Tag: India

India: Archbishop of Delhi calls for prayer in run-up to 2019 elections

May 22, 2018 India Bangalore, BJP, Catholics, Delhi, Elections, India, Karnataka, Narendra Modi, RSS

Preparations for an Hindu festival. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Archbishop of Delhi’s call for a ‘prayer campaign’ in India, ahead of next year’s elections has been criticised by the governing party. In a circular to all Catholic churches in the capital, dated 8 May, Archbishop Anil Couto asked for a weekly day of fasting “for the nation”, Indian . . . Read More

India: Catholics say BJP doctored letter to garner votes ahead of Karnataka elections

May 11, 2018 India BJP, Catholics, Delhi, Elections, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Narendra Modi

The Catholic Church in India has deplored a “fake” letter widely circulated in social and mainstream media alleging a Catholic conspiracy ahead of tomorrow’s elections in southern Karnataka state. “This is totally unacceptable. This is a blatant attempt to spread lies,” Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ . . . 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

Court orders extra payment to Christian widows of 14 who died in India riots

May 8, 2018 India Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Odisha

Christian women who have been rendered widows in recent anti-Christian violence in Orissa sing their traditional song at a Christmas celebration in Bangalore on December 8 in Bangalore.

The Global Council of Indian Christians based in Bangalore brought two dozen Orissa riot widows to Bangalore from the refugee camps in Kandhamal for conducting medical checks on them and to draw attention to their plight. Though Orissa government has declared compensation of 200 000 rupees ($4000) for those killed, only two of the two dozen widows have got the compensation as police insist on documentary proof for the murders and even recovery of the body some of which have been thrown in rivers and
dumped in jungles.

Photo by Anto Akkara

Following a long-fought campaign, the High Court of Odisha state in eastern India has ensured the disbursal of extra compensation awarded two years ago to dependants of 14 Christians killed in the widespread anti-Christian violence that engulfed Kandhamal district in 2008. In addition, the court has forced the Odisha government . . . Read More

Tributes paid to Indian pastor beheaded by suspected Maoists

May 2, 2018 India India, Jharkhand, Maoists

The body of a pastor was found beheaded on the shore of a reservoir in eastern India this morning (2 May), hours after he was abducted by around 25 masked men whom police believe to be Maoists. Residents of Kubasal village, in the Tamar area of Jharkhand state, identified the . . . Read More

India: Uttarakhand becomes 7th state to pass ‘anti-conversion law’

May 2, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Arunachal Pradesh, BJP, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, India, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand

The northern state of Uttarakhand has become the seventh state in India to adopt a so-called “anti-conversion law”. State Governor Krishna Kant Paul signed the ‘Freedom of Religion Bill’ into law on 18 April, just over a month after the bill was approved by the state assembly and allowed to . . . Read More

India: case of murdered Dalit pastor not taken seriously, say victim’s friends

April 27, 2018 India Andhra Pradesh, Dalits, India

An elderly pastor in southern India has been found dead days after complaining to the police about a sum of money missing from his bank account. Neighbours of Vunnam Daniel, 65, from Tenali Mandal village in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh, alerted police after they heard his mobile phone . . . Read More

India: violence against Christians in Tamil Nadu continues

April 24, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Hindu nationalism, India, Pentecostals, Tamil Nadu

Thangaraj Ramasamy sustained severe head and neck injuries in an alleged attack by his neighbour. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu continues to see outbreaks of religiously motivated violence, with one recent case involving a Christian labourer who says he was attacked by a neighbour who accused him of trying to convert Hindus. In a report filed with the police, Thangaraj Ramasamy, who became a . . . Read More

Christian missionaries a ‘threat’ to India’s unity, says MP

April 23, 2018 India BJP, Converts, India, Meghalaya, Missionaries, Nagaland

Houses were vandalised during an attack on four Christian families in Katholi village, Chhattisgarh state, while members of the ruling Hindu nationalist party seek to "sow discord among religious communities". (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2016)

Christian missionaries are a threat to India’s unity, a Hindu-nationalist parliamentarian told reporters on Saturday (21 April). “Christian missionaries control the Congress,” said Bharat Singh, an MP for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Sonia Gandhi, the mother of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, works on the directions of these missionaries. . . . Read More

Ongoing religious freedom challenges in the Commonwealth

April 20, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Bangladesh, Brunei, Commonwealth, India, Justin Welby, Kenya, London, Lord Alton, Malaysia, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Religious freedom, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Theresa May

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Heads of State of the Commonwealth member states at Windsor Castle, west of London, on 20 April 2018. (Photo: JACK TAYLOR/AFP/Getty Images)

A new report on religious freedom in Commonwealth member states says minorities in India, Malaysia and Nigeria have the least freedom to practise their faith. Using data from the Pew Global Religious Futures Project, the new report by the Council of Christians and Jews noted that Christianity is the largest . . . Read More

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