Magic Statistics

The government of Assam state has ordered that one of the oldest Christian churches in north-east India is to be bulldozed to make room for a car park.

The Assam government has directed a 162 year old First Baptist Church here [Guwahati] to hand over its premises to the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority GMDA for construction of a multi storeyed car parking lot. The Council of Baptist Churches in North East India, CBCNEI, also has its headquarters there.
. . .
The CBCNEI was founded in the Nineteenth Century by pioneer American Baptist Missionaries like Miles Bronson, author of the first Anglo-Assamese dictionary, and others who championed the cause of the Assamese language when the British introduced Bengali as the official language of the region.

The American Baptist Mission which arrived in 1836 AD brought out the first Assamese newspaper Orunudoi [Sunrise] in 1846 AD.

Emerging from Good Friday service, Pastor Aziz-up-Haq described the order as an attack on religious minorities . . .

The CBCNEI is the largest Baptist group in south-east Asia with more than one million members, and runs five hospitals in Assam and neighbouring states.  The church itself currently has 641 members.

I wonder why the authorities decided to target a Christian church for expropriation rather than a Hindu temple or Muslim mosque.

h/t: Persecution Update India

Previous related posts:

• Marxists attack Christians in south-west India
• Christian pastor brutally assaulted while caring for the sick
• Murderer of Christian missionary applies for early release

UPDATE (2 May): After lobbying by the Global Council of Indian Christians, the Assam government changed its mind. The expropriation order has been cancelled.

Last Thursday, the cruise ship Sea Diamond struck a rock and sank off the Aegean Sea island Santorini.  One week before, the StatDaughter and a group of her unruly well-behaved classmates had cruised the same ship to Santorini while on a spring break trip to Greece.  By the time of the accident, fortunately, she was home safe and sound (except for jet lag and a cold).

She took this photo on the island during her 29 March visit.  (Click on image for larger view.)

The captain and five other crew members have been charged with negligence in connection with the shipwreck, in which two passengers are still missing and unaccounted for.  The captain says it’s the fault of sea currents.

State-run NET television quoted from what it said were excerpts of the captain's deposition to a public prosecutor on the island of Naxos, blaming currents off the volcanic island for the accident.

"I felt the ship, which had been on a normal course, slip to the right because of sea currents," NET quoted him as saying. "I gave the order for a full turn left. But there was not enough time for the ship to respond."

Public authorities on the island have now announced their intention to sue the owners of the ship for pollution damage and potential loss of tourism.  The ship’s tanks still hold 400 tonnes of fuel that must be drained to avoid further seepage.

The collect for today, Easter-Day, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee, that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: Colossians 3:1-7
The Gospel: St John 20:1-10

Painting: Giovanni Bellini, Resurrection of Christ, 1475-79. Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

The Paschal Greeting

Arabic: Al  Maseeh Qam! Haqqan Qam!
Armenian: Christos harjav i merelotz! Orhniale  harutjun Christosi!
Byelorussian: Khristos Uvoskros! Zaprowdu  Uvoskros!
Chinese: Helisituosi fuhuole! Queshi fuhuole!
Coptic:  Pikhirstof aftonf! Khen o methni aftonf!
Czech: Kristus vstal  zmrtvy'ch! Skutec ne vstal!
Danish: Kristus er opstanden! Ja, sandelig  opstanden!
Dutch: Christus is opgestaan! Hij is waarlijk  opgestaan!
English: Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
Estonian:  Kristus on surnuist ülestõusnud! Tõesti ülestõusnud!
Finnish: Kristus  nousi Kuolleista! Totisesti Nousi!
French: Christ est Ressuscité! En  Vérité, Il est Ressuscité!
Gaelic: Erid Krist! G'deya! n erid  she!
Irish Gaelic: Tá Críosd ar éirigh! Go deimhin, tá e ar  éirigh!
Scots Gaelic: Tha Crìosd air èiridh! Gu dearbh, tha e air  èiridh!
Georgian: Kriste aghsdga! Cheshmaritad aghsdga!
German: Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!
Greek:  Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!
Hebrew: Ha Mashiyach qam! Ken hoo  qam!
Hungarian: Krisztus feltámadt! Valóban feltámadt!
Icelandic: Kristur er upprisinn! Hann er vissulega upprisinn!
Inuktitut: Chruistusi makisimavuq! aamilaak makisimavuq!
Italian:  Cristo è risorto! È veramente risorto!
Japanese: Harisutosu Fukkatsu!  Jitsu Ni Fukkatsu!
Latin: Christus resurrexit! Vere  resurrexit!
Norwegian: Kristus er oppstanden! Han er sannelig  opstanden!
Polish: Khristus Zmartvikstau! Zaiste  Zmartvikstau!
Portuguese: Christo Ressuscitou! Em Verdade  Ressuscitou!
Romanian: Hristos a Inviat! Adeverat a Inviat!
Russian:  Khristos voskres! Voistinu voskres!
Serbian: Hristos Vaskrese! Vaistinu  Vaskrese!
Slavonic: Christos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese!
Slovak:  Kristus vstal zmr'tvych! Skutoc ne vstal!
Spanish: Cristo ha  resucitado! Verdaderamente ha resucitado!
Swedish: Kristus är  upstånden! Ja, Han är sannerligen uppstånden!
Syriac: Meshiha qam!  Bashrira qam!
Turkish: Hristós diril-Dí! Hakíkatén diril-Dí
Ukrainian: Kristos Voskres! Voistinu voskres!
Welsh:  Atgyfododd Crist! Atgyfododd in wir!

At this site, you can see and hear the Paschal Greeting in 250 languages.

Anastasis (Resurrection) fresco, Church of the Holy Saviour, Chora, Constantinople