Armed men attacked staff protecting a vaccination team in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. A third officer is reported to have been injured. An investigation has been launched to identify those responsible, who remain unknown at present. New cases of polio; a critical phase for the eradication programme.
On the same Sunday, a Pentecostal clergyman was arrested in Madhya Pradesh and another beaten up in a police station in Chhattisgarh. For the Global Council of Indian Christians, a “fundamental human right such as freedom of religion continue to be denied in a secular country like India”.
Negotiations between Afghanistan’s new rulers and the National Resistance Front, heir to the Northern Alliance, have failed. The resistance is led by former Vice President Saleh and the son of the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir. Claims that the resistance’s stronghold has fallen have been denied, but both sides have suffered heavy losses in the fighting.
In a village, when a Christian pupil went back to school after having a fever, she was met with discrimination and violence. For human rights activist Manzoor Anthony, “We minorities live in insecurity; we must be given full rights”.
An outbreak is reported at the start of the monsoon season. Three doctors in the Firozabad district are suspended for negligence. Local authorities plan to send health workers door-to-door and spray anti-larva liquid.
Police in New Zealand killed a Sri Lanka man after he stabbed six people inspired by jihadi ideology. In the South Pacific nation, Muslims are a fraction of the local Sri Lankan community, compared to over 9 per cent of the population in their country of origin. Extremism is growing as evinced by the 2019 Easter Sunday tragedy, also fuelled by tensions with Sri Lanka’s Buddhist majority.
The work of the seven priests of Don Bosco who arrived in Bangladesh in 2009 is bearing its first fruits. “We also teach children from other faiths,” said Salesian coordinator Fr Alencherry. So far, “we have never received any threats from Islamic extremists”. The first local Salesian will be ordained in the near future.
Girls aged 13 and 14 are raped and killed by members of upper castes. Families and the elderly are tied up and beaten. For Archbishop Machado, such violence is “inhumane” and must be “recognised as a serious violation of human rights”. Silence by political parties over the mounting atrocities is “disconcerting”.
His funeral was held this morning. The Indian government deployed troops and blocked the Internet to stop protests. Al-Qaeda includes Kashmir among the territories to be reconquered through global jihad. For top Taliban official Anas Haqqani, the new Afghan government will not intervene in the region. Extremists play the moderate card because they need international support and funding.
Moscow has been treating the Afghan Islamists as reliable interlocutors for years. Compared to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, the Afghan Emirate offers a more acceptable and repeatable model: a mix of patriotism and Islamism. The Kremlin will struggle to contain any extremist regurgitation.
Police report rising complaints and an intolerable situation. The real emergency is educational. Sex with those under 16 is rape with sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Helping the most fragile left to fend for themselves is the challenge.
Mohi Uddin's body was moved to a Baptist church in Chattogram. For years, Rohingya Christians and Muslims were buried together in the Kutupalong refugee camp. At least, 200 Christian families fear persecution.
The Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod join the Laudato Sì movement. Starting tomorrow, they will undertake an initiative to mark the social encyclical Pope Francis issued six years ago.
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