Tag: Vishva Hindu Parishad

In India, one case of anti-Christian violence every day

January 21, 2016 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chennai, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Madhya Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Rahul Nayak, 25, the eldest son of Dhubaleswar and Bhubudi Nayak, a Christian couple shot dead in Odisha in July 2015.World Watch Monitor Attacks on Christians in India were reported on an almost daily basis in 2015, according to a Christian advocacy group. “The country saw 355 incidents of . . . Read More

Indian nationalists blame other faiths as census shows Hindus in decline

December 6, 2015 India Arunachal Pradesh, BJP, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad

John Dayal speaks at a protest marking 300 days of Narendra Modi’s government in March, 2015Photo: Anto Akkara Hindu nationalists have hit out at Christians and Muslims in India, after the number of adherents to “Bharatiya” (traditionally Indian) faiths fell, according to the recently released results of the 2011 . . . Read More

Indian court provides ‘minor relief’ from ban on Christianity

October 21, 2015 India Chhattisgarh, Human rights, India, Raipur, Religious freedom, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The high court of Chhattisgarh state in central India has asked the state government to ensure that anti-Christian resolutions passed by village councils will not infringe religious freedom. A Christian organization challenging the local resolutions said the court order is “only a minor relief.” In July 2014, the village of . . . Read More

Anti-conversion laws threaten another Indian state

October 15, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, Gumla, Hindu nationalism, India, Jharkhand, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Hindu extremists have called for “anti-conversion laws” to be introduced in India’s Jharkhand state, after local media reported that 300 tribals had converted to Christianity. But Catholic Cardinal Telesphore Toppo told UCA News the reports were false and that the indigenous people were already Christians. Jharkhand has a higher than . . . Read More

India’s Modi breaks silence on protecting minorities, but urged to ‘walk the talk’

February 18, 2015 India BJP, Delhi, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Narendra Modi, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Indian Prime Minister Modi shakes hand wtih Cardinal Alencherry while holding a memento of twin saintsWorld Watch Monitor Critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were ‘pleasantly surprised’ by his unequivocal assertion of the right to freedom of religion while addressing a major church event in New Delhi on . . . Read More

Full Steam Ahead

December 29, 2014 India BJP, Ghar Wapsi, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, RSS, Sangh Parivar, Vishva Hindu Parishad

ANALYSIS By John Dayal There is an element of irony, which has not gone entirely unnoticed, in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that what the world knows as Christmas will henceforth be celebrated in India as “Good Governance Day.” A slew of activities in honour of the first Bharatiya . . . Read More

India Hindu leaders turn up ‘reconversion’ rhetoric

December 23, 2014 India BJP, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Narendra Modi, RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in JammuVishal Dutta / Flickr / Creative Commons Ignoring paralyzing opposition in Parliament and private expressions of exasperation from their own political leader, the top leaders of India’s fundamentalist Hindu movement have mounted a vigorous defense of a campaign to bring Christian converts back to . . . Read More

Indian villages outlaw Christian practices

July 17, 2014 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Converts, Hindutva, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Several villages in central India have outlawed the open practice of Christianity – a move of questionable legality yet one that worries church leaders who say it already has encouraged anti-Christian violence. “The situation is becoming worse. The anti-Christian propaganda is becoming stronger,” Arun Pannalal, president of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, . . . Read More

Bajrang Dal pressure villagers to leave Christianity

October 16, 2013 India Bajrang Dal, Converts, Hindu nationalism, Vishva Hindu Parishad

For much of the year, Christians in the central India village of Taragaon have been enduring pressure to abandon their religion. In April, elements of Bajrang Dal demolished the church in Taragaon, a small town in the farming- and forestry-dominated region of southern Chhattisgarh state. View Larger Map Bajrang Dal . . . Read More

VHP leads mob to destroy Indian church

May 14, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Churches, Hindu nationalism, Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Raipur, Vishva Hindu Parishad

Members of Divya Jyoti Church were too late to stop a mob from knocking down their building.World Watch Monitor On March 12 in a southeast India village, the local newspaper published allegations that Divya Jyoti Church had been built on government land. The next day, a crowd equipped with . . . Read More

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