Cuba

India

‘Thousands of people are hungry without food...We are helping those people with food every day.’ Patsy David, Uttar Pradesh

‘We are even approaching enforcement agencies and giving them masks, gloves and sanitisers. These police are thankful for our work. They are given [their] duty but they are not given any safety gear.’ Laxmi Narsimha Rao, Telangana

As the world’s largest lockdown continues to affect communities across India, our contacts have been supporting those most in need. However, there have been cases of Christians delivering aid being falsely accused of conversion, under India’s controversial anti-conversion legislation. In one case, a group of Christians accused of conversion was taunted, humiliated and detained by local police.

Meanwhile, Muslims were blamed for the virus spreading, after a gathering of 8,000 Muslims took place in mid-March. Other religious groups and political parties have also flouted restrictions, but the rumours were solely focused on Muslims.

Pakistan

We’ve heard reports of incidents of food aid being denied to Hindus and Christians. One NGO based in Karachi allegedly told Hindus and Christians that the food aid being provided was for Muslims only. Moreover, sanitary workers on the frontline are mainly from the Christian community and have to work without proper masks or suits. The Hazara Shi’a community has been blamed for transmitting the coronavirus, referred to as the ‘Shi’a virus’ on social media, following fears of it being spread by people who had recently returned from Iran - a predominantly Shi’a Muslim country. In Quetta, the government completely sealed off two Hazara areas as part of lockdown measures, and forbade government employees from travelling to Hazara areas. This will isolate and stigmatise the community even further, which may impact their access to health care.

Turkey and Egypt

In Turkey, and to a certain extent in Egypt, government officials and media personalities have commented that their citizens have ‘stronger genes’, ‘better personal hygiene’ and ‘healthier diets’ that protect them from the coronavirus (compared with Europeans and non-Muslims in general). These comments have led to a rise in negative societal attitudes towards non-Muslims.

Nepal

Pastor Keshav Raj Acharya from the city of Pokhara has been arrested and detained repeatedly since the end of March. He was originally arrested after a video of him saying that the coronavirus could be healed through Christian prayer was uploaded on YouTube. The pastor denies uploading the video. According to his wife, Junu Acharya, a man called him requesting to visit the pastor’s house to pray for his sick wife, whom he claimed had contracted the virus. Not long after the couple arrived at the pastor’s home, several police officers arrived and made the arrest.

Pastor Keshav was initially bailed but subsequently re-arrested. At the time of writing he is being held in a remote part of Nepal where no means of transportation is available, charged with ‘outraging religious feelings’ and ‘attempting to convert’.

Nigeria

A family of four was shot and injured on the evening of 5 May by armed assailants who invaded their home in Gana Ropp, Plateau state, and opened fire at close range as they were praying in their sitting room. This was just one in a series of ongoing armed assaults on Christian communities in Plateau and Kaduna states that continue despite the COVID-19-related lockdowns in both states.