‘Situation for India’s religious minorities is at tipping point’ – report

The report shows that since Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, the number of violent acts against India's religious minorities have increased (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
A report by a religious freedom watchdog shows a dramatic increase in the number of attacks on Christians and Muslims in India in the last four years and “the situation … is at a tipping point”. The number of reported incidents in the first three months of 2018 was greater . . . Read More

Indian Christians heave sighs of relief as Hindu nationalists lose elections in key states

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Christians can heave sighs of relief as the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP has been thrown out of power in three key states in central India that have reported dozens of incidents of anti-Christian violence and harassment. The BJP, which had enjoyed unstinted power in two of the states – Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – for 15 . . . Read More

Indian Christian forum demands withdrawal of ‘bogus’ charges of forced conversions

Indian Christian forum demands withdrawal of ‘bogus’ charges of forced conversions
The Christian Forum of Chhattisgarh state in India called on its political parties to commit to ensuring freedom of religion, as elections for the state’s legislative house took place yesterday (12 November), Catholic news agency UCAN reported. Meanwhile, several attacks on Christians were reported in the first week of this . . . Read More

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

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

India: 2017 saw 20% increase in atrocities against Christians, says lawyer

India: 2017 saw 20% increase in atrocities against Christians, says lawyer
Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a . . . Read More

Another Indian state set to pass anti-conversion bill

Another Indian state set to pass anti-conversion bill
The northern Indian state of Uttarakhand is the latest to approve a so-called “anti-conversion bill”, reports India’s Hindustan Times. If the legislation passes into law at the state assembly later this month Uttarakhand will join Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Jharkhand in having anti-conversion laws. Rajasthan, Arunachal . . . Read More

2017 ‘one of the most traumatic years for Indian Christians’

Hindu radicals burn a dummy replica of local Jharkhand Archbishop, Cardinal Telephore Toppo of Ranchi. (Photo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of India)
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) has described 2017 as “one of the most traumatic” years for Indian Christians in a decade after it recorded 351 verified incidences of hate crimes against Christians during the year. The Religious Liberty Commission of the EFI, which brings together Christians from more than . . . Read More

Indian Christians beaten ‘with rods and sticks’

Indian Christians beaten 'with rods and sticks’
A Christian man involved in church work across ten villages in the southern Indian state of Telangana was severely beaten earlier this month, a source told World Watch Monitor. The victim, known as Pastor Seviya, “was attacked by five Hindu extremists with rods and thick sticks … until he became unconscious”, . . . Read More

Modi accused of hypocrisy after BJP bulldozes through India’s latest ‘anti-conversion law’

Modi accused of hypocrisy after BJP bulldozes through India's latest 'anti-conversion law'
Church leaders in India have joined the chorus of protest against the BJP-led government, known for espousing a Hindu nationalist agenda, hurrying through an “anti-conversion law” in the eastern state of Jharkhand. The Freedom of Religion Bill, which was introduced and passed on the same day (12 August) in the . . . Read More