Since the Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014, radical Hinduism has increased steadily. Several states outlaw proselytism, and there have been efforts to impose such so-called “anti-conversion laws” at a national level. The violence of radical Hindu groups or angry mobs of villagers is often allowed by local, state and national authorities dominated by the BJP. This means the Hindu radicals can act with increasing impunity.
Police rapes, acquittals and false accusations highlight Christians’ vulnerability in India
The acquittal of two suspects in the gang rape of a Catholic nun, and a series of rapes by security forces in remote areas of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have highlighted the vulnerability of women from marginalised communities. “If you are a woman tribal or from a minority, […]
UPDATE: Compensation for family of Indian Christian couple shot dead in anti-Maoist crossfire
Update 6 Jan. 2017: The Human Rights Commission of the eastern Indian state of Odisha has ordered the state government to pay one million rupees (US$14,720) in compensation to the six children of a Baptist couple shot dead allegedly by a federal paramilitary force in July 2015. Dhubaleswar Nayak, 50, and […]
Manipur Christians warned off celebrating Christmas
Christians in Manipur, north-east India, have been warned off celebrating Christmas, sources told World Watch Monitor. The threats were made after vandals attacked Manipur Baptist Church on 17 Dec. The men and women pelted the church with stones, broke windows and damaged a gate and the church sign. They then […]
Indian Catholic bishops vow to end marginalisation of Dalits in Church
People threshing in a Dalit village near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 2006Creative Commons Christian Dalits, who make up two-thirds of India’s Christians, are discriminated against twice over in India – firstly for being from the caste known as ‘untouchable’, and secondly for not being Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. Christian and […]
India: Kerala chief minister calls for fresh probe into Kandhamal deaths
The chief minister of the south Indian state of Kerala has called for a fresh probe into the 2008 murder of a Hindu leader, which sparked months of rioting, in which almost 100 Christians were killed. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was speaking on Tuesday (13 Dec.) at the launch of […]
India: Christian grandmother murdered for ‘disturbing the peace’
Samari Kasabi’s son, Sukura (left), and his family outside their village home in Dokawaya, Chhattisgarh.Courtesy Open Doors International An Indian grandmother was stripped naked, beaten to death and her body burned, apparently because her Christian faith was “disturbing the peace” in her village. The incident, in the central Indian […]
Priests visit scene of anti-Christian violence
Thirty-two priests from north-eastern India have visited the scene of the worst anti-Christian violence in India’s history, . Villages in the Kandhamal district of the eastern state of Odisha (formely Orissa) were the scene of a rash of violence in 2008, during which more than 100 Christians were murdered and […]
India: gang murder man in church
Police have arrested eight members of a gang in connection with the killing on 2 October of a man hacked to death inside a church near Chennai, . G. Dhanasekaran, a Pentecostal Christian involved in local politics and who ran a real estate business, was at a service at Devasabha Church on the day […]
What next for India’s beleaguered Christian minority?
Fifty religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim minorities in India met together last week to discuss the religious freedom challenges facing both groups under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Christians are “facing physical, symbolic and structural violence” from Hindu extremists across the country, said Father Z. Devasagaya Raj at […]
India Chief Justice: Lack of convictions over Kandhamal violence ‘very disturbing’
India’s Supreme Court Chief Justice has said it is “very disturbing” that such a “large number” of the perpetrators of the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history – in the Kandhamal district of Odisha (formerly Orissa), eastern India, in 2008 – have not yet been brought to justice. […]