Tag: BJP

Fears of political agenda behind abuse allegation against Indian priest

July 14, 2017 India BJP, Catholics, Crosses, Goa, Jabalpur, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh

Christian leaders in India have voiced concern that a priest accused of abusing a boy may have been framed to undermine the reputation of the local Christian community. Police in the central state of Madhya Pradesh arrested Fr Leo D’Souza, 56, on 10 July after a complaint from the parents . . . Read More

Indians take to the streets in protest against religious violence

July 7, 2017 India Assam, Bangalore, Beef, BJP, Dalits, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Narendra Modi

Thousands of people, including church groups and representatives of civil society, have gathered in cities across India over the past ten days to protest against mounting religious intolerance and to express solidarity with the victims of the violence, under the banner “Not in My Name”. The protests in Kolkata, Hyderabad, . . . Read More

‘Change your image of India from a nice backpacking trip to Taj Mahal!’

June 26, 2017 Bhopal, BJP, Donald Trump, Europe, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Pakistan, Ram Nath Kovind, Saudi Arabia

India, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan top the list of countries where religious freedom is under pressure, according to the Annual Interim Report 2017 of the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance’s, presented in Brussels last week. “Forget the image of a nice backpacking trip . . . Read More

India’s Christian leaders distance themselves from ruling Hindu nationalists

June 19, 2017 India Beef, BJP, Digital India Day, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Narendra Modi

The leaders of India’s Christian minority – 2.3 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion population – have distanced themselves from rumours of increasingly close ties with the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP. The latest rumours began following a meeting between senior Catholic Church leaders and the BJP’s national president, Amit Shah, . . . Read More

India: rise in vigilantism threatens minorities

May 16, 2017 India Beef, BJP, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Uttar Pradesh

A marked rise in vigilante incidents against couples in inter-faith relationships is a cause for concern in Uttar Pradesh, the northern Indian state where the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP recently enjoyed massive electoral success, reports the Woolf Institute, a UK-based interfaith research unit. It says incidents like the lynching on 2 May . . . Read More

India’s churches also targeted on Palm Sunday, but Modi stays silent

April 11, 2017 India BJP, Haryana, Hindu nationalism, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Rajasthan, RSS, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for condemning the Palm Sunday attacks on churches in Egypt but failing to condemn attacks in his own country. On the same day that two churches were bombed in Egypt, five churches in India – in five different states – were targeted . . . Read More

Chief Minister of India’s most populous state bans ‘illegal’ abattoirs

March 30, 2017 India Beef, BJP, Converts, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Maharashtra, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh

Butchers in Uttar Pradesh face difficult times as state government bans 'illegal' slaughter houses.

India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party on 19 March appointed a highly controversial Hindu cleric to lead the country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. The choice for Yogi Adityanath – a controversial Hindu monk who has been repeatedly accused of stirring anti-Muslim sentiments – is a shocking rebuke to . . . Read More

Uncertain future for Indian Christians after BJP’s election victories

March 22, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Catholics, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have consolidated its political position across India after the party won several state elections. These were held in February and March; after results were counted in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, it had secured a comfortable majority in India’s most populous . . . Read More

India: Chhattisgarh church remains shut, 6 weeks after Hindu mob forced closure

March 17, 2017 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Narendra Modi

An Indian church remains shut, six weeks after a mob of angry Hindus halted a Sunday service and forced the pastor to close the church. He says the local government has sided with the mob. The church is in Dalli Rajhara, a mining city in the central state of Chhattisgarh, . . . Read More

India’s religious freedom failings ‘enshrined in constitution’

February 16, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Dalits, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, Religious freedom

Religious freedom in India will never be achieved unless the country is willing to make substantial amendments to its constitution and legal framework, says a new report. It also asks the US to put human rights at the heart of trade and diplomatic interactions with India. A tide of religiously . . . Read More

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