Tag: BJP

Madhya Pradesh awaits decision on stricter ‘anti-conversion law’

August 1, 2013 India Anti-conversion law, Bhopal, BJP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindutva, Madhya Pradesh

Protesters gather in Jhabua, a town in the west of Madhya Pradesh, on July 24.World Watch Monitor Madhya Pradesh state in central India awaits the outcome of proposed amendments to its ‘anti-conversion law’, which would lengthen prison time and fines for anyone convicted of forcing someone to change their . . . Read More

In India, a familiar pattern of pressure on Christians

July 29, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Hindutva, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Pentecostals, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh

In vast and diverse India, Christians often live freely. Yet India ranks among the 50 countries where life as a Christian is most difficult, according to Open Doors International, a global ministry that serves Christians who are pressured because of their faith. The country is No. 31 on Open Doors’ . . . Read More

Hindu nationalists harass villages for weeks, injure 4

June 28, 2013 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, Odisha

Three months of intimidation and assaults in two villages in eastern India has left four Christians hospitalised and others injured, two houses damaged, and the entire Christian community unable to do business or draw water from the town well, church leaders say. The boycott of the Christians of Dangarguda village, . . . Read More

BJP told: ‘Creating unrest won’t pay’

May 29, 2013 India Bangalore, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka

Christians in Karnataka state in southern India hope for a “new social and religious atmosphere” following local elections in which the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist group, suffered heavy defeat to the Congress Party. “The results of the vote in Karnataka are a warning to the BJP and the entire . . . Read More

India: Persecution Briefs

March 19, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pentecostals, Raipur, Tamil Nadu

India ranks No. 31 on the 2013 World Watch List, a ranking of the 50 countries where living as a Christian is most difficult. The list is created annually by Open Doors International, a worldwide ministry to Christians who live under pressure because of their faith. Most Christians live openly . . . Read More

Analysis: India’s narrow path to religious freedom

September 26, 2012 India Bangalore, BJP, Converts, Himachal Pradesh, Hindutva, India, Religious freedom, Shimla

In August, the high court of India’s Himachal Pradesh state rejected a portion of the state’s laws regulating religious conversion. World Watch Monitor asked Steven David, director of the Centre for Contemporary Issues, in Bangalore, to provide his perspective. By Steven David Shimla apples are world-famous. They are grown in . . . Read More

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

May 31, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore, BJP, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, RSS

On April 30 in Banglawmedu, state police cancelled a Bible study after Hindu extremists from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) disrupted the meeting, roughed up those present and ordered them to cease alleged forceful conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that pastor V. Neethirajan of The Church . . . Read More

India briefs: recent incidents of persecution

April 30, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh, BJP, Hyderabad, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Odisha, Pentecostals, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

About 100 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers led by A. Raja and another identified only as Chidambaram on April 21 beat 15 Christians for proclaiming Christ in Paganeri, Shivagangai. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the Hindu extremists beat them, burned their Bibles and tracts, seized their . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye