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.
India: jobs for Jat caste ‘sidelines’ Christians
Church leaders in India have condemned as a the government’s decision to offer job quotas, usually reserved for more disadvantaged castes, to the relatively wealthy Jat community. The federal government agreed on 21 Feb. to introduce a Jat quota bill at their March assembly, after violent demonstrations across Haryana state […]
76 Christians reconverted to Hinduism in India
Seventy-six Christians from 21 poor tribal families have been forcibly reconverted to Hinduism in the Indian state of Odisha, local sources told World Watch Monitor. Attacks on Indian Christians were in 2015. These included the arrest of hundreds who were charged with attempting to forcibly convert Hindus. Y. Raghavulu, national […]
India: fines for saying ‘Christian’ prayers
Four people have received fines for practising Christianity from a village council in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the men, Shankar Singh, that they were fined 5,000 rupees (US$75) each. The arrests followed accusations by a Hindu group that the people at the gathering were attempting to […]
Indian priest in critical condition after attack
An Indian priest is in a critical condition in hospital, after he and three lay officials were attacked by a mob in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, . Fr. Jose Kannumkuzhy and the laymen were attacked by a group of around 35 men, as they waited in a car […]
In India, one case of anti-Christian violence every day
Rahul Nayak, 25, the eldest son of Dhubaleswar and Bhubudi Nayak, a Christian couple shot dead in Odisha in July 2015.World Watch Monitor Attacks on Christians in India were reported on an almost daily basis in 2015, according to a Christian advocacy group. “The country saw 355 incidents of […]
Indian Church denies rumours it supports Hindu nationalist party
Indian church leaders have expressed shock and surprise after an article was published claiming dozens of bishops attended the launch of a Christian forum by a Hindu nationalist organisation. The church leaders dismissed the report as propaganda, saying four bishops attended a Christmas gathering they did not know was an […]
Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day ‘distraction’ at Christmas
Thousands of Santa Clauses parade through the streets of Thrissur, Kerala state, in 2014.World Watch Monitor Church leaders have joined critics of a controversial move by the government of India’s second-most populous state to hold “Good Governance Day” observances on Christmas Day. “Holding programmes to promote Good Governance is […]
Indian nationalists blame other faiths as census shows Hindus in decline
John Dayal speaks at a protest marking 300 days of Narendra Modi’s government in March, 2015Photo: Anto Akkara Hindu nationalists have hit out at Christians and Muslims in India, after the number of adherents to “Bharatiya” (traditionally Indian) faiths fell, according to the recently released results of the 2011 […]
BJP’s Bihar defeat a vote against ‘intolerance’
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK – a first visit by an Indian head of state for a decade – comes on the back of a heavy election defeat in the key state of Bihar. Modi is expecting an even greater reception in London than that which […]
India: village church attacked, Christians hospitalised
Several Christians were hospitalised after the incident in Chhattisgarh state.Courtesy Open Doors International Several Christians were hospitalised and others forced to reconvert to Hinduism, after a village church in India’s central Chhattisgarh state was attacked by Hindu hardliners. The Christians from the Independent Pentecostal Church in Kohkameta were attacked […]