Tag: Anti-conversion law

India: Kandhamal Christians still waiting for justice one decade after massacre

August 23, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Dalits, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Odisha, Proselytism

Some 56,000 Christians fled their homes during the rioting and many stayed in camps such as this one in Raikia. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Ten years after the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history, the local community continues to struggle, with reparations from the government slow in coming and seven reportedly innocent Christians still in prison. Nearly 100 Christians were killed, 300 churches and 6,000 Christian homes were damaged, and 55,000 people . . . Read More

Nepali law criminalising ‘hurting of religious feelings’ comes into force

August 17, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Charikot, Hindu nationalism, India, Minorities, Nepal, Proselytism

A law criminalising religious conversions and the hurting of religious feelings comes into force in Nepal today, a year after the bill was passed. As World Watch Monitor reported last year, Nepal’s Christian minority fears the new law will be abused by those seeking to settle scores – as has . . . Read More

Modi speaks out against ‘menace’ of mob attacks for first time

August 15, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Bajrang Dal, Bihar, BJP, Dalits, Ghar Wapsi, India, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Pentecostals, RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Attacks on Christians in India by Hindu extremists are on the increase and often their church buildings are destroyed as well, like this one in central India.

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has for the first time condemned violence against minorities, saying that everyone has a duty to fight the “menace” of mob lynchings. But his critics say that, after four years in power at the head of a Hindu nationalist government, the comments have come too . . . Read More

Nine-year-old Indian girl from convert family reported raped, then murdered

August 8, 2018 India Andhra Pradesh, Anti-conversion law, Chhattisgarh, Children, Converts, Gujarat, Gurdaspur, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, India, Jharkhand, Ludhiana, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Rape, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Women

A nine-year-old girl from an Indian family that had recently converted to Christianity was murdered (and possibly raped before that) on Sunday, 5 August, in Punjab state. The girl was playing with her friends in the city of Gurdaspur, near the Pakistan border, when a 15 year old boy is reported to . . . Read More

‘Total impunity’ in India, as Muslims and Christians ‘bear brunt of ruling ideology’

July 13, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Hindu Munnani, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, India, Jharkhand, Minorities, Pentecostals, Rape, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

Frequent reports of violent attacks against India’s religious minorities show the “total impunity” enjoyed by their Hindu nationalist attackers, says one civil rights activist. In one recent attack, a pastor, his wife and their congregation were attacked at their ‘house church’ in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state on Sunday (8 . . . Read More

India: 16 more Christians detained under Jharkhand’s ‘anti-conversion law’

July 10, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Caste, Dalits, Hindu nationalism, India, Jharkhand, Missionaries, Proselytism, Religious freedom, RSS

A number of the Christians who were arrested by police, after they held a prayer service at the house of a Christian family in Phulpahari, India. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A group of 16 Indian tribal Christians who visited another tribal family in the eastern state of Jharkhand to talk to them about Christianity are in police custody after the local village head accused them of “conversion by inducement”. Last year, Jharkhand became the seventh Indian state to introduce a . . . Read More

Indian state’s ‘anti-conversion law’ to be repealed

June 29, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Arunachal Pradesh, Baptism, BJP, Catholics, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Minorities, Missionaries, Narendra Modi, Proselytism, Pune

Christian groups have welcomed a surprise announcement by a nationalist chief minister of a state in north-east India that he will ensure that a law preventing conversions from one faith to another is repealed. Pema Khandu, a Buddhist who heads the nationalist BJP-led state government in Arunachal Pradesh, told an . . . Read More

Indian pastor beaten up, then detained, after 11 Hindus convert to Christianity

June 22, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Bajrang Dal, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Uttar Pradesh

An Indian pastor was beaten up by Hindu nationalists, then arrested by police on Monday (18 June) for allegedly forcing some local families in Muzaffarnagar, a city in Uttar Pradesh state, to convert to Christianity, reports The Times of India. Dipender Prakash was reportedly attacked by members of Bajrang Dal, . . . Read More

India: 15 Christians accused of ‘conversion’ in Jharkhand

June 7, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Catholics, Constitution, Goa, India, Jharkhand, RSS, Uttarakhand, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Seven Indian states have an “anti-conversion law”; the Hindu nationalist BJP is the ruling party in six of them. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Police in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have arrested four and are investigating 11 other Christians on charges of conversion, reported Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The arrest of the four in the village of Podkher, Simdega district, on 29 May is the first reported case since Jharkhand introduced anti-conversion . . . Read More

Report: UN weakness on religious freedom undercuts its authority on human rights

May 9, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-conversion law, Apostasy, Bhutan, Blasphemy, Human rights, India, London, Minorities, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Sam Brownback, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, UN, USA, Uttarakhand

Dressed in the saffron colour, groups such these are promoting the nationalist cause for India to be a Hindu-nation. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The UN cannot strengthen, promote and protect human rights if it does not prioritise religious freedom, a report published by the Washington-based human rights alliance, ADF International has argued. The 73-page report, titled “Anti-Conversion Laws and the International Response”, claims that “some UN entities, especially special rapporteurs, have highlighted the . . . Read More

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