By Theodore Shoebat
Muslims in Bangladesh approached a pastor and expressed their interest in Christianity. The pastor happily talked with them, and they showed interest in the Christian Faith. The next day the Muslims returned and asked to have a Bible study, and the pastor happily accepted. In the middle of the Bible study the Muslims erupted in a rage. One of the grabbed the pastor while the other put a knife on his neck, trying to slit his throat. The pastor’s son and daughter ran into the room to try to chase the attackers out; a neighbor, hearing the yells, ran into the house and the assailants ran out, leaving the pastor with a minor wound on his neck. According to the report:
Two of the three suspected Muslim extremists who tried to cut the throat of a pastor in northwestern Bangladesh last week met with him in mid-September and feigned interest in converting, the church leader told Morning Star News.
Luke Sarker, the 52-year-old pastor of Faith Bible Church in Ishwardi, Pabna District, received hospital treatment for the minor neck wound he sustained in the assault on Monday (Oct. 5). He said an unknown person had called him on Sept. 17 who expressed interested in converting to Christianity.
“I said, ‘I cannot convert you, but you can come to me to know about Christianity,'” he said.
The following day, two people came to his house by motorcycle, and he discussed Jesus with them. His wife offered them tea. After telling them how and why Jesus came into the world, and that Jesus was the Savior of mankind, he read them some verses from the Gospel of Matthew, among several other passages from the Bible.
“They said they liked whatever I shared with them,” he said. “When they left my home, they said they would like to come again to my house. I appreciated and welcomed their forthcoming visit, because telling about Jesus is my work.”
On Monday (Oct. 5) three people came to his house on the same motorcycle without any prior notice at about 8 a.m., and the two who had visited previously asked if he remembered them.
“I said I could remember and greeted them and took them inside my room,” he said. “I spent around half an hour with them discussing about Christianity. Suddenly, one of them grabbed my neck just under the chin. I tried to shout but could not. I was groaning and tried to bite the fingers of the grabber. The other two persons tried to slit my throat with a knife.”
His son and daughter rushed in to fend off the assailants, and his wife also came in shouting for help. A neighbor also arrived, and the attackers fled, he said.
Pastor Sarker, originally from Satkhira District in southwestern Bangladesh, has been working as a pastor at the church mission for five years.
Pabna District Police Chief Alamgir Kabir told Morning Star News that a case for attempted murder had been filed and one person arrested. The person detained in connection with the attack, 28-year-old Obaidul Islam, is reportedly a member of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of violent Islamist political party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
“We have arrested one person so far, and he will be produced in court next week,” Kabir said.