Tag: Ram Nath Kovind

India: Victorious Dalit activist shows increased opposition to BJP

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The governing BJP under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership won elections in his home state Gujarat but opposition is growing. (Photo: SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)
Although India’s ruling party won last week’s elections in the western-most state of Gujarat, opposition is growing, becoming apparent in the win of an activist, Jignesh Mevani, who has been campaigning for land rights for the lowest Dalit caste (which means ‘broken’ or ‘oppressed’). Dalits account for two-thirds of India’s . . . Read More

India’s president says religious diversity should be ‘cherished’

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India’s president says religious diversity should be ‘cherished’
India’s president, Ram Nath Kovind, has urged his countrymen to “preserve” and “cherish” ethnic and religious diversity, during his first visit to the north-eastern Christian-majority state of Mizoram on 29 November. “We see a huge variety of ethnic and religious identities, and so many languages, cultures and customs, modes of . . . Read More

India: senior Church leaders call on Modi to help ‘control ideological hatred’ in Jharkhand

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Hindu radicals burn a dummy replica of local Jharkhand Archbishop, Cardinal Telephore Toppo of Ranchi. (Photo: Catholic Bishops' Conference of India)
In a strongly worded open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) called on him to intervene and “curb the spread of hate created by the BJP chief minister” of Jharkhand state. The letter follows the burning of a dummy replica of local Jharkhand . . . Read More

Jharkhand the latest Indian state to pass ‘anti-conversion bill’

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Jharkhand the latest Indian state to pass 'anti-conversion bill'
The Indian state of Jharkhand passed an “anti-conversion bill” at its Assembly meeting on 12 August, despite demands that the bill should be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny. “This is not normal,” Indian journalist Anto Akkara told World Watch Monitor. “It shows the growing arrogance of the . . . Read More

‘Change your image of India from a nice backpacking trip to Taj Mahal!’

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'Change your image of India from a nice backpacking trip to Taj Mahal!'
India, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan top the list of countries where religious freedom is under pressure, according to the Annual Interim Report 2017 of the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance’s, presented in Brussels last week. “Forget the image of a nice backpacking trip . . . Read More