On Monday of this week, the Afghan government suspended two Christian aid groups due to suspicions over their involvement in attempts to evangelise Afghan citizens.
Noorin TV, an Afghan television channel, broadcast photographs of Westerner’s baptizing Afghans, and also other Afghans praying to Jesus at prayer meetings. It mentioned two Christian groups in this report – the Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid – even though it had no evidence linking them to these activities.
Noorin TV’s director, Muhammed Arif Noori, admitted that they had no evidence linking these groups to proselytizing activities, and only mentioned them in their report after finding them in a local telephone directory of nongovernmental organizations and noticing they each included the word ‘church’ in their names.
Converting to any other religion from Islam is a crime in Afghanistan, and proselytizing is similarly outlawed. Non-Muslim groups wishing to work in Afghanistan have to agree to support these laws before they will be allowed into the country.
The TV report resulted in angry Muslim protestors, and both Christian aid groups have been suspended while they are investigated by the government.
Mohammed Sediq Amarkhiel, a spokesman for the Ministry of Economy, which regulates aid groups, said that while there was no actual evidence against the two groups, the ministry decided on the suspensions because the television reports “raised suspicions” and “made people very emotional and angry.” The government will investigate the groups’ activities, he said.
“If they are really involved in proselytizing Afghan people for Christianity, then definitely these people will be introduced to the judicial authorities,” Mr. Amarkhiel said.
Atle Sommerfeldt, Norwegian Church Aid’s general secretary, said “the N.C.A. is not engaged in missionary work anywhere in the world, and not in Afghanistan.” “In Afghanistan, as elsewhere in the world, N.C.A. does not have a mandate to influence people to change religion,” he said. “We hope and believe in a speedy and positive solution.”
The group has an $8 million budget for Afghan projects this year, according to Liv Snesrud, its Afghanistan program coordinator.
Maurice A. Bloem, deputy director of programs for Church World Service, said in a statement that proselytizing was against his organization’s code of conduct, says the NY Times.
(To read the full story, please go to http://nytimes.com)