Christians worldwide under pressure for their faith
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From: "ANS@Assist-Ministries.com" <ANS@Assist-Ministries.com>
To: ASSISTNEWS@sheperd.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 5:42 AM
Subject: Christian School Attacked in Bangladesh
From: "ANS@Assist-Ministries.com" <ANS@Assist-Ministries.com>
To: ASSISTNEWS@sheperd.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 5:42 AM
Subject: Christian School Attacked in Bangladesh
| ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Monday, December 1, 2014 Christian School Attacked in Bangladesh  By Michael Ireland Special Correspondent, ASSIST News Service BANGLADESH (ANS) -- Hundreds of extremist Islamists attacked a Christian school in Bangladesh, which welcomes children of all faiths, in response to locals who were outraged by rumors stating the school was forcing Muslim children to convert to Christianity, according to World Watch Monitor (www.worldwatchmonitor.org), which reports the story of Christians around the world under pressure for their faith, says that on the morning of November 5, an Islamist mob attacked the South Korean funded Steve Kim Mission School located in Konabari town. Speaking with World Watch Monitor, an authority from Love Bangladesh Mission said the mob comprised about 200 people. World Watch Monitor says the students were not physically injured, but 12 of its 14 members of staff were beaten. Sumitra Kunda, 25, a female teacher endured a serious head injury. Another teacher, John Prokash Sarker, said that he managed to run away from six madrasa students, armed with knives and machetes, after being forced out of his classroom. World Watch Monitor explained that millions of Bangladeshi students attend madrasas. The schools were established in the 1970's, soon after Bangladesh became independent from P akistan, and there are two kinds: private Quomi madrasas and state-sponsored Alia madrasas. According to The Guardian newspaper, http://tinyurl.com/kzjkmap, madrasas are hidden in secrecy and viewed with suspicion for their links with militant Islam. World Watch Monitor says the furious mob's 'most wanted' was Michael Robin Mondol, who is in charge of both the school and church, they were calling his name loudly, but the staff managed to hide him. Local officials told World Watch Monitor that they were unable to verify any truth behind the rumors of the school implementing 'forced conversions' that allegedly sparked the violence. The school authority filed a case against 25 people in local police station after the incident. "We have arrested 17 people including three madrasa teachers," police officer Khandoker Rezaul Hasan told World Watch Monitor. Wave of 'panic' & destruction In its report, World Watch Monitor says the attackers vandalized classrooms, destroyed the bakery and stole several items including computers and projectors. "They also torched the library, burned Bibles, hymnals and chairs; then proceeded to cut the electricity lines of the school and destroyed a generator," the group reported. Mondol told World Watch Monitor that the vandalism lasted for about an hour and a half, and during that time, "A wave of panic swept through the school and traumatized everyone. Many students became sick in the following days." "Some madrasa teachers wanted us to stop our education program. But we are helping the poor children. We teach the students what other schools teach in the area, except madrasas. We do not teach them Christian religion in the classes," said Mondol. Details surrounding the rumors Teachers of two local madrasas stirred up the discontent by going door to door stating that the school was converting the impoverished Muslim students to Christianity, World Watch Monitor said. "They distributed leaflets stating that those who allowed their children to stu dy at Steve Kim Mission School are not good citizens and condemned them and to eternal damnation," the group stated. Gazipur district administrative chief, Deputy Commissioner Nurul Islam told World Watch Monitor that the allegation of converting the Muslim students to Christianity in the school was false and baseless. "I talked to many local people and I did not find the veracity of the allegation claimed by the Madrasa teachers that the school is converting the poor students to Christianity," said Islam. "It transpired that some Madrasa teachers did not like that Christians setup a missionary school in the locality," said Islam. Mondol told World Watch Monitor that some of the rumors included members of the school 'putting the Koran, Islam's holy book, under the children's feet' and that all of the 'food we provided is made up of pork.' "Many guardians of the students asked several times if we are converting them to Christianity," he said, and madrasa's threatened to evict the parents of the Musl im students unless they removed their children from our school. Christian schools historically welcome World Watch Monitor reported that according to Asia News, despite 90 percent of students not being Christian, Christian schools and colleges are considered the best option in Bangladesh. The Catholic Church has about 600 institutions (from primary school to high school), 10 colleges and a university. World Watch Monitor stated the Steve Kim Mission School is new to the area and situated in in Gazipur district, a sprawling industrial area of garment factories, around 50 kilometers north of the capital city Dhaka. Since its inception on April 1 of this year it has enrolled around 200 Muslim students. It provides mainstream education from the first to fourth grade, the group said. "One of its ambitions has been to provide for local impoverished children, whose parents are mostly garment factory workers, by offering free education, school uniforms, books, pencils and meals," World watch Monitor explained. The group went on to add that of Bangladesh's 154 million people, Sunni Muslims constitute 90 percent and Hindus 9 percent (2001 census). The remaining 1 percent is mainly Christian and Buddhist. World Watch Monitor exists to report the under-reported story of Christians worldwide under pressure for their faith. Articles may be reprinted, with attribution. For subscription information, contact: info@worldwatchmonitor.org  See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net
** You may republish this story with proper attribution. Send this story to a friend. Note to our subscribers: It you really appreciate what we do through ANS and would like to make a donation to help us continue with this unique news service, you can do so in two ways. First, just go to our secure site at www.assistnews.net/assist/donations.htm, where you can sign up for a monthly gift or a one-off contribution (tax-deductible in the US). Second, if you prefer to send a check, just make it out to ASSIST, and mail it to ASSIST, PO Box, 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA (also tax-deductible in the US). Thank you so much for caring! Dan Wooding Click here if you wish to unsubscribe
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