Tag: Tamil Nadu

India: Tamil Nadu continues to lead the way in violent attacks on Christians

March 2, 2018 India Hindu Munnani, Hindu nationalism, House churches, India, Tamil Nadu

After a year in which hate crimes against Indian Christians happened at a rate of almost one verified incident per day, the state which registered the most incidents in 2017 (over 50) – Tamil Nadu – continues to see outbreaks of violence. In the first two months of 2018, the . . . Read More

Indian Christian complained of threats before he was found dead

January 23, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Beef, BJP, Hindu nationalism, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Minorities, Narendra Modi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu

The body of Rev. Gideon Periyaswamy, 43-year-old pastor of the church of Maknayeem in Adayachery village, in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, was found hanging from the roof of his house on 20 January. Church congregation members who discovered his body described his knees bent to the floor and his . . . Read More

India: 10 churches closed, Hindu nationalists seek closure of 20 more

November 7, 2017 India Alphons Kannanthanam, BJP, Churches, Hindu nationalism, India, Pentecostals, RSS, Tamil Nadu

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

Ten Protestant churches in Coimbatore district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have been ordered to stop their worship meetings, while Hindu nationalists want another 20 churches to be closed. They claim the Christian places of worship have not been authorised by the Collector’s Office, the district’s magistrate . . . Read More

India’s churches also targeted on Palm Sunday, but Modi stays silent

April 11, 2017 India BJP, Haryana, Hindu nationalism, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Rajasthan, RSS, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for condemning the Palm Sunday attacks on churches in Egypt but failing to condemn attacks in his own country. On the same day that two churches were bombed in Egypt, five churches in India – in five different states – were targeted . . . Read More

What next for India’s beleaguered Christian minority?

September 12, 2016 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

Fifty religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim minorities in India met together last week to discuss the religious freedom challenges facing both groups under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Christians are “facing physical, symbolic and structural violence” from Hindu extremists across the country, said Father Z. Devasagaya Raj at . . . Read More

Indian priest in critical condition after attack

February 4, 2016 India Anti-conversion law, Converts, India, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

An Indian priest is in a critical condition in hospital, after he and three lay officials were attacked by a mob in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, . Fr. Jose Kannumkuzhy and the laymen were attacked by a group of around 35 men, as they waited in a car . . . Read More

Indian bureaucrat convert to challenge preaching ban

February 3, 2015 India Bangalore, Chennai, Converts, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu Munnani, Hindu nationalism, India, Proselytism, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand

Chellakani Umashankar, an elite Indian bureaucrat in southern Tamil Nadu state, has decided to challenge the order by the government of southern Tamil Nadu state that asked him to stop preaching and cancel his evangelical conventions. “This is nonsense. I am going to challenge it in the court” 51-year-old Umashankar, . . . 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

India: Persecution Briefs

March 19, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Converts, Hindu nationalism, India, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pentecostals, Raipur, Tamil Nadu

India ranks No. 31 on the 2013 World Watch List, a ranking of the 50 countries where living as a Christian is most difficult. The list is created annually by Open Doors International, a worldwide ministry to Christians who live under pressure because of their faith. Most Christians live openly . . . Read More

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