Blasts triggered by improvised explosive device (IED), allegedly by 57-year-old Dominic Martin who claimed to be an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses sect “She was like an angel. A lovable kid, with a smile so infectious. I don’t have words,” says Bindu Ramanan, her voice laden with grief. The class teacher of ‘7A’ division at the SNDP High School in Neeleswaram in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, Bindu gets overwhelmed with emotion when she talks about Libina KP, a 12-year-old student in her class. On the morning of October 29, a Sunday, Bindu said she heard on the FM radio at home about the bomb blasts that pierced a gathering of the Christian sect Jehovah’s Witnesses at a convention centre in Kalamassery, near Kochi. A few hours later, a teacher rang her up to convey that a student named Libina was seriously injured in the blasts. “Libina is not a very common name

A Christian body has launched an online campaign to mobilize support for enactment of a law to protect properties of the Indian Church, which is said to own the second-largest land bank after the nation's government.   “We launched this online signature campaign after Church leaders of different established denominations continued to alienate Church properties illegally for their personal greed,” said Cyril Samuel Dara, a lawyer from Mumbai who is instrumental behind the move.   Dara is secretary of the inter-denominational Christian Reform United People Association (CRUPA) which launched the online petition on Nov. 24. It has so far generated more than 1,300 signatories. He told UCA News on Nov. 28, that “our goal is to protect Church properties as a treasure for our future generations.”   CRUPA has members from the Catholic Church, the Church of North India (CNI), and the Methodist Church.   Church leaders have sold or leased valuable properties in many prime locations for peanuts without the knowledge and consent of believers, Dara observed.   “If this unbridled alienation of Church properties continues, our future generation will have no space left for practicing their faith,” Dara, a member of the CNI, said.   He said when they objected to the illegal selling of Church properties in western Maharashtra state that included India’s

Christians in the Bastar region are once again being denied permission to bury their dead, according to reports from Narayanpur district in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. Christian Today spoke to Phulsingh Kachlam, a local Christian civil society leader and politician from Narayanpur, who confirmed that at least five incidents have taken place since Nov. 10, where Christians have been prevented from burying their dead. “The latest incident was from the day before yesterday, wherein police officials and the Tehsildar engaged in violence and forcibly took away the body of Sukhram, a local tribal Christian from the village Koliyari, after local Hindus and other villagers objected to his burial,” Kachlam said. The mob protesting Sukhram's burial was not allowing his family to bury him on their own land, Kachlam said. Not only this, but the mob was against burial anywhere in the village or around it unless the family recants their Christian faith. It is normal for tribal communities to bury their dead, and tribals who have embraced Christianity have continued the practice of burial. The body of Sukhram was taken by the authorities to Narayanpur town, where he was buried in the absence of his family members, according to a local Christian leader who

Mizoram: Malsawmliana, the general secretary of the NGOCC, mentioned that the delegation had sought an appointment with the Election Commission on Friday. The Election Commission has granted them the opportunity to meet the chief election commissioner and other officials on Tuesday at 3 pm. In a collective effort, churches across Mizoram organised prayer services over the weekend to seek divine intervention in hopes of changing the date for the counting of votes in the state assembly polls held on November 7. The Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of 15 major churches, had urged congregations to come together for prayers on Saturday night or Sunday, emphasising the significance of Sunday as a sacred day for the majority of Christians in the state The MKHC, in a letter addressed to the churches, expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in efforts to reschedule the counting date. The conglomerate highlighted that leaders of the NGO Coordination Committee (NGOCC) are scheduled to meet with the Election Commission on November 28. Urging church members to join in prayer, the MKHC aimed to ensure that these efforts would lead to a favorable outcome. Several churches responded to this call, holding prayers either on Saturday night or Sunday,

Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) People from scheduled tribes who convert to Islam or Christianity should not get any reservation benefits in education and government jobs because they have given up their religion, culture, traditions and ways of worshiping, said former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Kariya Munda on Sunday. The BJP leader was speaking at a rally organised here by Janjati Suraksha Manch, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). “A huge conspiracy is going on in the country under the garb of religious conversion of tribals. Our demand is that those tribals who convert to Islam or Christianity must not get any benefits of reservation meant for the tribals,” he said.   This article is originally published on  https://www.ptinews.com/news/national/tribals-embracing-other-faiths-should-not-get-quota-benefits-former-lok-sabha-deputy-speaker/695689.html

