In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court recently denied bail to a man charged under multiple sections, including the stringent Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The court underscored that the primary objective of the Act has been to ensure religious freedom for all citizens. This Act, the court observed, was necessary to ensure social harmony and upholding the secular fabric of the nation. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, who presided over the case, emphasized in his order that while the Constitution grants every individual the fundamental right to profess, practice, and propagate their religion, this right does not extend to a collective right to proselytize. He stated, "The right to religious freedom belongs equally to the person converting and the individual sought to be converted," highlighting the balance between individual rights and societal interests. The case that the Allahabad HC was hearing involved an accused named Azeem, who was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation). The charges also included violations under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. Azeem had been in jail

The police-administration team has taken big action in Mirzapur, UP. On Sunday, the administration bulldozed two churches built illegally on forest department land. Both the churches in Belkhara and Mohal Kummiya of Chunar forest range were running for eight years. The administration says that these churches were built only to convert people by luring them. The police-administration team has taken big action in Mirzapur, UP. On Sunday, the administration bulldozed two churches built illegally on forest department land. Both the churches in Belkhara and Mohal Kummiya of Chunar forest range were running for eight years. The administration says that these churches were built only to convert people by luring them. SP Mirzapur Abhinandan said, "A complaint was received that conversion activity was conducted by luring simple people in the church built illegally on forest land. The district administration has taken cognizance of this and taken legal action. The notice was issued after hearing by the SDM court. The illegal church was demolished for not filing a reply to the notice within the stipulated time. This article is originally published on https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/mirzapur/big-action-mirzapur-bulldozers-run-on-two-churches-being-used-for-conversion-201723385733333.html

More than 300 Christian leaders in the United States, including denominational heads, are calling on the U.S. State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) due to escalating violations of religious freedoms, particularly against Christians. The leaders, representing a wide range of denominations and Christian organizations, have expressed concern over the increasing violence and “systemic persecution under the Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. In a letter sent earlier this month, the leaders, including 18 bishops, three archbishops, and numerous clergy, highlighted the worsening situation for religious minorities in India since Modi’s government came to power in 2014. The letter, organized by the Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations in North America, is the first concerted effort by U.S. Christian leaders to address religious persecution in India. The letter attributes the surge in violence to a “Hindu ethno-nationalist or Hindutva supremacist political ideology,” which it claims has distorted both the Hindu religion and India’s constitutional secular democracy. This has led to state-sanctioned violence against Christians, Dalits, and other religious minorities, both in public and within state institutions. The leaders cite alarming statistics from the United Christian Forum, noting a sharp increase in attacks on Christians, from 127

The enforcement of Uttar Pradesh’s law against illegal religious conversions has led to significant legal action, but cases continue to emerge. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was incepted in 2020, and the law came into action in the year 2021. Since 2020, the state has registered 835 cases of illegal conversions, resulting in the arrest of 1,682 individuals as of July 31, 2024. The most significant actions have been reported in the Ghaziabad Commissionerate, Ambedkarnagar, Bhadohi, Saharanpur, and Shahjahanpur. Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar stated that senior officers were closely monitoring the investigations into these cases to ensure thorough scrutiny and enforcement. As part of the ongoing crackdown on illegal religious conversions in the state, the investigation is still active in 17 cases, according to Kumar. He emphasised that police officers had been directed to act based on solid evidence, ensuring that those who used allurement and illegal means for conversion would not be spared. Action will be taken against them, he said. To date, chargesheets have been filed in approximately 98% of the cases, amounting to around 818 cases, with 17 cases still under investigation. In total, 2,708 individuals have been named across the

NEW YORK, NY – The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) has strongly objected to the inclusion of an anti-Muslim float in the upcoming India Day Parade in New York City on August 18. The parade, organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, along with the Indian Consulate, Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, and the Federation of Indian Associations, has faced criticism for clashing with New York City’s values of inclusivity and respect. FIACONA has responded by launching an Open Letter, signed by over 300 clergy and lay leaders from various denominations, condemning religious persecution in India and the rise of Hindu supremacist nationalism in the U.S. The organization drew parallels between the persecution they have faced and the situation of Muslims in India, emphasizing their duty to speak out. FIACONA also expressed solidarity with Indigenous peoples, linking the destruction of sacred sites in the U.S. to similar acts in India. They warned that remaining silent on these issues would make Christians complicit in the injustices faced by Muslims in India. This article is originally published onhttps://hiindia.com/fiacona-expresses-concerns-over-anti-muslim-float-in-nyc-india-day-parade/

