wfn.org | Persecution of Christians in India - British Church acts.

["EAUK Press Office" <press@eauk.org>]

CORRECTED COPY
- THIS REPLACES AN EARLIER EMAIL SENT TODAY

For Immediate Release: 18th February 1999

This press release is issued by the Evangelical Alliance UK
on behalf of the Alliance of Asian Christians

A silent march will be held in central London next month as British 
Christians from across the UK work to highlight the growing 
persecution of Christians in India.  The March of Silent Witness will 
be followed by a multi-cultural prayer service at Emmanuel 
Christian Centre, Westminster.

The march will be held on March 6th and is being organised by the 
Alliance of Asian Christians (AAC), a group representing some 
45,000 Asian Christians and 200 churches in the UK.

2,000 Christians are expected to take part and churches in 
London, Manchester, Huddersfield, Slough, Bradford, 
Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Oxford, Nelson, Bolton and Bedford 
have organised coaches to bring people to the march. 

General Secretary of the AAC, Pradip Sudra, said: "We are 
appalled by the increasing reports of persecution coming out of 
India.  I hope our march will put pressure on the Indian authorities 
to take action to stop this intolerance.

"When the Australian missionary Graham Staines and two of his 
sons were burnt to death in Orissa at the end of January, the 
authorities ordered an inquiry not into their deaths, but into the 
question of Christian conversions.

"That clearly exemplifies the way the authorities are ignoring the 
torture and crimes being carried out.  We can not afford to ignore 
the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters in India."
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The murder of Graham Staines and his two children three weeks 
ago was just one high-profile atrocity which has seen over 113 acts 
of persecution over the last 10 months, compared with just 50 in 
the first 50 years of India's independence.

Other atrocities include nuns being raped, physical attacks on 
priests and the burning down of churches.

The March of Silent Witness on 6th March will begin at 1:00pm at 
Lincoln's Inn Fields, near Holborn tube station.  People wishing to 
take part should assemble from noon. The march will continue 
down Sardinia Street, Kingsway and on towards Aldwych.  The 
marchers will pause for a prayer outside the Indian High 
Commission while organisers deliver a letter of protest before 
continuing across the Strand, down Arundel Street and onto the 
Embankment at Temple.

The march will be followed by a multi-cultural prayer rally at the 
Emmanuel Christian Centre in Marsham Street, Westminster.

Would-be-marchers can obtain more information from the Alliance 
of Asian Christians on 0121-633 4533 
or the Evangelical Alliance information office on 0171-207 2110.

ENDS

For further information contact Gavin Drake or Jill Howard on 0171-
207 2117 / 2116 or Pradip Sudra on 0121-633 4533

ENDS 

For further information, contact: 

Gavin Drake, gdrake@eauk.org 
0171 207 2117 or + 44 171 207 2117 

or 

Jill Howard, jhoward@eauk.org 
0171-207 2116 or + 44 171 207 2116 

Evangelical Alliance UK, 
Whitefield House, 
186 Kennington Park Road, 
London, SE11  4BT 

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