Tag: BJP

India: Videos show Hindu nationalists attacking Christians, burning Bibles

February 22, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, RSS, Telangana

Videos have emerged of Hindu extremists abusing Christians carrying religious literature. In one of the videos the extremists are seen setting alight a pile of Bibles. The two incidents, which were verified by Christians in the area, were filmed in southern India. They both show a mob of Hindu extremists . . . Read More

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

February 19, 2018 India Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sangh Parivar, Uttar Pradesh

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

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

Indian Christian complained of threats before he was found dead

January 23, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Beef, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu

The body of Rev. Gideon Periyaswamy, 43-year-old pastor of the church of Maknayeem in Adayachery village, in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, was found hanging from the roof of his house on 20 January. Church congregation members who discovered his body described his knees bent to the floor and his . . . Read More

India: Catholic schools under pressure in Madhya Pradesh

January 17, 2018 India Bajrang Dal, BJP, Catholics, Education, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi

A Catholic school in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has received threats from Hindu nationalists, who claim children at the school were punished for singing patriotic songs – the third school to come under pressure this month. The nationalists claimed around 30 students at the St. Joseph Convent . . . Read More

India: Catholic college attacked after refusing to perform Hindu rites

January 5, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Catholics, Education, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Indian school children are taking a 'selfie'. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A large group of Hindu nationalists clashed with police on 4 January outside a Catholic college in Vidisha, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, after they tried to force the school to carry out a Hindu religious ritual. More than 900 members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, . . . Read More

India: Victorious Dalit activist shows increased opposition to BJP

December 21, 2017 BJP, Dalits, Gujarat, India, Pakistan, Ram Nath Kovind, Sweepers

The governing BJP under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership won elections in his home state Gujarat but opposition is growing. (Photo: SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)

Although India’s ruling party won last week’s elections in the western-most state of Gujarat, opposition is growing, becoming apparent in the win of an activist, Jignesh Mevani, who has been campaigning for land rights for the lowest Dalit caste (which means ‘broken’ or ‘oppressed’). Dalits account for two-thirds of India’s . . . Read More

India carol singers arrested for ‘trying to convert people to Christianity’

December 15, 2017 India Alphons Kannanthanam, Anti-conversion law, Beef, BJP, Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Narendra Modi

Six carol singers have been arrested in India after they were accused of trying to convert people to Christianity. The carol singers, one of whom is a professor at a Catholic theological college, insisted they were only singing songs, but a Hindu man alleged he had been told to “worship . . . Read More

India’s president says religious diversity should be ‘cherished’

December 5, 2017 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Ram Nath Kovind, Religious freedom

India’s president, Ram Nath Kovind, has urged his countrymen to “preserve” and “cherish” ethnic and religious diversity, during his first visit to the north-eastern Christian-majority state of Mizoram on 29 November. “We see a huge variety of ethnic and religious identities, and so many languages, cultures and customs, modes of . . . Read More

India archbishop served notice for raising human rights ahead of Gujarat elections

December 1, 2017 India Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP, Catholics, Elections, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Narendra Modi

Christian groups and networks in India have rallied behind Archbishop Thomas Macwan of Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat state in western India, after the federal Election Commission served a notice on the prelate for his pastoral letter ahead of state elections this month. Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister . . . Read More

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