit of one generation: i.e. a Christian 'returning' to Hinduism could claim the caste status his/her parents had prior to their conversion. In 2006 the Kerala High Court ruled against KP Manu, a 'returnee' to Hinduism. Manu's scheduled caste (Hindu) grandparents were the first in his family to convert to Christianity. Born to Christian parents in 1960, Manu 'returned' to Hinduism in 1984, claimed the scheduled caste status of his grandparents, and got a reserved government job. However, the local Hindu community did not accept him, suspecting him to be a fraud, as he did not participate in Hindu rituals. The Hindu community complained, saying Manu was not entitled to a reserved job because his parents were Christians. With that, Manu's job was terminated and he was ordered to pay back the salary he had earned. When the Kerala High Court upheld the termination, Manu appealed to the Supreme Court.

On Thursday 26 February 2015 the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in Manu's favour, setting aside the High Court judgment. It also extended the 1976 ruling, removing the one generation limit so that now any Christian 'returning' to Hinduism is guaranteed the caste of their ancestors along with the benefits. To receive scheduled caste status, converts need only prove they have an ancestor who was a member of that scheduled caste and that the community will accept them.

The SC ruling has sent shockwaves through the Christian community which has been lobbying for equity. The ruling consolidates inequity and the religious apartheid of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism). Furthermore, the court ruling legitimises the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP's) ghar wapsi ('homecoming' / 're-conversion') campaign, just as the VHP is escalating its efforts across the country. The SC ruling essentially establishes an incentive for impoverished Christians to 'return' to Hinduism.

(photo: Father M.J.Joseph blesses believers after 'satsang' (Bible reading and prayers))

'Those who left the Hindu fold had made a mistake,' said BJP (Hindu nationalist) MP Yogi Adityanath. 'We are trying to rectify their mistake through ghar wapsi. Ghar wapsi shall continue until a law on religious conversion is brought in. ... If such a law was in place at the time of Independence,' he said, 'then the population of Christians would not have risen from a mere 0.7 per cent to seven per cent.' VHP president Pravin Togadia has expressed concerns that if Hindus [who comprise 72 percent] are not protected from 'forced conversion' they will become a 'minority in their own country'. He is calling for India to be made a Hindu Rastra (Hindu State) to 'protect Hindus from discrimination'. Meanwhile, Sadhvi Prachi Arya, a prominent VHP leader, has vowed that the ghar wapsi programme will continue until the 15 crore [150 million] people who, she claimed, have left the Hindu fold since Independence, are 'reconverted to Hinduism'. Nothing leaves impoverished Christians (the main targets of ghar wapsi) more vulnerable to 're-conversion' than the caste discrimination within the Church.

PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL:

* pour out his Spirit of repentance, grace and courage upon the Church in India, eliminating caste discrimination within the Church, proliferating generous and sacrificial love for the Body of Christ.  '... for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' (From Galatians 3:23-29 ESV)

* raise up advocates who will 'speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.' (Proverbs 31:8-9 NIV); may India's gross inequity and religious apartheid be denounced and challenged at home and abroad.

* comfort, provide for and greatly bless all those Indians who choose to trust and follow Christ in spite of the cost being violent persecution and crippling poverty.

'For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.' (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV)


ALSO - URGENT:  Please remember the more than 200 Assyrian Christians being held captive by IS in Syria and the 35 Copts being held captive by IS in Libya. Recently, the decapitated body of a Copt named Mansour Saad Awad was discovered on the outskirts of the town of Mechili, in Cyrenaica, eastern Libya. IS has issued threats against Copts in northern Sinai, ordering their expulsion from Wilayat Sinai (the IS province of Sinai). Some 30 Coptic families have fled their homes but between 200 and 300 Coptic families remain, having nowhere to go. Pray for the Christians of the Middle East.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE  
------------------------------------------------------------
INDIA'S SUPREME COURT RULING A COUP FOR HINDUTVA

Indian law mandates that only Hindus can be members of 'scheduled' castes who are eligible for government benefits and reserved jobs. On 26 February 2015 India's Supreme Court opened the way for Christians to convert to Hinduism and access scheduled caste benefits. Converts will need merely to prove they have an ancestor who was a member of a scheduled caste and that they have the support of the local Hindu community. For decades Christians have been fighting in the courts for equity: for government benefits to be available to the needy regardless of religion. The Supreme Court ruling consolidates the inequity and religious apartheid of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) at a time when Hindutva forces are escalating their re-conversion efforts across the nation. Please pray for the Church in India.

------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today 
(Deror Books, Dec 2012).