Archbishop Linus Neli of Imphal has called all Catholics in the eastern Indian state of Manipur to hold intense fast and prayer for reconciliation and peace May 3-5.“Let us persistently pray for the day when people of all ethnicities and religious communities can live together peacefully in this beautiful land of Manipur,” says a statement the archdiocese issued in early May. An ethnic clash that broke out May 3, 2023, between the Meitei and Kuki communities led to the death of hundreds and the displacement of 60,000 people.The Meitei people make up 53 percent of Manipur’s 2.8 million, population; the Naga people make up 24 percent, the Chin-Kuki-Mizo people make up 16 percent. Hindus and Christians each make up about 41 percent of the population, while Muslims make up just over 8 percent. The conflict was triggered by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand by mostly Meitei Hindus for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups, and get a share of government jobs. Ethnic violence has been a decades-old problem in Manipur state, where 700 people were killed in 1993 and the government took a year

In a significant and positive move, the apex body of Catholic bishops in India issued new guidelines to educational institutions under its jurisdiction in April to address what it called "emerging challenges due to the current socio-cultural, religious, and political situation" in the country According to the guidelines, all educational institutions under its jurisdiction must inscribe the preamble to the Indian Constitution on the main entrance to all schools and must ensure students recite the preamble during daily assemblies. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has also directed schools to refrain from imposing Christianity on students of other religions, and Catholic schools should have an inter-religious prayer room, known as 'Sarvadharma Prarthanalay, on the school premises. The Catholic Church operates around 14,000 schools at the elementary and secondary levels, 650 colleges, seven universities, five medical colleges, and over 400 technical and vocational institutions. The Catholic bishops are leaving no stone unturned to promote a climate of respect for all faiths in our country, which is home to diverse religions and ethnicities. The latest initiative is also seen as an endeavour to reinforce India's secular ethos at a time when attacks against Christians and minorities by both State and non-State actors are increasing

Nearly one year since violent clashes tore apart Manipur State in northeast India, Christians still need your prayers and help It’s been nearly a year since Manipur State in northeastern India was rocked by violence. The clashes, mostly between the Christian-majority Kuki tribe and the mostly Hindu Meitei people group, left hundreds dead and thousands displaced. Christians were particularly targeted—believers were killed or forced to flee, and churches and homes were burned. Even Meitei Christians, who are mostly converts from Hinduism, were targeted by extremist Hindus in the attack. While the height of the violence took place a year ago, skirmishes and violent outbreaks have continued. Just recently on April 12, gunfire and clashes between the community continued, with two Christian believers from the Kuki tribe shot dead while two from the Meitei community were injured. And the Indian elections, which began on April 19, saw more violence. On the day of the elections, Hindu extremists attacked polling booths, vandalized ballot machines, and even cast votes on behalf of other citizens. Clashes and gunfire near voting booths have startled and scared locals. This video from India Today shows the chaos of election day, with stone throwing and even a recovered bomb. “On the day of the election,

On 22 January 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ram temple in Ayodhya at the site where the Babri mosque once stood, marking the unofficial start of the general elections campaign by his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).1 The construction of the temple, which had served as a rallying cry for Hindu nationalists since the mosque’s demolition by a Hindu mob, stirred up sentiments of Hindu pride across the country, with the BJP leading the celebrations.2 On the other hand, the principal opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), boycotted the ceremony, accusing the BJP of politicizing religion.3 The fanfare surrounding the inauguration also overlooked the temple’s deadly origins, prompting concern over the turn toward majoritarianism in Indian society.4 The Babri mosque, constructed under the reign of the Mughal emperor Babar, was believed to have stood upon the birthplace of the Hindu Lord Ram, making it a point of contention between India’s Hindu and Muslim communities for nearly two centuries.5 Following nationwide mobilization by senior BJP leaders to reclaim the Ram Janmabhoomi (birthplace), a Hindu mob demolished the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992.6 In the years since, the Ram Mandir (temple) remained a focal point of the Hindu nationalist movement, with the BJP

In the mineral-rich heartland of India’s Bastar region in the state of Chhattisgarh, a severe onslaught against indigenous communities, known as Adivasis, is currently unfolding. The Indian government officially recognizes the major Adivasi community in the region, the Madia, as a “particularly vulnerable tribal group.” Despite this recognition, the ongoing state-led aggression against them poses a grave threat to their existence, putting thousands of lives at stake. At the heart of this unfolding tragedy lies the Indian government’s steadfast commitment, echoed by the declarations of Home Minister Amit Shah, to eradicate Maoist revolutionaries by the end of 2024. In their pursuit of a “Maoist-free India,” state forces have intensified their operations in 2024. Over the past four months, they have killed eighty-two Adivasis and Maoists. On April 16 alone, security forces killed twenty-nine Adivasis and Maoists, fifteen of whom were women. To carry out this bloodshed, the Indian state has deployed not only thousands of local police operatives but also more than ten thousand troops from border security and paramilitary forces as well as special counterinsurgent units. They have established hundreds of military camps across Adivasi terrain to terrorize and eliminate them. Military and police camps have been strategically established at intervals of

