Tag: BJP

Full Steam Ahead

December 29, 2014 India BJP, Ghar Wapsi, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, RSS, Sangh Parivar, Vishva Hindu Parishad

ANALYSIS By John Dayal There is an element of irony, which has not gone entirely unnoticed, in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that what the world knows as Christmas will henceforth be celebrated in India as “Good Governance Day.” A slew of activities in honour of the first Bharatiya . . . Read More

India Hindu leaders turn up ‘reconversion’ rhetoric

December 23, 2014 India BJP, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Narendra Modi, RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in JammuVishal Dutta / Flickr / Creative Commons Ignoring paralyzing opposition in Parliament and private expressions of exasperation from their own political leader, the top leaders of India’s fundamentalist Hindu movement have mounted a vigorous defense of a campaign to bring Christian converts back to . . . Read More

Christmas 2014 ‘evokes not joy but fears’ for India’s Christians

December 18, 2014 India BJP, Christmas, Dharm Jagran Samiti, Good Governance Day, Hindutva, India, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, RSS, Uttar Pradesh

Christmas is an occasion mostly associated with joy and celebration. But since the start of the holiday season, India’s minority religious groups of Christians and Muslims have been especially under pressure. The Indian Parliament has hardly functioned since the start of December because several opposition lawmakers have been protesting a . . . Read More

India minister says no special caste status for Christians

October 27, 2014 India BJP, Caste, Converts, Dalits, Haryana, Maharashtra

Winnowing grain in a Dalit village near Madurai, Tamil Nadu. 2006 photo.Matteo / Flickr / Creative Commons India should not extend government job and education assistance to the country’s poorest Christians, India’s social justice minister, Thavar Chand Gehlot, said this month. For one thing, he said, there are no . . . Read More

Indian Christian man forced to separate from Hindu wife by right-wing activists

October 3, 2014 India Barack Obama, BJP, Gujarat, Narendra Modi, Seventh-day Adventists, Uttar Pradesh

Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat state, at a BJP rally in 2009.Flickr / Al Jazeera English / Creative Commons An Indian couple who married Sept. 26 had their marriage annulled five days later by police under pressure from Hindu nationalists. The couple, Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani, were . . . Read More

An old story under India’s new government

September 7, 2014 India BJP, Converts, Elections, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, Seventh-day Adventists, Uttar Pradesh

The Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, is the political home to India’s Hindu nationalist movement. Following rallies such as this one in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, in May, the BJP rolled to landslide victories in national parliamentary elections.Narendra Modi / Flickr / Creative Commons More than 600 attacks on minority . . . Read More

Indian villages outlaw Christian practices

July 17, 2014 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Converts, Hindutva, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Several villages in central India have outlawed the open practice of Christianity – a move of questionable legality yet one that worries church leaders who say it already has encouraged anti-Christian violence. “The situation is becoming worse. The anti-Christian propaganda is becoming stronger,” Arun Pannalal, president of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, . . . Read More

India’s government has to limit Hindu extremists

May 15, 2014 India BJP, Dalits, Hindu nationalism, India, Narendra Modi, Women

India’s nationalist “Bharatiya Janata Party” (BJP) has won the election and its leader Narendra Modi, announced “a new era for India, free from corruption and a strong economic recovery”. Indian citizens are hoping for a prosperous future, but according to the Global Council of Indian Christians in order for this . . . Read More

Trouble in the south

March 4, 2014 India Andhra Pradesh, BJP, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Hyderabad, India

Church leaders in India are alarmed over a dramatic increase in attacks on Christians in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where in recent weeks one pastor has been murdered, others beaten, and churches demolished. The All India Christian Council documented 72 incidents of anti-Christian violence and hostility in Andhra Pradesh . . . Read More

Pressure on Christians grew in 2013

January 8, 2014 International Afghanistan, African Union, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, BJP, Buddhist nationalism, Central African Republic, Colombia, Eritrea, FARC, Hindu nationalism, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Kyrgyzstan, Middle East, Nigeria, North Africa, North Korea, Pakistan, Peshawar, Religious freedom, Sadad, Sharia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, UN, Yemen

More than ever, some of the hardest places for Christians to live are fragile or failed states where militant Islamist movements flourish, according to an annual report on Christian religious freedom. Pressure on Christians intensified worldwide in 2013, according to Open Doors International, a charity that provides support to Christians . . . Read More

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