July 16 2012; reported July 17  India

Students and teachers were terrified and beaten by 20 in Maharashtra, India, but police do nothing.  Ankur English Middle School is run by a Christian trust.  It has about 250 students, most of which come from the disenfranchised Pardhi tribe.  “‘The goons did not spare even our women, who were also beaten up,’ he said.  The incident shows the attackers wanted the Pardhi people to remain illiterate so that they can continue to exploit them, the attack was carried under the pretext of checking religious conversion.”  The chairperson of the school’s trust claimed a former member of parliament, Jambuwantrao Dhote, is behind the attacks.

Source:  Christian Persecution Update

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July 15, 2012; reported July 17  Vietnam

In response to continued violent attacks on Christians, more than 10,000 Christians in Nghe An province led a peaceful demonstration, calling for religious freedom and the end of state-run propaganda against them.  Knowing the demonstration was planned, the government (and perhaps others) attacked individual Christians (one journalist was stabbed in his home) and made major efforts at intimidating marchers the night before, deploying tanks, using hired thugs to roam and threaten, and blocking ferries.  They even threatened and tried to detain a prominent Christian lawyer.   Christians from other areas in Vietnam held smaller demonstrations in support of the Nghe An Christians.

Source:  Barnabasaid.org

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July 15, 2012; reported July 17  India

House church pastor Nathaniel Shubas (26) was beaten by Hindu radicals and jailed.    Shubas has been a pastor in Kanartaka, India, for about three years, and he had been spreading the gospel to surrounding villages.  On the 15th of July, he had been preaching at a friend’s house when someone joined them, recorded part of his message, left, and then returned with about 20 Hindu activists.  They abused and beat him and dragged him to the police station, where they falsely accused Shabu of forcefully making converts.   Shabu was then jailed, yet those who beat him were not jailed or fined.

Source:  Persecution.org