In the contemporary global landscape, marked by dynamic geopolitical shifts and transformative economic paradigms, nations are actively realigning their diplomatic strategies, placing strategic goals on par with economic advancements. However, amidst these pursuits, there is a concerning tendency among states to overlook critical moral imperatives. This oversight is particularly evident in the context of Hindu nationalism in India, where the prioritization of political and economic objectives often eclipses the essential considerations of moral standards and human rights. The rise of majoritarian politics in India under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—a political wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has significant implications for minority rights, democracy, and regional stability. BJP—an electoral front of the ‘Sangh Parivar’ (a consortium of Hindu Nationalist outfits who firmly believe in their religion based political ideology or ‘Hindutva’).  As per this ideology, India is a homeland exclusively for Hindus wherein other religious communities can only have second class citizenship Hindu nationalists advocate for a homogenized Hindu identity, excluding Muslims and other minorities like Christians, Sikhs and scheduled castes, while minorities resist assimilation and assert their distinct identities. This dynamic fuels tensions and impedes efforts towards peaceful coexistence. This article examines the implications of Hindu extremism for minority rights, democracy, and regional

In India's elections, 970 million are eligible to vote, including 22.31 million Christians. Despite their numbers, Christians remain nearly invisible in electoral discussions, overshadowed by prevailing xenophobic narratives and policies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration. With two of seven rounds of the great Indian elections over, it is a very long wait for the results on June 4, when the world will know if an election campaign based on xenophobic hate can still sway the people of an India preparing to land a man on the moon next year. But perhaps no one will be as anxious about the results as India’s estimated 200 million Muslims and 30 million Christians. The numbers remain an approximation, extrapolated from the 2011 census. The 2021 census was not held in the wake of the Covid pandemic. It is not known when the census will now be held. For the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, approximately 970 million people out of a population of 1.4 billion people are eligible to cast their vote.  Among them would be about 22.31 million Christian voters. This is seemingly a large number, but Christians are all but invisible in the election debate. Both communities, however, have borne the brunt of laws and programs

The Indian church, Catholic or Protestant, does not usually find it easy to discern which way the political wind is blowing. It is even much less adept at sensing the undercurrents. A “safety first” impulse makes Catholic prelates in Kerala and Mumbai sing high praises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and get into his good graces. This was seen at its most embarrassing at Modi’s infamous Christmas party in New Delhi last year. It was attended by people ranging from Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai to the wealthiest gold merchants and loan sharks from Kerala. This they do, it is popularly believed, to save their educational and other institutions from the greed and the wrath of government which sees Christianity as alien, and Christians just a little less vile than Muslims, which the ruling party deems to be vermin, “deemak” or termites as Federal Home Minister Amit Shah described them once. Occasionally, as in the headquarters of a Kerala-based church, it also keeps India’s terrifyingly powerful financial and criminal investigating agencies away from the abbey door. Evangelical groups such as the Believers Eastern Church, created by the US-based Gospel for Asia’s India-born founder K P Yohannan, have gone so far out as to officially

I have just returned from a week-long visit to New Zealand and was pleasantly delighted to learn that 48.2% of the population does not identify with any religion (irreligion) or any sub-divisions that arise to divide the population into classes of hierarchy. Australia, the second nation I just visited, is characterized by a primarily Christian populace, though 38.9% of the population does not affiliate with any one religion. While China reports that 25.2% of its people do not adhere to any religious beliefs, Russia asserts that 24% of its extensive population does not affiliate with any particular religion. India, however, presents a colorful picture of its affiliations. 99.79% of the population identifies with the world’s largest religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, and others. India is a diverse country with over 4,635 ethnic groupings, where Hinduism is the major religion followed by nearly 80% of the people. Nevertheless, Hinduism is not a homogeneous entity; it is fragmented into intricate hierarchies of subgroups and subcategories based on caste. The intricate caste (Varna) system in India has its roots in the Hindu scriptures, which categorized Hinduism into four main castes: Brahmins (priests), Vaishyas (merchants), Kshatriyas (warriors), and Shudras (laborers), with the occasional inclusion

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it,” Hitler’s propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, reportedly said. (In reality, he insisted, “Good propaganda does not need to lie, indeed it may not lie.”)The U.S. State Department’s latest Human Rights Report on India is the epitome of good propaganda. It is so good, in fact, that were Goebbels among us today, he would praise it as “gaslighting.”Meanwhile, its timing would put a metronome to shame: The report has been released to coincide with India’s elections, which began April 19 and will roll out in waves across the subcontinent until June 1. Reuters published a story on the State Department on April 23, as nearly a billion Indians headed to the polls. Biden’s Gift to Modi The report is Joe Biden’s gift to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who, shamelessly supported by India’s lapdog media, is poised to win a third term in power in what analysts have described as “the most predictable polls India has held in decades.” Christians (and Muslims) have already suffered the worst persecution in recent history under Modi, an activist in India’s extremist para-military Hindu outfit: the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), whose Hitler-inspired ideology asserts that India belongs to Hindus