Christians Are Disappearing in This Muslim Country in Asia
Christians are vanishing without a trace in Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country that was once seen as a role model of a liberal and tolerant Islamic country in the world, reports say.
The latest to have disappeared, and presumably kidnapped or even murdered, is Pastor Raymond Koh who was taken away by unidentified men who stopped his car while he was driving near Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13, CBN News reported.
"The operation was very well planned. They knew who he was, where he was going, and probably had been tracking him," Koh's son Jonathan told the BBC. "It was very professionally executed."
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Jonathan earlier filed a second police report on suspicion that his father has been murdered, Free Malaysia Today reported.
Jonathan said his suspicion was grounded on the fact that the kidnappers had not spoken any word or made any ransom demand.
Koh's family now believes that the pastor's kidnapping was religiously motivated and just part of the series of kidnappings taking place in Malaysia.
Malaysia's Islamic authorities had accused Koh of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity through his Harapan Komuniti (Hope Community) organization, which helps the poor, single mothers, and drug addicts.
Before he was abducted, Koh received a number of online threats.
His family denied that the pastor was forcibly converting Muslims into Christians, which is against the law.
"He would never ask anyone to leave Islam," Jonathan said.
Other Christians and even Shia Muslims have mysteriously disappeared in the majority Sunni-Muslim country without a trace.
Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, said Koh's disappearance has sent a "worrying signal" to Christians in the country.
"It's a question on our minds, and some churches are worried it may be a trend... where those involved in activities related to the poor are targeted by vigilante groups," he told the BBC.
In a recent report, Open Doors USA says Malaysia's image as a liberal and tolerant Islamic country is increasingly fading, following recent developments.
The Christian persecution watchdog cited the effort to introduce Sharia penal law (hudud) in the federal state of Kelantan, a move that it says shows "increasing Islamic conservatism."
Observers have also labeled the Malaysian society as turning "increasingly racist" since the government is often seen favoring the ethnic Malay majority at the expense of Chinese and Indian ethnic groups.
Open Doors USA ranks Malaysia at No. 31 on its latest World Watch list of the top 50 Christian-persecuting countries in the world. It classifies the persecution level on the estimated 2.8 million Christians in the country as "high," with "Islamic extremism" as the source.
