Tag: Narendra Modi

Indian Christians threatened, images of Pope trampled on

May 31, 2018 India Bhopal, BJP, Delhi, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Pope Francis

Hindu leader Om Swami Maharaj (with microphone) accuses Indian Christians of promoting terrorism and Maoism and demands they leave India. (Photo: still taken from video)

A controversial Hindu leader has called for Christians to leave India in a video that shows a group stomping on images of Pope Francis. The video, posted on 26 May, shows Om Swami Maharaj and a group of around 20 people carrying placards and banners with pictures of Pope Francis, . . . Read More

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

May 30, 2018 India BJP, Catholics, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Karnataka, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Odisha

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

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

Indian police play down mob attack on Christian meeting

April 18, 2018 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Narendra Modi, Pentecostals, Police

Christian families have fled their homes in eastern India after telling police a Hindu nationalist mob had attacked a church fellowship meal, only to be met with attempts to silence them. Pastor Kasi Ram told World Watch Monitor that only three Christian families remained in the village of Bakel – . . . Read More

India: major faiths reject use of religious identity for political gain

April 9, 2018 India Beef, BJP, Goa, Hindutva, India, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi

Dressed in the saffron colour, groups such these are promoting the nationalist cause for India to be a Hindu-nation. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Leaders of six major faiths have issued a joint call condemning the use of religion for political ends, ahead of India’s 2019 general election. Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim and Sikh leaders met in the western state of Goa on 5 April to discuss rising communal tensions in several areas . . . Read More

Good Friday holiday reinstated in Christian-majority Indian state after protests

March 29, 2018 India BJP, Christmas, Digital India Day, Good Governance Day, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, India, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Narendra Modi, Religious freedom

Widespread protests have forced the government in Christian-majority Meghalaya State in north-east India to restore the Good Friday holiday. The coalition government, to which the Hindu nationalist BJP is a partner, had declared in a circular that Good Friday would be a normal “working day”, but the move was withdrawn . . . Read More

India’s government ‘rewriting history’ to appear more Hindu

March 22, 2018 India BJP, Education, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, India, Minorities, Narendra Modi

The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed a committee of scholars to rewrite the history of the nation in favour of Hindus, Reuters has reported. The news agency said that minutes of a January 2017 meeting of the 14-person committee and interviews with members indicated that the . . . Read More

Pro-Hindu BJP wins over Christian voters in northeast India

March 16, 2018 India Beef, Bihar, BJP, Catholics, Elections, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, India, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Narendra Modi, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh

Christians gather for the general assembly of the National Council of Churches in India in Shillong, capital of the Christian-majority state of Meghalaya in the north-east. (May 2008)

India’s pro-Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now the governing party in two Christian-dominated states in the northeast, following recent election successes in Nagaland and Meghalaya. But to do so, it had to betray its core values of Hindutva, according to John Dayal, former National President of the All India . . . Read More

India: Catholic bishops warn against Hindu nationalism as religious hate crimes rise

February 15, 2018 India Bangalore, Baptists, BJP, Catholics, Digital India Day, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh

An acknowledgement by India’s BJP-led government that there has been a rise in religion-based hate crime has coincided with a warning from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) about the dangers to the country of a Hindu-nationalist agenda. Statistics revealed in India’s parliament on 6 February confirmed a long-standing . . . Read More

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