Senior VHP leader Surendra Jain’s purported claim that the Church has contributed to the drug menace in Assam’s Dima Hasao district has prompted the “shocked, hurt and dismayed” Christian community to convene a meeting of Church leaders on Monday to discuss the “baseless allegation” and come up with a “suitable response”. According to the United Christian Forum of Dima Hasao (UCFD), the apex body of Church organisations in the district, the meeting will be held in Haflong, the district headquarters, and will be attended by church leaders from the district and neighbouring states. “We don’t know why they (VHP) are blaming the Church for the drug menace. The only reason I could fathom is that they want to divide the people along the line of faith or why would they blame us? We are shocked, hurt and dismayed,” UCFD president Rev DC Haia Darnei told The Telegraph on Saturday. “The objective of the meeting will be to discuss the baseless allegation levelled by the gentleman (Jain) and make the people aware of the issue. We will also discuss what would be the best way to respond to the allegation, including filing a formal complaint with the authorities,” Darnei added. Drug is a problem in

New Delhi: Members of 25 South Asian communities in Canada have written an open letter to the country’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging the government to list the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates in Canada as hate groups/far right extremist entities. The development comes amid an unprecedented escalation of tensions between India and Canada over Ottawa’s allegations that Indian government agents were involved in killing pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023. “The recent RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) announcement has revealed the “involvement of agents of the Government of India in serious criminal activity in Canada” and that the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies in Canada have investigated and charged a “significant number of individuals for their direct involvement in homicides, extortions and other criminal acts of violence.” The assassination of a Canadian Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, and its alleged hand by India’s Hindu nationalist government appears to be the tip of the iceberg,” says the statement from the members of the South Asian communities. “The Guardian reports that the “allegations of an India campaign of transnational violence and harassment have emerged not only in Canada but in the US, UK and Pakistan, where

Dozens of organisations and individuals have criticised Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, for partnering with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (UK), a known Hindutva group, for this year’s Diwali celebration in London. The event, held on Sunday, 27 October 2024, at Trafalgar Square, is considered one of the largest Diwali celebrations outside India and was organised by the Diwali in London Committee, a coalition of various organisations in collaboration with the Mayor’s office. The VHP has faced accusations of orchestrating the 2002 Gujarat Muslim genocide, which resulted in the mass murder of at least 2,000 people. In an inquiry report on the Gujarat genocide, first cited by the BBC in its documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled India: The Modi Question and later accessed by Maktoob, the United Kingdom government alleged that the violence was “planned, possibly in advance” by the VHP. The VHP was founded by M.S. Golwalkar, who also established the paramilitary Hindu supremacist organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS serves as the parent organisation for numerous Hindutva groups, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling party. An open letter addressed to Mayor Khan condemned the inclusion of the VHP-UK in the Diwali festivities, along with other organisations accused

Hyderabad: In an effort to address longstanding discrimination, several Christian organisations convened in Hyderabad to advocate for the inclusion of Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Castes (SC) category. The All India United Christians Movement for Equal Rights (AIUCMER), in collaboration with the Telangana United Christians and Pastors Association (TUCPA), National Dalit Christian Watch (NDCW), and other supporting bodies, called upon the Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Commission to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which currently excludes Dalit Christians from SC status. The leaders highlighted that Paragraph 3 of the 1950 Order restricted the reservation benefits to individuals professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, thereby excluding those who have converted to Christianity. This exclusion, they argued, perpetuated socio-economic disadvantages for Dalit Christians, who continue to face discrimination akin to their counterparts in other religions. “Faith should not determine one’s access to constitutional rights,” stated Bro. Jos Daniel, President of AIUCMER. He stressed that religious conversion did not alleviate the socio-economic hardships faced by Dalit Christians. Echoing this sentiment, Goneh Solomon Raj, general secretary of TUCPA, added, “The government’s reluctance to amend Paragraph 3 has perpetuated inequality for Dalit Christians.” The delegation discussed the past recommendations by various commissions, including the Mandal and Ranganath Misra Commissions, which

Around 3,000 Christians from various denominations have demonstrated near the Indian parliament in New Delhi, expressing concern against intensifying incidents of persecution across the mainly Hindu country. The Delhi-National Capital Region Christian Fellowship organized the demonstration on Oct. 26 at the Jantar Mantar—an area near the parliament allotted for public rallies and protests in the capital, UCA News reported. "A staggering 585 incidents targeting Christians were recorded so far this year till September," said Michael William, president of the United Christian Forum (UCF), a Christian rights group that tracks violence against Christians in India. The UCF said it recorded a total of 733 incidents of violence against Christians for the whole of 2023, an average of 61 incidents a month. Still, the UCF said it had not included atrocities against Christians in the northeastern state of Manipur, where tribal Christians have been subjected to 17 months of communal violence that claimed over 230 lives, most of them Christians. William said repeated pleas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other government departments, such as the Home Ministry and the national minority commission, have proved futile. Organizers said in a statement that the demonstration aimed to attract government attention to Christians' "deep anguish" over the "targeted violence" they

India (MNN) — After India’s general election this summer, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost its majority in the lower house of India’s Parliament. The BJP has been a leading force in India since 2014 but now must rely on several ally parties moving forward. Floyd Brobbel from Voice of the Martyrs Canada says Christian minorities hoped this change might lead to a more favorable government stance toward them. Muslims are also a minority in India. However, this change has not come yet, so caution is still the way forward. “While there is a little bit of hope, there’s apprehension. Of course, they’re going to protect their identities, they’re going to want to seek to protect their internal partnerships and things that they’re doing within the country,” Brobbel says. Voice of the Martyrs Canada is considering alternative strategies to stay connected to partners in India in an uncertain future. “Will all our ministry partners be cut off from any type of funding or resourcing, even communications? How will we communicate with them? That may be an extreme measure, but we’ve seen that happen before,” Brobbel says. “So we need to operate with caution and also communicate in

New Delhi: Christian leaders from various denominations have announced a mass protest to be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Jantar Mantar on October 26, to highlight the escalating violence and targeted hate crimes against their community. The announcement was made during a press conference at Press Club of India here Thursday. The Christian leaders called on concerned citizens from the NCR region to join in the protest, which aims to express deep distress within the Christian community over increasing attacks on their clergy, pastors, nuns, school leaders, teachers, doctors, and nurses. Many of these individuals were targeted while engaging in prayer within their churches or institutions. The rise in hostility appears to be concentrated in states governed by BJP. This protest is seen as a pivotal moment for the Christian community to raise awareness about the growing climate of intolerance and the need for justice and protection from targeted violence. This article was originally published on https://radiancenews.com/hate-crimes-leading-christian-groups-to-hold-mass-protest-at-jantar-mantar-on-oct-26/

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “I am also aware of the overt and covert attacks on the Christians in many parts of our country,” said Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore and president of the Karnataka Catholic Bishops' Conference (KRCBC), speaking about the escalation of sectarian violence against the Christian minority, both against it religious practices as well as its symbols and buildings. This follows recent reporting from the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR) about attacks against Christians in different parts of India, most notably in Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. “The attacks and persecutions are now not restricted to religious factors alone, but are also being extended to religious, social and educational institutions as well, as also burial grounds,” the prelate explained. “The intolerance, the discrimination, and the hate speeches are hurting. The silence, and at times, the complicity of the government machinery is baffling.” The warning by the archbishop of Bangalore stems from at least five cases of violence and violations of religious freedom documented by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), between 13 and 20 October in several Indian states. The first incident was reported on 13 October in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where the police broke up a prayer meeting after a complaint