Since the Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014, radical Hinduism has increased steadily. Several states outlaw proselytism, and there have been efforts to impose such so-called “anti-conversion laws” at a national level. The violence of radical Hindu groups or angry mobs of villagers is often allowed by local, state and national authorities dominated by the BJP. This means the Hindu radicals can act with increasing impunity.
Hindu extremist violence on the rise in southern Indian states
Religious freedom advocate ADF India has noted a rise in incidents of religiously motivated violence in India’s two Telugu language-speaking southern states, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including the brutal murder of an elderly Christian woman. So far this year, ADF India says it has verified 17 incidents of anti-Christian persecution […]
India’s Christians treated like terrorists, Catholic bishops say
Christians in India are treated as “terrorists” by the government, according to a group of Catholic bishops, who claim it uses its Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to investigate Christian institutions, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. Nine bishops from the north-eastern state of Jharkhand met with the state governor, Draupadi Murmu, in […]
Indian government body wants church confessions banned
The Indian government should ban the sacrament of confession in the country, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has proposed, saying Catholic clergy use it to harass women, AsiaNews reports. The state advisory body said in its statement that confessions can lead to blackmail and that “priests pressure women into […]
Anti-Christian violence in India’s Uttar Pradesh ‘part of the state machinery’
The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, one of several to be ruled by the governing BJP party, is emerging as a new centre of anti-Christian violence as politicians use a fundamentalist form of Hinduism to intimidate minority communities. According to the religious freedom NGO ADF-India, Uttar Pradesh experienced the […]
Missionaries of Charity complain of ‘baseless innuendos’ as government orders probe
The order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa has moved to defend itself from “false news” and “baseless innuendos” after the government yesterday ordered all the country’s states to inspect all childcare homes run by the Kolkata-based order. The women and child development minister, Maneka Gandhi, made the announcement on Monday as criticism […]
‘Total impunity’ in India, as Muslims and Christians ‘bear brunt of ruling ideology’
Frequent reports of violent attacks against India’s religious minorities show the “total impunity” enjoyed by their Hindu nationalist attackers, says one civil rights activist. In one recent attack, a pastor, his wife and their congregation were attacked at their ‘house church’ in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state on Sunday (8 […]
BJP responsible for most hate speech in India, study finds
The north-eastern Indian state of Bihar leads the way for hate speech in India, according to a new study published by Telegraph India. Law students from three different universities in Patna, Dehradun and New Delhi used media reports between 2014-2018 to examine the use of hate speech in the country. They […]
India: 16 more Christians detained under Jharkhand’s ‘anti-conversion law’
A group of 16 Indian tribal Christians who visited another tribal family in the eastern state of Jharkhand to talk to them about Christianity are in police custody after the local village head accused them of “conversion by inducement”. Last year, Jharkhand became the seventh Indian state to introduce a […]
India: Priest’s arrest an attempt to ‘malign’ Church
Civil society representatives in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have objected to the arrest of a Jesuit priest for his alleged involvement with the gang rape of five women last month, calling for an independent investigation, reports news site Indian Currents. “The allegations against Fr. Alphonse Aind … are […]
Indian state’s ‘anti-conversion law’ to be repealed
Christian groups have welcomed a surprise announcement by a nationalist chief minister of a state in north-east India that he will ensure that a law preventing conversions from one faith to another is repealed. Pema Khandu, a Buddhist who heads the nationalist BJP-led state government in Arunachal Pradesh, told an […]