Christian congregants “regularly pray for a Sikh man and his plight in India”

Roseville, CA: July 28, 2015 – While California-resident Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa nears day 200 of a hunger strike in Punjab, India, Roseville priest Father Joshua Lickter leads his Christian church in prayers for this starving Sikh man and other persecuted minorities in India.

“We believe that what affects one community in India affects us all,” says Fr. Joshua, priest at Incarnation Anglican Church. “All of humanity shares the image of God and Christians need to take it seriously when individuals bearing his image are oppressed anywhere.” In prayers for the 83-year-old American Sikh, he asked that God’s “hand would be upon him as he stands against the oppression that he sees in India right now.”

Back in May, Fr. Joshua joined leaders in Northern California’s Sikh community to host a town hall meeting with Congressman Tom McClintock at the Roseville Sikh Gurdwara. Since then, Congressman McClintock joined with five other Californian congressional representatives to demand “the Indian government abide by its international human rights commitments… and ensure that these rights are safeguarded for political prisoners and all citizens in India.”

“I am often asked by people, why would you, as a Christian congregation, regularly pray for a Sikh man and his plight in India.” Fr. Joshua explains, “The image of God, in many people, is being oppressed in India. It doesn’t matter if they’re Sikh, or if they’re Christian, or if they’re Muslim, or if they’re Buddhist. It doesn’t matter what their background is — they are being oppressed because they believe differently.”

Praying Against Persecution through Social Media
Responding to reports that hunger-striking Khalsa is in failing health and once again detained by Indian authorities who want to end his political protest, the Anglican priest took his prayers from inside his church to social media through videos on Youtube and Facebook. Khalsa, who lives in Lathrop, CA, is on a hunger-strike to protest for political prisoners in India who have completed their sentences but are not being released.

Fr. Joshua sees similarities between the plights of Indian Christians and Sikh political prisoners. He believes both often face the same caste discrimination and political persecution by the predominantly Hindu government. Last month, at a conference in Stockton, he warned that minorities in India are “oppressed because the Indian government embraces a belief system that dehumanizes entire people groups.”

Home to nearly 60 million Christians, India’s religious nationalism is considered by various religious liberty advocates as the leading source of Christian persecution. Although anti-conversion laws criminalizing freedom of conversion encourage violence against religious minorities like Sikhs and Christians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to nationally implement such legislation. Meanwhile, minorities are seeing their places of worship vandalized as their already impoverished communities are discriminatorily denied essential services like government food subsidies.

Standing behind his church’s altar, Fr. Joshua prayed: “Lord, we ask that you would be with Bapu, that you would strengthen him, as he hungers, as he allows his body to hunger because so many other people right now are hungering for justice.”

Father Joshua Lickter pastors Incarnation Anglican Church in Roseville and is part of the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others in the Anglican Church in North America.

Californian Christian Priest Prays for Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa Ji

Transcript:

“And to that end, Lord, we do pause now to pray specifically for Bapuji [Surat Singh] Khalsa. We pray that your hand would be upon him as he stands against the oppression that he sees in India right now. Oppression against minorities, oppression against people who have the courage to speak out against the government.

“And Lord, we ask that you would be with him, that you would strengthen him, as he hungers, as he allows his body to hunger because so many other people right now are hungering for justice.

“And we pray, Lord, that his voice and his protest would be heard. And we ask that you would change the hearts of the leaders in India, and that they would recognize that their people are being oppressed. And that they would change their policies, that they would change their behaviors, that they would change their mindset toward people who are different than they are.

“All this we ask, Lord, to your praise and glory, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.”

Before praying specifically for Bapuji, Fr. Lickter prays a prayer for social justice from the Book of Common Prayer —

“Almighty God, who created us in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”

Why is a California Church Praying for a Sikh Hunger-Striker in India?

Transcript:

“And one of those people that we pray for on a regular basis is Bapuji [Surat Singh] Khalsa. I am often asked by people why would you, as a Christian congregation, regularly pray for a Sikh man and his plight in India. There are all kinds of reasons for that, but the simplest, most basic reason is this.

“In our holy book, the Bible, the very first chapter in Genesis tells about the creation of the cosmos, and the greatest thing that God created in the cosmos was humanity. The way that Genesis describes this creation is amazing. It says that when God created humanity, He made humanity in His own image and He thought that it was very good.

“This was the climax of God’s creative act in the universe.

“We believe many things in terms of what it means that humanity was made in the image of God, but one of the things that that means is that all of humanity, no matter where you are in the world, no matter what your background, no matter what your financial background, no matter what your geography is, no matter what your social status is, all of humanity shares this common, image-bearing status with their Creator.

“Therefore, all of humanity is entitled to certain rights and a certain amount of dignity. And, as Christians, we believe it’s important that when we see other people, regardless of their belief, regardless of their background, the first thing we need to see in those people is, indeed, the image of God. Therefore, whenever anyone who bears the image of God is oppressed, in any way whatsoever, that’s something we need to take seriously and we need to be concerned about.

“And, right now in India, many people are being oppressed. The image of God, in many people, is being oppressed in India by a government that is legally allowing for people who do not hold to the majority view of the government (the majority religious view of the government, in fact) to be oppressed. It doesn’t matter if they’re Sikh, or if they’re Christian, or if they’re Muslim, or if they’re Buddhist. It doesn’t matter what their background is — they are being oppressed because they believe differently.

“Personally, I have been a leader in the Christian community for over 10 years. And, in that time, I have had lots of interaction with fellow Christians who have spent time in India and have experienced first-hand the brutality and the persecution that the Indian government is carrying out on any type of minority group in India. And it is atrocious — the stories I’ve heard are horrible.

“I’ve heard about entire Christian communities being vandalized and burned. I’ve heard about people who are attacked and assaulted and the government allows it to happen without any kind of reprieve. I’ve heard of people outside of the Christian community.

“I’ve found out, as I’ve done research, that members of the Sikh community have been killed en masse by the government. In 1984, there was an atrocious genocide of the Sikh people that occurred in India with the full sanctioning of the Indian government. And, to this day, anyone who speaks out against that runs the risk of being arrested and thrown into prison.

“That is a travesty.

“What happens to one minority community in India affects all of the minority communities in India. What happens to the Sikh community affects the Christian community in India. What happens to the Christian community affects the Muslim community in India.

“What happens to any minority community in India affects the rest of the minority communities in India.

“It’s important that they stand in solidarity with one another, and that is what Bapu is doing right now through this hunger-strike.”