India (International Christian Concern) –  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are arriving in India Friday for a diplomatic dialogue focused on defense cooperation. The U.S. sees India as a key regional security partner and counterweight to China.  The meeting comes amid a serious diplomatic spat between India and Canada, America’s neighbor to the north and a close ally, over the assassination of a prominent Sikh activist, in Canada, allegedly at the hands of Indian government agents. The Sikh community is a religious minority with roots in northern India.  Though the details of the plot are not fully known to the public, U.S. intelligence services have determined with a high degree of confidence that India was responsible for the killing.  India denies the allegation but seems to have handled the situation in a way designed to create maximum publicity around the topic—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is speculated to have rebuffed efforts by Justin Trudeau to handle the situation quietly, as would be the norm, at an in-person meeting just days before Trudeau made the allegations public.  If true, Modi may be leveraging the assassination to whip up his core voter base of radical Hindu nationalists ahead of next year’s

Myanmar (International Christian Concern) — Resistance groups in Myanmar’s western Chin and Rakhine states have increased their attacks against Tatmadaw-held positions in the last week. The Tatmadaw, the armed forces behind the military junta ruling Myanmar today, have waged a brutal, decades-long war against the Burmese people. Today, though, reports suggest that anti-junta militias have gained significant ground in recent months, reducing the area under solid Tatmadaw control to as little as 17%, according to the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar.  An earlier offensive, launched in October in Shan state, has led to the capture of several towns and more than 100 military outposts by the militant groups. The fighting there is ongoing.  Last week’s strikes against the Tatmadaw appear to have been part of a well-coordinated attack intended to stretch limited Tatmadaw resources and strategically weaken them as they struggle for control around the country. Multiple military posts were reported seized by the militant groups in the early hours of the new fighting.  Reuters reported that about 5,000 civilians fled across the border to neighboring India in the first day, though about half of that number has since returned to Myanmar, according to Indian officials speaking with AP News.   On Wednesday, reports emerged that

The decision by eastern Odisha state was criticized as it would have led to tribals losing their last valuable resource Christian leaders have lauded an eastern Indian state’s postponement of a decision to allow the sale of land owned by members of the tribal community to non-tribal people.   The eastern Odisha (formerly Orissa) state, home to the largest number of tribal people in the South Asian nation, on Nov. 17 put on hold the decision taken three days ago by the cabinet of ministers after the opposition parties protested against it.   An amendment to the law -- Orissa Scheduled Areas Transfer of. Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956 -- as per the cabinet decision could have allowed tribal-owned lands to be sold to non-tribal people. “Indeed, it is a great relief to the tribal people in the state because they heavily depended on the land to survive,” said Father Nicholas Barla, secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s office for tribal people.   If the land is taken away from them, they will face hunger, diseases, and even die, the priest who himself comes from a tribal community told UCA News on Nov. 21.   India’s largest mining companies like NALCO and Hindalco and firms attached to India’s billionaire tycoon Gautam

Recently, the Andhra Pradesh High Court upheld the termination of service of temple employee Due to conversion to Christianity. The bench of Justice Harinath. N was dealing with the petition challenging the proceedings issued by the 4th Respondent. The Petitioner's appointment as a record assistant was terminated. In this case, the petitioner was appointed as Record Assistant in the office of the 4th respondent/Sri Bramarambha Mallikarjuna Swamy Varla Devasthanam on compassionate grounds. The petitioner married the girl of his choice. A complaint was filed complaining that Rule 3 of AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Office Holders and Servant Service Rules, 2000 is violated as the petitioner concealed his religion at the time of employment on compassionate grounds. The Lokayukta directed the concerned authority to conduct an enquiry and submit the action taken report. The 4th respondent addressed a letter calling upon the petitioner to attend the enquiry in the chamber of the Assistant Executive Officer. However, the enquiry also revealed that the petitioner filed two different cases against the employees of 4th respondent/Devasthanam complaining that he was abused in the name of caste and two different crimes were registered. High Court observed that the petitioner has not submitted the extract of the marriage

The CIA, in its recent edition of the World Factbook, categorised VHP and Bajrang Dal under "political pressure groups", defined as organisations that are involved in politics or that exert political pressure but whose leaders do not stand for elections. The Central Intelligence Agency, in its recent edition of the ‘World Factbook’, has named the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal as “religious militant organisations”. The agency, the intelligence wing of the US government, has categorised them under “political pressure groups”, defined as organisations that are involved in politics or that exert political pressure but whose leaders do not stand for legislative election. The CIA also lists the RSS, Hurriyat Conference and Jamiat Ulema-e Hind among the political pressure groups in India. The RSS has been defined as a “nationalist organisation”, the Hurriyat Conference as a “separatist group” and the Jamiat Ulema-e Hind a “religious organisation”. Also Read: VHP threatens agitation against CIA for naming it as a ‘religious militant organisation’ The CIA annually publishes a World Factbook which feeds intelligence or factual reference material on a country or issue to the US government. This includes information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues. Data is available for