“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

The Evangelical Fellowship of India has released its 2023-2024, 56-page ‘Survey of Youth Issues Among Christian Young People’ with data collected by Christ’s Love For All (CLFA) Youth Movement, focusing on the contemporaneous post-pandemic challenges and influences on Christian youth in the country. Data collection for the survey involved getting the views of 416 youngsters aged 15 to 24 between October 2023 and January 2024. Four main themes and 13 sub themes were identified, including gender identity, media addiction and the significance of family and intergenerational discipleship. According to the report, about 356 million people in India are aged between 10 to 24, equivalent to one in every three people. The report’s authors hightlighted the need for churches to invest efforts in “youth centric initiatives” because India “in this sense” is a young country. “More than at any time in the past, the lives of today’s youth from urban areas have become significantly more challenging,” said the report. “There has been a notable shift in terms of socio economic development, lifestyle, technological advancement, and environmental surroundings over the last few decades.“About 87% of young women and men living in developing countries face challenges brought about by limited and unequal access to resources, healthcare, education,

Mumbai: Christians in India are being meticulously denigrated, demonised, and bad-mouthed, said Father Cedric Prakash, a Jesuit priest based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. "Challenges that Christians face in India are tremendous. They will take away our land, properties, and homes," said Prakash on Tuesday evening while speaking at a virtual discussion organised by FIACONA (Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations) on the subject 'Challenges Facing the Christians of India Today'. The aim of the meeting, which was attended by members of the Indian Christian diaspora, clergy, and civil rights activists, among others, was to lay out a path to the challenges in pursuing justice in cases of religious persecution, especially after the recent national elections. Reverend Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar, who moderated the meeting, said that Christians and people of faith faced a global challenge and needed to map out patterns of violence and its challenges. Prakash spoke about the challenges Christians face in India and how faith communities and civil society work for advocacy in the area. One of the instances discussed was the recent statement by a judge of the Allahabad High Court who said that unchecked and unlawful conversion of religion could lead to the majority becoming tomorrow's minority. The judge had remarked

Church leaders and rights activists have deplored the passing of sweeping changes to the anti-conversion law in a northern Indian state where Christians complain of harassment. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which provides for stricter punishment, including life imprisonment for fraudulent or forced conversion, was passed by the state assembly on July 30. Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, is ruled by the Hindu right-wing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The National Council of Churches in India, in a July 31 statement, said the amended law “violates the provisions of the Indian Constitution” and “adversely affects the harmonious life in India and the basic rights of its citizens.” “Conversion itself is not an offense unless induced by undue influence, misrepresentation, or coercion, which only the victim can claim,” stressed the council, an ecumenical forum of Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. Reverend Asir Ebenezer, council general secretary, said the amended law grants extensive authority to officials and any third parties and can be misused to target specific individuals or communities based on religious prejudice. “The law is a risk… for heightened harassment and criminalization of peaceful religious practices, including baptism in Christianity,” he added. The

A northern Indian state plans to amend its anti-conversion law, aiming to sharpen punishments against religious conversions. On July 29, the Uttar Pradesh state government proposed sweeping changes to its anti-conversion laws, including tightening bail conditions and increasing the maximum jail term from 10 years to life imprisonment. State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu monk-turned-politician, said the law — Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion — needs to be amended to address the problem of religious conversions. The proposed amendment states that a person who violates the provisions of the law can be imprisoned for 20 years or his or her entire life. The law criminalizes conversion by force, inducements, or fraudulent methods, which allows any Christian missionary activity to be construed as force or inducement for conversion. The current law allows a person to file a complaint against illegal conversion only if the complainant is a victim. Blood relatives of such victims can also file complaints. However, the proposed amendment widens the scope of complaints, saying, “Any information related to violation of the provisions of the Act can be given by any person” to police or authorities. In cases related to mass religious conversions, jail terms have been increased to 7-14 years from

People of India yearned to have a better change when they were fed up of rampant corruption that soared up all over the country during the long regime of the Congress dynasty. Then the BJP became the major alternative political party with commitment for innovative development programs. People of India chose the BJP to power with aspiration to get liberated from slavery of poverty, have self sufficiency, economic growth and development. With diligence the Saffron party rose to power in 2014 and got reelected in 2019 with a comfortable majority in Lok Sabha while the Congress was nearly completely decimated. It strengthened position even in the northeast and Nagaland. The slogans and catch phrases, ‘acche din anne wala hai’ and ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’ and good governance were systematically disseminated to attract and connect with the grass root level people. However, when ‘acche din’ arrived, religious minorities had to face persecutions in various places of India. Hidden agenda became open agenda. The Christians were often persecuted, their Churches vandalized and ostracized with false allegations of paid bribery for and forced conversions of Hindu believers into Christianity. The Dalits or SCs(Scheduled Castes)are placed at the lowest echelon of the Hindu society which

INCREASING THE maximum punishment from 10 years to life imprisonment; widening the ambit to allow any person to file a complaint; making bail more difficult — these are among the key changes proposed in the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024, tabled in the Assembly on Monday. Saying that the existing provisions under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, are “not sufficient”, the government sought to make its anti-conversion law more stringent. “Keeping in mind the sensitivity and seriousness of the crime of illegal religious conversion, the dignity and social status of women, and the organised and planned activities of foreign and anti-national elements and organisations in illegal religious conversion and demographic change, it has been felt that the amount of fine and penalty provided in the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act should be increased and the bail conditions should be made as stringent as possible,” said the Bill’s statement of reasons. “As the existing penal provisions of the Act are not sufficient to prevent and control religious conversion and mass conversion in respect of minor, disabled, mentally challenged person, woman or person belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled