Tag: BJP

Modi’s UN Yoga Day latest example of co-incidence with Christian ‘high days and holidays’

June 29, 2015 India BJP, Good Governance Day, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Narendra Modi, Shimla, UN

Thousands in India celebrated the first International Day of Yoga, 21 JuneFB/Narendra Modi As you may have seen, June 21 was the first-ever International Yoga Day, observed from New Delhi to New York. In yoga’s birthplace, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself led a yoga session attended by 37,000 . . . Read More

Christians remain cautious about Modi

May 27, 2015 India BJP, Elections, Narendra Modi

To mark the first anniversary of his government, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 26 declared the world is “optimistic about India and is enthusiastic about exploring the opportunities India has to offer.” To which one leader of India’s churches replied: “We have nothing to celebrate. Rather, we have . . . Read More

2014: A year of particular concern

April 30, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-balaka, Bashar al-Assad, BJP, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, Chibok girls, Chin, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Iran, Iraq, Islamic State, Kachin, Kano, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Potiskum, Rohingya, Saudi Arabia, Seleka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

If ever there were a year that made plain the importance of religious freedom, 2014 was it, according to the just-released annual report by an American government advisory group. “By any measure, the horrors of the past year speak volumes about how and why religious freedom and the protection of the . . . Read More

‘Token’ arrests frustrate Indian bishop

March 25, 2015 India BJP, Converts, Hindu Dharma Sena, Hindu nationalism, India, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi

An Indian bishop has accused police of ‘tokenism’ after they swiftly released on bail six suspects allegedly caught on camera vandalising a cathedral in central India on March 20. “Such kind of tokenism from police [will] not help bring in confidence among beleaguered Christians,” said Bishop Gerald Almeida. The men were . . . Read More

Delhi protest marks 300 days of BJP in India

March 21, 2015 India Beef, Bihar, BJP, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, Sangh Parivar

At a March 19 rally in New Delhi, Christian and Muslim activists unfurl a list of what they consider atrocities against religious minorities during the first 300 days of rule under India’s Bharatiya Janata Party.World Watch Monitor / Anto Akkara Two dozen Christian and Muslim groups were joined by . . . Read More

Indian beef ban hits ‘untouchable’ Dalits hardest

March 13, 2015 India Bangalore, Beef, BJP, Dalits, Hindutva, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

A national ban on beef, the cheapest meat in India, would hurt all of India’s tribal peoples.Meena Kadri / Flickr / CC The west Indian state of Maharashtra, run by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), caused a commotion last week when it received Federal approval to enforce . . . Read More

Indian police beat Christian evangelists

March 4, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Police, Rajasthan, RSS

Swollen, reddened wrists and hands displayed after release from police custody Feb. 25 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.Photo provided by People’s Union for Civil Liberties Twenty Christian men on an evangelical mission in north-western India last week were illegally detained and tortured by police, according to a human rights group . . . 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

Obama addresses persecution during India visit

January 27, 2015 India BJP, Constitution, Hindu nationalism, India, Narendra Modi, Religious freedom

President Obama addressed India’s treatment of minority faiths during his final speech on January 27 after a three-day-long visit to the country. His comments were widely interpreted as a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose rise to power emboldened activists to declare India . . . Read More

Ahead of Obama’s visit, India’s Christians start hotline on Hindu harassment

January 27, 2015 India Barack Obama, Bihar, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Religious freedom, RSS, Tamil Nadu

President Modi welcomes President Barack Obama & Michelle Obama to India on 25 January 2015.Photo: narendramodi.in President Obama ended his visit to India with a speech referring to religious freedom which has been interpreted as an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s treatment of minority faiths, although Modi was . . . Read More

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