Indian Parliamentarians propose ban on conversions

Indian Parliamentarians propose ban on conversions
Two cows, a sacred animal for Hindus, stand outside a church in Anjuna Flea Market in Goa.Eustaquio Santimano / Flickr / CC   Two members of India’s ruling BJP party, one in the Lower and one in the Upper House of the national Parliament, plan to introduce a Private Members’ . . . Read More

Sixth Indian state seeks to adopt ‘anti-conversion law’

Sixth Indian state seeks to adopt 'anti-conversion law'
A sixth Indian state is debating the introduction of an “anti-conversion law”. Maharashtra would follow Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in implementing a Freedom of Religion Act, which seems harmless in name, but in practice discourages evangelism, as Vishal Arora reports in the video below. Learn more: . . . Read More

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

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

Madhya Pradesh awaits decision on stricter ‘anti-conversion law’

Madhya Pradesh awaits decision on stricter 'anti-conversion law'
Protesters gather in Jhabua, a town in the west of Madhya Pradesh, on July 24.World Watch Monitor   Madhya Pradesh state in central India awaits the outcome of proposed amendments to its ‘anti-conversion law’, which would lengthen prison time and fines for anyone convicted of forcing someone to change their . . . Read More

Analysis: India’s narrow path to religious freedom

Analysis: India’s narrow path to religious freedom
In August, the high court of India’s Himachal Pradesh state rejected a portion of the state’s laws regulating religious conversion. World Watch Monitor asked Steven David, director of the Centre for Contemporary Issues, in Bangalore, to provide his perspective. By Steven David Shimla apples are world-famous. They are grown in . . . Read More

India briefs: recent incidents of persecution

India briefs: recent incidents of persecution
Police arrested three Christians on charges of “abetment of a thing” in Hubli, after Hindu extremists verbally abused them and seized tracts from them on June 21. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at about 2:30 p.m. Pastor Manju Nath and two Christians identified only as Stella . . . Read More