Perspectivas / Perspectives

Christian persecution is taking place in many parts of the World at a much higher number of victims than in times of the Roman Empire. The ten most responsible governments for systematic persecution and violations of religious freedom are in descending order: North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen, Iran and India. The fact that India is among these top ten violators is hard to believe to many who cannot understand how such a democratic country often allows at leisure Hindu radicals attacking Christians with practically no consequences. Note that with the exception of North Korea and India, all the other violators are muslim. In fact, among the next 10 in this woesome ranking, 8 of them are also muslim countries: Syria, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, Uzbekistan and Myanmar. The following National Review report is quite revealing about this tragedy.

Ranking of Nations Where Christians Are Persecuted Most

Some old standbys, and then some surprises  

Jan 29.– The group Open Doors has released the latest iteration of its World Watch List. The ranking covers the worst 50 nations with respect to religious persecution of Christians. Most nations on the list are perennials, instantly recognized by those who follow the issue. The details vary a bit year by year, but the outcome of this tragic sport rarely changes much.

Indeed, one imagines religious persecutors involved in a competition to see which state can be more inhospitable to freedom of conscience. There is an aging champ, still in the lead but closely trailed by new aspirants. A previous contender reemerges for a new run at the top prize. Most of those seeking victory have different strengths. Some competitors emphasize direct government repression, others vicious social pressure. A favorite technique is mob violence with official acquiescence. There are more.

The Chinese government is currently interning hundreds of thousands of the country's Uighur Muslim minority. In an interview, Jewher Ilham, the daughter of human rights activist Ilham Tohti, who has been sentenced to life in prison, calls on the European Union to take action against Beijing.

 Uhr, Jan.8.– Jewher Ilham, 25, is the daughter of Chinese economics professor Ilham Tohti, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his advocacy of the rights of China's Uighur minority.

She went to the United States on her own in 2013 after her father's arrest at an airport. He had taught at Beijing's Minzu University until early 2014 and was considered to be the last moderate activist working on behalf of Muslim Uighurs in China.

 A Nobel Peace Prize is no guarantee of future performance.

In Oslo on Tuesday, Ethiopia’s reformist prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, was awarded the prestigious prize amid criticism that the recognition was premature: Ethiopia’s transition to democracy is far from complete and ethnic violence and dislocation are prevalent in his country.

 The Hague, Dec.11.– As if to underline that Nobel laureates are as capable of violence and cynicism as any other leader, 1991 winner Aung San Suu Kyi, now the leader of the government of Myanmar, also traveled to Europe this week to appear before a court in The Hague and defend her government against charges of genocide.

As a campaigner for democracy and imprisoned dissident, Suu Kyi became a global icon of human rights and democracy in the ’90s. 

India’s rapid descent into xenophobia, violence, and irrationality
has an important economic dimension, but it takes politicians
to channel these emotions into nationalism, and to embolden
the nationalists to commit violence.  Now that the BJP has done so,
is it able – or willing – to exorcise the many demons it has unleashed?

New Delhi, Dec.10.– Injustice, discrimination, and violence are hardly unheard of in India. But today, they are being normalized, enabled, and even encouraged by the state, which is promoting an aggressive form of Hindu nationalism that looks increasingly like mob rule. India’s diversity and complex civilizational legacy are now under assault, and it is shaking the very foundations of Indian democracy. 

In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped Jammu and Kashmir – India’s only Muslim-majority territory – of its special status, which had granted it considerable autonomy, and split it into two “union territories” over which the central government now wields more direct control.