SRINIGAR,
INDIA – (ANS)- The president of the Global
Council of Indian Christians is trying to raise international awareness of the
case of an Indian pastor arrested on charges ‘disturbing communal peace.’

In a media update, Ann Buwalda,
Executive Director of Jubilee Campaign, says that Sajan George is highlighting
the case through a petition drive.

Jubilee Campaign says Rev. Chander
Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church in Srinagar was on November 19th, 2011
arrested on charges ‘disturbing communal peace.’

The arrests of Khanna and two others
came after a local Muslim clerical association calling itself a ‘Sharia court’
accused Rev. Khanna of ‘luring’ Muslims into converting from Christianity.
Their only evidence was a YouTube video of Rev. Khanna baptizing seven
believers from a Muslim background.

Jubilee Campaign says that after 11
days in, jail Rev. Khanna was released on bail, but the so-called Sharia court
issued a fatwa of expulsion, ordering him and two other Christian workers to
leave the state.

In the media release, Buwalda says:
“This case represents a worrying continuation of a dangerous trend Jubilee
Campaign has seen in India for some time. Over the past several years radical
Hindu leaders have reacted to the massive growth of Christianity with
frequently accusations that Christians are ‘luring’ poor Hindus into converting
by bribing them or lying to them. It was this sentiment which led to the
passage of anti-conversion laws in several states of northern India and led to
the 2008 violence against Christians in Orissa.”

Buwalda explained the causes of this
sentiment are “complex and specific to the traditional Hindu society where
political and economic power was based around the caste system.”

Buwalda said: “The Muslim view
on conversions is more explicitly theological, as indicated by the term
apostasy. Nevertheless the Hindu response to conversions, which involves
baseless accusations of misconduct resulting in vigilante killings of religious
minorities is very similar to the Muslim response that we have seen in Pakistan
and elsewhere.”

Buwalda went on to state: “This
attempt by the Kashmir Muslims to activate the radical Hindu lobbying in
support of their actions has been at least partially successful judging by the
response of a high-ranking Indian official.

“Of more immediate concern is
to the local Christian community is the way that the Sharia court was able to
enforce its fatwa of expulsion against Rev. Khanna and the two other Christian
workers,” she said.

Buwalda added that, emboldened by
their success, groups of local Muslims have been pressuring the families of
converts, causing several other converts and Christians workers to flee.

In response, Sajan George, the
president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, is trying to raise
international awareness through the petition.

Jubilee Campaign urges concerned
believers to sign the petition calling for the government of India to respect
its own laws and stop the unjust persecution of Rev. Khanna.

Support Rev. Khanna and the
Christian Minority in Kashmir, by signing the Petition here: http://tinyurl.com/774gh3m

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About Michael Ireland

Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia.

Michael has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael’s volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department — ‘Michael Ireland Media Missionary’ (MIMM) — of A.C.T.
International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649,at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International
where you can donate online to support his stated mission of ‘Truth Through Christian Journalism.’ If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Chief Reporter

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