Magic Statistics

Assaults on Indian Christians by Hindu extremists are becoming more vicious and brazen.  Last week, several men pounded a Protestant pastor in his own home in front of a television camera crew.  Yesterday, two missionary priests were pummelled and dragged through the streets, again while TV cameras were rolling.

The two priests were attacked by members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, World Hindu Council) and its youth wing, Bajrang Dal.

Rev Ramesh D. Gopargode, 34, and Rev Ajit Belavi, 35, are pastors at a small congregation in Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur District. In the last six months they have organised several prayer meetings with residents from local villagers. On Monday, about 50 armed extremists from the VHP attacked and beat them for allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity—all this in front of a TV camera.

Bloodied, the two victims were taken to a nearby police station where they were arrested and formally charged under Section 295 A of India’s Penal Code, which punishes anyone who, “with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class [. . .], insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class.” Their assailants, for their trouble, were let go without any charges laid against them.

Human rights activists and political leaders in the state of Maharashtra (map at right) denounced the police for failing to detain the vigilantes.  After Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister promised a high-level inquiry, eleven VHP activists were rounded up and arrested for beating up the priests.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the attack on the Protestant pastor.

It is estimated that 113 incidents of physical violence against Indian Christians have occurred since 1 January.

Click here for a video news report from CNN-IBN showing footage of the priests and pastor being attacked and additional background on persecution of Christians in India.

Previous related posts:

• Marxists attack Christians in south-west India
• Christian pastor brutally assaulted while caring for the sick
• Indian public servant killed for his faith in Christ
• Hindu “Religion Army” attacks pastors’ conference
• Christians denounced for offering “moral comfort” to suffering Indians

We’ve had big drug busts in the Yukon before but, as far as I know, this is a first.  Whitehorse RCMP battered down the door of a condominium in a drug raid last weekend and, in addition to cocaine, ecstasy, and cash, seized some heavy artillery.

The photo shows RCMP Cpl Blake Wawryk holding a machine pistol found at the scene.

Whitehorse RCMP promised a crackdown on drugs Monday after officers seized crack cocaine, weapons and cash during a drug bust in a condominium in the city's Riverdale neighbourhood over the weekend.

Five people each face a charge of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking as a result of the raid. Those charged remain in custody and will appear in court later this month.
. . .
Police seized 31 grams of crack cocaine, 31 rocks of cocaine, 2½ grams of powdered cocaine and nine weapons including rifles and an AK-47 military assault rifle. They also found 50 ecstasy pills, a small amount of marijuana and about $25,000 in cash and drug paraphernalia.

Since that CBC story was filed, many more charges have been laid.

Police have concluded that the cocaine originated in BC’s Lower Mainland and is connected to organised crime.

Five men, four from Whitehorse and one from Surrey, BC, have been charged with multiple drug and weapons offences.  (One of them is also charged with breach of probation.)  Another man, address unknown, is charged with possession for purposes of trafficking.

A Whitehorse woman who dropped by while police were searching the premises was arrested for violating court conditions imposed following an earlier conviction for possessing stolen property.

Twenty-four-year-old Matthew Devellano, charged with 27 firearms offences and one count of possession for purposes of trafficking, appeared in court yesterday and was denied bail.

Previous related posts:

• Biggest cocaine bust in Yukon history
• Cocaine trade: one of the great evils of our time

After almost 30 years of linguistic study and translation, the Bible has been published in a dialect spoken by Australian Aboriginals.

The Anglican Church unveiled the Aboriginal Bible in the Northern Territory town of Katherine this week. It intends an initial distribution of 30,000 copies to remote communities.

Peter Carroll, a linguist who worked on the translation, said the phrase "to love God with all one's heart" was a special challenge. He said: "The Aboriginal people use a different part of the body to express emotions. They have a word that is, broadly translated, 'insides'. So to love God with all your heart was to want God with all your insides."
. . .
With 210 Aboriginal languages to chose from, organisers of the project settled on Kriol, a pidgin language spread across northern Australia by stockmen in the cattle industry and now used widely.

This is the English translation of Psalm 23:

Yaweh, you are the best stockman. You care for me continually, and everything I have comes from you. I can't want more.

You care for me just like the stockman who takes his sheep to rest in a quiet place with lots of grass and spring water.

Every day you make me strong. You show me the way to go because I trust your name to do what you have promised.

Even if I go through a very dark place where anything could kill me, but I am not frightened because you are always with me. You have your spear and long stick to always protect me.

Kriol speakers call Christians "Christianmob".

For more information, visit the website of the Kriol Bible project.

Previous related post: Inuktitut Old Testament almost finished