Tag: India

India: gang murder man in church

October 6, 2016 India Chennai, India, Pentecostals

Police have arrested eight members of a gang in connection with the killing on 2 October of a man hacked to death inside a church near Chennai, . G. Dhanasekaran, a Pentecostal Christian involved in local politics and who ran a real estate business, was at a service at Devasabha Church on the day . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘the defining issue of our time’

September 16, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Angela Merkel, Boko Haram, Canada, Copts, Egypt, India, Iraq, Islamic State, Jan Figel, Kandhamal, Myanmar, New York, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi, Syria

Over 100 parliamentarians from 60 countries met this week in Berlin for a series of workshops and seminars under the title, “An Embattled Right: Protecting and Promoting Freedom of Religion of Belief”. The second conference of this size after last year’s meeting in New York, it was organised by the . . . Read More

India: Naxalites to blame for latest murder

August 3, 2016 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Maoists, Naxalites, Telangana

Another Indian pastor has been killed, but this time Hindu extremism was not to blame. Instead, the murder of Yohan Maria Kumar in Telangana on 29 July came reportedly at the hands of a Maoist group, the Naxalites – another group that has been . He leaves a wife and four . . . Read More

India: Chhattisgarh Christians attacked by mob

July 21, 2016 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India

Three Christians were attacked on Sunday (17 July) by a mob of more than 50 suspected Hindu extremists in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, . Umesh Patel, a student, his father, Sudhama, and a family friend, Kiran Vishwakarma, were seriously injured after Umesh had been questioned about his Christian . . . Read More

Repeal of Indian law banning ‘extremists’ in government

July 13, 2016 India BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Islamic extremism, Jamaat-e-Islami, Narendra Modi, RSS

Catholic leaders in India are calling for a over an that prevents central government employees belonging to specific Hindu and Muslim groups. The faith-based law, dating back to 1966, bans membership of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamaat-e-Islami. Membership of , Narendra Modi, was not permitted for employees in central . . . Read More

India: bishop ‘shocked’ after Assam attack

June 27, 2016 India Assam, Bajrang Dal, Hindu nationalism, Hyderabad, India, Minorities, Mumbai, Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh

A bishop in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam has spoken of his “shock” after a local priest was attacked with a machete on 19 June. Bishop Michael Akasius Toppo of Tezpur it was “the first ever incident like this in our region”. (Assam is one of , linked to . . . Read More

Hindu nationalist training video goes viral

June 2, 2016 India Bajrang Dal, Beef, Hindu nationalism, India, Maharashtra, Minorities, Uttar Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

A video showing members of a Hindu nationalist group receiving firearms training has gone viral on social media in India. The video depicting Bajrang Dal members in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has been criticised as “coercing young people towards violence and encouraging violence against minorities”, . Other videos . . . Read More

US religious-freedom report urges government to add 7 countries to worst-offenders list

May 2, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, BJP, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Iraq, Middle East, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Taliban, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

What is happening? The primary US government agency on global religious freedom issued its annual report 2 May. It says “religious freedom abroad has been under serious and sustained assault” during the past year, and says America should add seven countries to its list of worst offenders: Central African Republic . . . Read More

Indian pastor and pregnant wife attacked by militant Hindus

April 21, 2016 India Bajrang Dal, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Pentecostals, Raipur

An Indian pastor and his pregnant wife were assaulted and their church set on fire on Sunday evening (17 April) after they refused to praise a Hindu god. Pastor Dinbanhu Sameli, 30, and his wife, Meena, 26, seven months pregnant, lead a church in the troubled Bastar district of the . . . Read More

India denies access to USCIRF – again

March 8, 2016 India India, Religious freedom

For the seventh straight year, India has refused to let US observers into its country to report on religious freedom. India denied visas to the delegation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on 3 March, . USCIRF is an advisory body to the US president and the Congress. . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye