Tag: Madhya Pradesh

Catholic teachers warn against India’s attempts to ‘saffronise’ education

November 20, 2017 India Children, Education, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh

Catholic school teachers in India have warned against “subtle attempts” by the government to “saffronise” – or make more Hindu – the education system. Dr. George Thadathil, a headteacher moderating an event in Kolkata last week titled ‘Future of Christian Higher Education and Contemporary Transitions in India’, said Christians “have . . . Read More

Indian children ordered to hail ‘the land of the Hindus’

September 21, 2017 India Bhopal, BJP, Education, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh

An Indian Catholic bishop has voiced concern at an edict from a state education minister that schoolchildren should be forced to adopt a slogan praising India as the land of the Hindus. Kunwar Vijay Shah, education minister of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, has ordered pupils at state schools . . . Read More

India: ‘pressure from right-wing Hindus’ forced closure of Catholic children’s hostel

September 20, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Hindu nationalism, India, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh

A children’s hostel owned by the Catholic Church has been closed down by the government in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. A priest told Matters India that it was because the authorities are “under mounting pressure from right-wing Hindu groups”. The hostel, in the western district of Guna, allowed . . . Read More

India: alleged sex offence in Catholic school ‘attempt to tarnish image of Church’

September 6, 2017 India Bhopal, India, Madhya Pradesh

An archbishop in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has said the sex offence allegation against a priest, who is the principal of a church-run school in the state, is another case of harassment against local Christians, reports UCA News. The archbishop, Leo Cornelio, who is based in the . . . Read More

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

August 17, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Dalits, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Rajasthan

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

Jharkhand the latest Indian state to pass ‘anti-conversion bill’

August 15, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, India, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Protestants, Ram Nath Kovind

The Indian state of Jharkhand passed an “anti-conversion bill” at its Assembly meeting on 12 August, despite demands that the bill should be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny. “This is not normal,” Indian journalist Anto Akkara told World Watch Monitor. “It shows the growing arrogance of the . . . Read More

India: another state expected to pass ‘anti-conversion law’

August 3, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Chhattisgarh, Dalits, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Protestants

The north-east Indian state of Jharkhand has cleared the draft of an “anti-conversion bill” that could mean four-year prison sentences and 100,000 rupee fines (US$1,500) for those found to have forced another person to change religions, reports The New Indian Express. If what has been dubbed the “Religious Freedom Bill . . . Read More

Fears of political agenda behind abuse allegation against Indian priest

July 14, 2017 India BJP, Catholics, Crosses, Goa, Jabalpur, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh

Christian leaders in India have voiced concern that a priest accused of abusing a boy may have been framed to undermine the reputation of the local Christian community. Police in the central state of Madhya Pradesh arrested Fr Leo D’Souza, 56, on 10 July after a complaint from the parents . . . Read More

‘Change your image of India from a nice backpacking trip to Taj Mahal!’

June 26, 2017 Bhopal, BJP, Donald Trump, Europe, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Pakistan, Ram Nath Kovind, Saudi Arabia

India, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan top the list of countries where religious freedom is under pressure, according to the Annual Interim Report 2017 of the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance’s, presented in Brussels last week. “Forget the image of a nice backpacking trip . . . Read More

India’s churches also targeted on Palm Sunday, but Modi stays silent

April 11, 2017 India BJP, Haryana, Hindu nationalism, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Rajasthan, RSS, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for condemning the Palm Sunday attacks on churches in Egypt but failing to condemn attacks in his own country. On the same day that two churches were bombed in Egypt, five churches in India – in five different states – were targeted . . . Read More

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