A group of over 300 U.S. Christian leaders sent a letter to the U.S. State Department this month urging the agency to put India on a watchlist of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. The Aug. 1 letter, organized by the Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations in North America (FIACONA), called for India to be named a “country of particular concern” (CPC). Violence against Indian Christians has “skyrocketed” since the 2014 ascent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Christian leaders said in their letter. FIACONA says it documented 1,570 attacks on Christians in 2023, up from its previous report of 1,198 in 2022. According to FIACONA, the signatories include 18 bishops, three archbishops, 167 clergy from diverse denominational and nondenominational backgrounds, eight current or former presidents and deans from five theological schools, and leaders from more than 40 Christian organizations. “The U.S. Church is tragically silent as India becomes not only our nation’s greatest ally in Asia but also the most dangerous democracy in the world for Christians,” said Pieter Friedrich, a FIACONA board member and journalist who specializes in South Asian affairs. “It is encouraging to see the narrative shift as, finally, hundreds of Christian leaders

The Federation of Indian American Christian Organization (FIACONA) opposes anti-Muslim float at India Day Parade August 18, 2024, in New York City August 4, 2024 The Honorable Governor Kathy Hochul Executive Chamber New York State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 The Honorable Mayor Eric Adams Mayor of the City of New York City Hall New York, NY 10007 Dear Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams: The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) is profoundly alarmed by the inclusion of an anti-Muslim float at the India Day Parade scheduled for August 18, 2024, in New York City. This float, organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) in collaboration with the office of the Indian Consulate, the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), and the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) and the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), starkly contradict the intended values of inclusivity and respect that New York City and the state of New York uphold. The VHPA, an offshoot of India’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), has been designated a “militant religious organization” by the CIA’s World Factbook. Inordinate government funding went into the infrastructure and inauguration of the Ram Temple in January 2024 by India’s Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has heightened religious tensions,

MUMBAI, India – A Christian organisation in India is against a plan by the state government in Uttar Pradesh to increase the penalties for “unlawful conversion”. The northern state has India’s largest population – with over 241 million people – but only has 356,000 Christians, just 0.18 percent. The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) issued a statement condemning the intent of the Uttar Pradesh Government to pass the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2024. “This amendment significantly intensifies the provisions of the original Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021,” the July 31 statement says. “While the 2021 Act already classified religious conversion as a cognisable and non-bailable offence, with penalties up to 10 years in prison for conversions conducted through marriage, misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, or other allegedly fraudulent methods, the new amendment introduces even harsher measures. It raises the maximum penalty from 10 years to life imprisonment, allows any individual to file a complaint, and complicates the bail process,” writes Rev. Asir Ebenezer, the General Secretary of NCCI. Uttar Pradesh, like the national government, is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with strong links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militant

“As Indian Christians struggle to follow their faith in the face of Hindu supremacist policies, persecution of religious minorities is being buried by U.S. adoration of the current Indian regime,” says Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations in North America (FIACONA) Executive Director Rev. Neal Christie. “This letter highlights the rapidly escalating state-sanctioned violations of human rights targeting religious minorities, including Christians, Muslims, Dalits, and indigenous tribal peoples.” The over 300 signatories include 18 bishops, three archbishops and 166 clergy from diverse denominational and non-denominational backgrounds, eight current or former presidents and deans from five theological schools, and leaders from over 40 Christian organizations. This is the first letter ever produced by U.S. Christian leaders addressing religious persecution in India. Signatories include the immediate past president of the National Council of Churches; the president, immediate past president, and ecumenical officer of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church (UMC); the chancellor emeritus of the Orthodox Church in America; the presidents of Wesley Theological Seminary and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary; the president of International Christian Concern; national ecumenical office leaders from both the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA); the executive director of the Paulist Fathers Ecumenical and Multi-Faith Relations; the Catholic

(OSV News) -- An Catholic bishop in Chicago from an Eastern church whose origins go back to St. Thomas the Apostle has joined some 300 faith leaders in sounding an alarm over religious persecution in India. Bishop Joy Alappatt of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chicago is among more than 300 signatories of an open letter to the U.S. State Department, asking Secretary Antony Blinken to designate India as a "country of particular concern," or CPC, due to significant violations of religious freedoms against Christians, Muslims, Dalits and Indigenous peoples. Such designations are made under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, which requires the president to review the status of religious freedom in each of the world's nations, and to flag those whose governments engage in or tolerate particularly severe violations of religious freedom. Torture, prolonged detention without charges, forced disappearances or other flagrant denials of life, liberty and security all trigger the CPC designation. Nations that meet some but not all criteria are placed on a special watch list under the 2016 Wolf Act. The secretary of state is delegated by the president to make the applicable designations. News of the open letter was announced Aug. 1 in a press release