An organisation of Indian-American Christians has thanked US President Donald Trump for raising the issue of religious freedom and the plight of minorities during his talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying political tranquility is fundamental to economic progress. The Federation of Indian American Christian organisations in North America (FIACONA) said it “truly hopes” that the Indian government would respond positively to the concern expressed by the president that would be in the best interest of the country. Asked specifically about allegations that Muslims are being subjected to discrimination and there have been rising cases of hate crime in India, Trump in New Delhi on February 25 said: “We did discuss that and specifically Muslims. We also discussed Christians.” “I had a very powerful answer from the prime minister. We talked about religious liberty for a long period of time in front of lot of people. I had a very very powerful answer I think,” he said. Reacting to the remarks of Trump, president of FIACONA Koshy George said: “Although we lack any substance from their discussions, we are encouraged to see that the president took the opportunity to include the issue of religious freedom as a priority item at these important bilateral discussions

Protests erupted between groups for and against the citizenship law. Among the victims, a rickshaw driver married for a month. A protester challenges a policeman by pointing the gun at his face. Trump announces three billion dollar military deals. At least seven people died, including a policeman, and another 150 were injured in the clashes that broke out yesterday in Delhi during the demonstrations for the new law on Indian citizenship. It is the most tragic toll to date in a single day of protests since the legislation that discriminates against Muslims was approved in December 2019, precisely on the days when US President Donald Trump is on a state visit to India. While Trump and his wife Melania landed at Ahmedabad airport, clashes were taking place in the north-east neighborhoods, mostly populated by Muslims. The riots had started since the evening before and today the police are under investigation, unable to predict and contain the situation. The clash took place between protesters in favor and against the citizenship law. After it erupted in the Jafrabad area, urban guerrilla warfare spread to the areas of Chand Bagh, Maujpur, Bhajanpura, Kardampuri, Gokulpuri, Khajuri and Karawal Nagar. The rioters set fire to parked cars, shops along the way and petrol pumps.

Two governments, both handsomely elected, have presided over the beast’s banquet that the capital has been since Sunday night — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s. Here’s some of what’s been served out so far on their watch: 27 snuffed human lives, more than 200 injured souls, many of them grievously, thousands scarred and scared and fleeing, the debris of inestimable property torn and charred, the wantonly desecrated remnants of places and objects of worship, cocktails of sectarian passion stirred and set aflame. Delhi was left to smoulder three days before Prime Minister Modi fired a Twitter appeal for calm, three days before chief minister Kejriwal expressed resolve to write a letter and request the army out, three days before National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval went on a walkabout to take stock and reassure blistered north-east Delhi. It’s a job beat constables or area station house officers (SHOs) are expected to do, it’s a job warders and councillors and MLAs are expected to do; that the NSA had to step out and move lane to lane, door to door resounds with the abject abdication of administrative and political authority. Between a Prime Minister immersed in his never-before enactments as host

The federal government on February 26 night notified the transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice S Muralidhar to Punjab and Haryana High Court. The transfere notification came just hours after Justice S Muralidhar grilled the federal government, the state government and the Delhi Police over the ongoing communal violence in parts of northeast Delhi over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Shri Justice S Muralidhar, Judge of the Delhi High Court, as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and to direct him to assume charge of his office in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” the government notification read. The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the transfer of three high court judges, including the third in seniority in the Delhi High Court, Justice S Muralidhar on February 12. Earlier, the proposed transfer of Justice Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana High Court drew strong reactions from the Delhi High Court Bar Association, which expressed shock and decided to abstain from work the next day. “Such transfers are not only detrimental to our

The clashes have been raging for four days. Videos show the police standing by without intervening in beatings. Two mosques desecrated. Archdiocese spokesman: "India owes its freedom to non-violent struggle". The toll of religious community clashes in the Indian capital has risen to 20 victims, which continue for the fourth consecutive day. The neighborhoods affected by the protests are those in the north-east quadrant, mostly inhabited by the Islamic population. The clashes are the result of the new citizenship law, which discriminates against the faithful of Islam. Speaking to AsiaNews A C Michael, a former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, condemns the violence and calls it "state terrorism". What is happening in the capital, he explains, "can be classified as 'state terrorism'. At first glance, the state machine may not be so visible in these violent incidents. But there is strong and clear evidence that shows that they have the tacit approval of the government or the Minister of the Interior of the Union who is directly responsible for public order in Delhi, given that the police of the capital depend on him. " Today the areas involved in the clashes resemble a theater of war: destroyed shops, burned cars, bloodstains, fragments of glass and bricks thrown by protesters, piled

