Tag: Karnataka

India: Christians’ names missing from electoral lists

November 30, 2018 India Bangalore, Bhopal, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi

Hundreds of Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state found their names missing from the lists of voters in elections for the State Assembly on 28 November, AsiaNews reports. One of them was the Bishop of Bhopal, Leo Cornelio, who told AsiaNews that after waiting at the polling station for 45 . . . Read More

Indian Christian forum demands withdrawal of ‘bogus’ charges of forced conversions

November 13, 2018 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Narendra Modi, Pentecostals, Punjab, Religious freedom, Uttar Pradesh

The Christian Forum of Chhattisgarh state in India called on its political parties to commit to ensuring freedom of religion, as elections for the state’s legislative house took place yesterday (12 November), Catholic news agency UCAN reported. Meanwhile, several attacks on Christians were reported in the first week of this . . . Read More

India: 2017 saw 20% increase in atrocities against Christians, says lawyer

May 30, 2018 India BJP, Catholics, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Hindu nationalism, India, Kandhamal, Karnataka, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Odisha

Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a . . . Read More

India: Archbishop of Delhi calls for prayer in run-up to 2019 elections

May 22, 2018 India Bangalore, BJP, Catholics, Delhi, Elections, India, Karnataka, Narendra Modi, RSS

Preparations for an Hindu festival. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Archbishop of Delhi’s call for a ‘prayer campaign’ in India, ahead of next year’s elections has been criticised by the governing party. In a circular to all Catholic churches in the capital, dated 8 May, Archbishop Anil Couto asked for a weekly day of fasting “for the nation”, Indian . . . Read More

India: Catholics say BJP doctored letter to garner votes ahead of Karnataka elections

May 11, 2018 India BJP, Catholics, Delhi, Elections, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Narendra Modi

The Catholic Church in India has deplored a “fake” letter widely circulated in social and mainstream media alleging a Catholic conspiracy ahead of tomorrow’s elections in southern Karnataka state. “This is totally unacceptable. This is a blatant attempt to spread lies,” Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ . . . Read More

India: church fire attack in Karnataka

September 26, 2017 India Converts, India, Karnataka

A church that opened three years ago in the south-west Indian state of Karnataka has been broken into and its contents destroyed in an intentional fire, reports Global Christian News. The leader of the Shalom Assembly of God Church, Pastor Vaddar Nagaraja, said that all the items in the church, . . . Read More

India: two Christian women accused of ‘forced conversions’

September 11, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Hindu nationalism, India, Jharkhand, Karnataka

Two Christian women in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka have been escorted to a police station by Hindu activists, who accused them of trying to convert other women, despite there being no complaints from the women themselves, reports Asia News. According to the activists, the two women – known . . . 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

In India, a familiar pattern of pressure on Christians

July 29, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Hindutva, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Pentecostals, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh

In vast and diverse India, Christians often live freely. Yet India ranks among the 50 countries where life as a Christian is most difficult, according to Open Doors International, a global ministry that serves Christians who are pressured because of their faith. The country is No. 31 on Open Doors’ . . . Read More

BJP told: ‘Creating unrest won’t pay’

May 29, 2013 India Bangalore, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka

Christians in Karnataka state in southern India hope for a “new social and religious atmosphere” following local elections in which the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist group, suffered heavy defeat to the Congress Party. “The results of the vote in Karnataka are a warning to the BJP and the entire . . . Read More

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