A group of young Muslims, descrated and danced on the cross, an act causing widespread concern. According to Msgr. Pamplani, Church leaders fear possibility of ISIS supporters being groomed in Kerala. Tamarassery / Palai (AsiaNews) -: Mons Joseph Pamplani, auxiliary bishop of Tellichery archdiocese in Kerala and the Chairman of Media Commission of Syro Malabar Church has severely accused the gang of Muslim youth who recently desecrated the Cross in two different parts of Kerala.    Widespread protests were held in Kerala against the desecration of the cross by anti-social people at Valamthodu in Thamarassery diocese and in Poonjar in Palai diocese.   A group of young people, pretending to be tourists, photographed the cross in a derogatory way and posted the images on social media. Since it happened several times, the faithful warned the group several times and turned to the police. The state of southern India has always been peaceful and with harmony between Christian, Hindu and Islamic religions. But recent events, according to Msgr. Pamplani, forcing Church leaders to also think about the possibility of recruiting ISIS supporters in Kerala. Bishop Pamplani, in a press conference, commented that the young people who went up and danced on the Cross were dancing on the

RAIPUR: Social and civil rights groups have expressed serious concern over increasing incidents of violence against tribal Christians in Bastar in Chhattisgarh and urged the Bhupesh Baghel government to conduct an impartial investigation and to take preventive measures to protect peace and harmony in the villages of the tribal region. Social activist Medha Patkar, who led the fa .. Read more at:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/78934347.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

While analysing the features of fascism in the Italian context, Antonio Gramsci had pointed out that grounds were prepared even before the dominating forces unveiled themselves. The various democratic structures were slowly taken over. Uniformity was imposed on culture replacing its multiplicity. Efforts were made to influence the psyche of people and either win them over or do away with opposing sections. To get rid of any divergence, there were attempts made to directly eliminate them taking extreme positions or slowly usurp the hegemony manoeuvring all the way. The Dussehra speech made by Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on October 24 this year in Nagpur reflects the maturing up of the same process that was initiated by RSS in 1925, an organisation that strived for exclusivity, allowing no other to prevail. Bhagwat, in his speech, also said that the organisation was not power centric. However, the fact is that the Bharatiya Janata Party which is closely linked with the RSS has the country’s governance in its hands since 2014. The ruling BJP has traversed a long way, and it showed when in his speech, the RSS Supremo openly declared, “India is a "Hindu Rashtra" and Hindutva is the essence of

India's tribal-dominated Jharkhand, Odisha, Chattisgarh and Telangana states are the worst for persecution of those accused of witchcraft. (Photo: YouTube drama) Police in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have arrested three people for killing three members of one family for alleged witchcraft in a crime described as an “inhuman act” by a Catholic official. The bodies of Birsa Munda, 48, his wife Sukru Purty, 43, and daughter Somwari Purty, 20, of Kuda village in Khunti district, were found by police on Oct. 28 after they went missing on Oct. 7. “It is an inhuman act and we condemn it because we have no right to take away anybody’s life. It is a matter of concern and civil society has to take it very seriously as it can’t be acceptable in modern times. The Church is always pro-life and these kinds of incidents sadden us,” said Father Vincent Ekka, who heads the department of tribal studies at the Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute in New Delhi. “When the whole country is talking about development and progress, killing in the name of witchcraft is certainly a setback to all of us. We have to address it collectively because it needs the involvement of government machinery, non-government organizations, civil society and missionaries.” The Oraon

This photo taken on Oct. 29 shows the destroyed concrete cross, which stood on a hillock in Madanpur village in Korba district in Chhattisgarh state. (Photo supplied)  A cross was demolished and a makeshift temple set up some 200 meters away in a village in India's Chhattisgarh state, Christian leaders said. The concrete cross on a hillock in Madanpur village in Korba district was popular among Christians living in the village and its nearby areas for more than two decades.  They gathered around for prayers, especially to do the Way of the Cross during Lenten season, said Arun Pannalal, president of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum that works among persecuted Christians in the state.   "We saw the cross destroyed and the temple near it. But we do not know exactly when it happened," Pannalal told UCA News on Oct. 30. He said some villagers informed them on Oct. 29 and they plan to complain to police. "We will also seek the intervention of the state's chief minister through district officials," he said. He said the land on which the cross stood was "not officially owned by the Church but the Christian villagers have used it for many years and the local villagers never objected to its use," Pannalal said. "The sudden destruction of the cross

CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2020 / 04:31 pm MT (CNA).- An Indian activist and a local Catholic bishop are calling on a local government to investigate an alleged hate crime against Christians that apparently took place after the Christians refused to take part in animist prayer rituals. According to activist Medha Patkar’s report, widespread violence and vandalism against Christians occurred in three villages— Kakrabeda, Singanpur and Tiliyabeda— in the Bastar region of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh Sept. 22-23. The attacks apparently came after tribal Christians refused to take part in rituals and prayers of Sarna, an animist tribal religion. “We are saddened by the incidents and are demanding an impartial investigation to safeguard the welfare of the tribal community and bring communal harmony among different religions,” Bishop Paul Toppo of Raigarh told UCA News. “Tribals are generally peace-loving people who have a very good rapport with other faiths, but some vested interest groups want to create divisions among people in the name of religion, caste and creed, which is very unfortunate.” A group of non-Christians reportedly used wooden sticks and poles to partially destroy the thatched roofs of 16 houses belonging to tribal Christians. They also “assaulted women and children,” with many seeking refuge in

A man climbs down after partially chipping out the cross from the entrance of his house, after taking part in a religion conversion ceremony from Christianity to Hinduism, at Hasayan town in Uttar Pradesh August 29, 2014. Reuters/Adnan Abidi Suspected Hindu extremists set fire to a church in India's Andhra Pradesh state, burning it to the ground because local Christians refused to stop worshiping together. On Sept. 8, neighbors of the Christian Miracle Church, located in Ponduru town, reported flames and smoke coming out of the church building, persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reports. Pastor Prabhu Das, who has led Christian Miracle Church for nearly 38 years, and his son, Jeevan, arrived on the scene in time to witness flames engulf the church building. The pastor's car was also destroyed. Following the arson attack, the pastor filed a formal complaint with police against the unknown assailants. His son told ICC that Hindu extremists had previously threatened the church and ordered the Christians to stop meeting together. "We have encountered opposition from the Hindu religious extremists several times in the past," Jeevan said. "The radicals have threatened us to stop the church activities in the town. They have warned us of the consequences if we failed to close

A 35-year-old Christian man was shot dead and three others were injured in a deadly attack on a Pentecostal church in Amritsar, Punjab. According to reports from UCA news, seven unknown assailants opened fire on Christians when they were leaving the church after a special prayer meeting on October 23. "Four persons armed with guns entered the church and opened fire at us. I laid flat on the ground and saved my life," Jaspal Masih, son of the church pastor, told UCA News. Masih's cousin Prince Atwal, 35, died on the spot after he was shot in the head and chest. Local police have arrested three of the seven attackers and are searching for the rest. According to Manish, Randeep Gill, who had previously disrupted a prayer meeting on alleged charges of religious conversion, was leading the gang of attackers on October 23. To Masih, Atwal seemed to be the prime target of the attack because Gill had an altercation with him a few months ago. Christians and churches in Punjab were attacked in previous occasions, but the state government had not taken serious steps to contain them, Manish said. Reports from Persecution Relief, an organisation dedicated to the defence of discriminated Christians in India, show an overwhelming

Christian leaders in Madhya Pradesh are fighting a new media trend where Hindu media is publishing fabricated stories in order to tarnish the image of Christian missionaries in the country. On October 28, Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore along with a delegation of Christian leaders met with the editor of the Nai Duniya, a mass circulation daily. They asked the editor to take corrective measures after a series of articles against Christians appeared in the daily in September and October "maligning the Christian community." These articles accused Christian missionaries of engaging in conversion activities of socially poor Dalit and tribal people using foreign funds. "Initially, we did not bother, but when it continued to publish defamatory articles against us without any base, we thought it appropriate to inform the editor about our concerns," Bishop Thottumarickal UCA News. "We want the editor to take corrective measures and avoid publishing baseless articles against a community and creating ill will." "We want the editor to take corrective measures and avoid publishing baseless articles against a community and creating ill will." According to Bishop Thottumarickal, his diocese was consulting a team of experts to take legal remedies "if the paper continued spitting anti-Christian venom." Reports from UCA News said

The revelation in the investigation carried out by The Quint that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has sent emails in a roundabout manner requesting the users of the PMO’s official ID Sampark.gov.in for contribution to BJP funds, may seem highly unethical and violating all norms of separating government from the ruling Party, but for the BJP leadership, this sort of using official agencies for party purposes has become most natural in the last six years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. Sampark.gov.in is the official PR ID used for sending mails from the Prime Minister’s Office. It has been found that at least one lot of emails generated by the PMO's sampark.gov.in ID has allegedly been used to collect funds for the BJP. Use of government machinery to collect funds for a political party is a clear violation of the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct. On 21 October 2020, the Prime Minister’s Office is alleged to have sent an email blast through ‘no-reply@sampark.gov.in.’ with the subject “Rajmata was a decisive leader & skilled administrator, says PM; People in rural India get ownership rights of their homes…More in the newsletter!” When it was clicked, it was found that at the end of all