 George Abraham (Originally published in E-Malayalee) On the surface, President Trump appears committed fully to the idea of Religious Freedom. He has been very vocal about the issue on many forums that include the United Nations. To his credit, he has appointed Mr. Sam Brownback, a conservative Catholic, to the position at the State Department as the Ambassador of Religious freedom. Evangelical leaders in the U.S. are some of the most ardent supporters of this President anywhere because of his clear commitment to the cause. To the delight of his Evangelical base, he has not only spoken against the 'Johnson Amendment' that prohibits Clergy from commenting on politics from the pulpit but also issued an Executive order that lessens its enforcement power and limits its bureaucratic oversight. However, a different picture emerges if one delves deeply into the inner workings of this President concerning this very issue. As someone who has participated in the Religious Freedom Conference in Washington, D.C., I witnessed the selective application of this issue firsthand that suits his political purposes. There were many speakers from countries like China and Iran who detailed the suppression of religious freedom in those countries and the persecution of the faithful by the

President Trump concluded his two-day state visit to India on Tuesday and said the prime minister of India "wants people to have religious freedom very strongly." In a media conference in New Delhi, Trump said "I will say the prime minister was incredible on what he said

Christian leaders in India are greatly disappointed with President Trump's silence over declining religious freedom in the country during his first two-day state visit that concluded on February 25. In Tuesday's media conference, Trump praised Narendra Modi for his government policy and said that the prime minister of India "wants people to have religious freedom very strongly." Trump also stated that religious freedom or any religion-based violence going on in the country were an internal matter for India. Trump's failure to comment on the violence that radical Hindu nationalists are carrying out in the name of religion against religious minorities in the country has disappointed Christian leaders who had great expectations from the leader. Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum told UCA News that "Persecuted Christians had great expectations, but Trump lost the opportunity." Jesuit Father Denzil Fernandes, director of the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi and a social activist, said, "People were aware that Trump would not say anything about religious freedom or any minority issues because people knew that he was here for a business trip." According to Father Fernandes, domestic electoral compulsions and business forced the president of the USA to skip questions on religious persecution in the

False charges against eight Christians acquitted on Feb. 19 of kidnapping and forcible conversion in central India have traumatized families and cost them jobs, sources said. Schoolteacher Amiya Jal, one of the Christians arrested on May 22, 2017 for allegedly abducting and forcefully converting 59 children, was suspended from his job at a reputable school while he spent 103 days in jail unable to obtain bail, he said. “Even after I was bailed out, my school did not take me back, and so I was jobless for more than two years,” Jal told Morning Star News. “In July 2019 I have joined a school but not at my terms, as I was still under trial when they appointed me.” Before Jal and other Christian leaders and Sunday school teachers were arrested as they accompanied the children to a Christian summer camp in Maharashtra state, he had purchased a house. He had to make payments on it without any income, he said. “I borrowed money and paid them, and today I am in much debt,” Jal said. “We have exhausted all our savings, but I am thankful that the case is over and that I have been declared not guilty. I praise God for His faithfulness and

Not finding the Christian evangelist they planned to attack at home, worshippers of village deities in central-eastern India beat his mother, wife and 11-month-old son and destroyed a year’s food supply, sources said. Podiya Tati’s mother, Jimmey Tati, has been in a hospital bed in Dantewada District, Chhattisgarh state with a broken hand and injuries to her back and legs since the Feb. 20 attack with thick wooden rods. The six assailants left with threats that they would kill her son when he returned, sources said. Evangelist Tati, 30, was away on a paint job in Kirandul, 93 miles from their home in Tikanpal village, when the tribal animists attacked his mother and his 28-year-old wife, Hungi Tati. They struck Hungi Tati with the rods on her hands, thighs and back, sources said. “Hungi has not been able to walk since that day until Feb. 28, when she began to walk with much pain,” area pastor Ram Kumar told Morning Star News. Tati said his 11-month-old son was in his wife’s arms as they beat her and was also struck. “They did not care for the little child in my wife’s arms,” Tati told Morning Star News. “They beat my wife with the wooden rod,