India goes to the polls this week (April 19) to elect a new government amid growing concerns about the rising persecution of Christians. Release International says a top priority must be to repeal the divisive anti-conversion laws, which are leading to an increase in violence and arrests. Intolerance is growing towards other faiths as Hindu nationalism gains ground. Latest figures show an alarming rise in attacks against Christians and churches. Violence up 45% Two new reports record a dramatic increase in acts of violence against Christians. The Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) recorded a record 601 cases of persecution against Christians in India in 2023. That’s a 45 per cent increase. And the United Christian Forum say the violence has continued into the first quarter of 2024. Their latest report documents more than 160 attacks to the middle of March.India’s six week-long elections run from April 19 through to early June. Almost a billion people are due to vote to determine the future of the world’s largest democracy. UK-based Release International, which supports the persecuted Church worldwide, warns that unless India’s government takes action to calm the violence and overturn the culture of hostility, further bloodshed will result. ‘We have

More than 15 years after Nepal officially became a secular democracy, the former Hindu monarchy may have a religious extremism problem, incited and aggravated by its closest neighbor. In an “alarming” development, Indian Hindutva ideology and politics have begun to spread throughout the country, as local experts and journalists report. This proliferation has resulted in a recent spate of attacks and restrictions on Christians reported within the country of 30 million. According to local sources, at least five separate incidents targeting Christians have been reported in March and April of this year. “The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in Nepal is rapidly growing. Aiming to protect Hinduism, they degrade Christianity and badmouth us through social media and other sources,” said Kiran Thapa, who was arrested last month for praying for people in Kathmandu. In March, Thapa and several foreigners, all Christians, were visiting the Pashupatinath Temple, a religious World Heritage Site deeply venerated by local Hindus. When they entered the temple, they came across an elderly couple who were suffering with pain in their knees and back. The group offered to pray for them with the couple’s consent, and they subsequently reported that they were healed. More people then requested prayers from the group and reported

Six days after the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) directed all the Christian missionary schools to respect all faiths and traditions, and not to force Christian traditions on students of other religions, two Hindu organisations- Kutumba Surakshya Parishad and Hindu Surakshya Sena asked the CBCI to remove Christian symbols and separate churches from the school premises. The CBCI, the apex decision-making body representing the Catholic community in India, is running 14,000 schools, 650 colleges, seven universities, five medical colleges and 450 technical and vocational institutions nationwide. Addressing a press conference at Barpeta Press Club in Barpeta on Tuesday, Kutumba Surakshya Parishad president Satya Ranjan Borah appreciated and welcomed the recent guidelines issued by the CBCI regarding putting certain restrictions on traditional Christian practices in the Christian Missionary educational institution. Borah said he sent a 5-pages letter to Rev Fr Maria Charles, SDB, Secretary for Education and Culture of Catholic Bishops Conference of India on April 8 seeking detailing and clarification on certain aspects of the guidelines along with a date for formal discussion with CBCI to find out the permanent solution and to wrap up the differences of opinion and behaviour in between Christian Missionary educational institutions and the protesters. Earlier Borah along

Dimapur, April 10 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) today disputed the reported statement made by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio at the People’s Democratic Alliance coordination meeting on April 8 that the “NDPP-led Government will never compromise the faith and identity of Nagas.” “This is an utterly false statement,” stated the RPP in a press release while asserting that the “truth is far more sinister.” To buttress its claims, the Party pointed out that in 2010, Rio allegedly “approved the setting up of Rani Gaidinliu Library-cum-Memorial Museum” in Kohima, including site selection, which was later shelved. “Had the Library-cum-Memorial Museum materialised it would have become a centre of Heraka and RSS activities in the State,” the RPP maintained. The party further alleged that the Chief Minister has not uttered “even a single word against the persecution of Christians.” Unlike his Mizoram counterpart, he never condemned the burning of 249 churches and the persecution of Kuki-Zo community in Manipur, it added. The RPP also accused Rio of not voicing against Assam Healing Practices Act, which it asserted, would “imperil Christian missions.” He was on mute button when the Election Commission of India held counting on Sunday after the Tapi Assembly Constituency bye-election whereas Mizoram government

Christians have criticised a controversial bill in Assam that bans prayers for healing. The Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, threatens people who conduct so-called "magical healing" with harsh fines and even imprisonment, Crux reports. It makes "inhuman, evil, or magical healing practices" illegal and offenders face up to five years in prison or a maximum fine of 100,000 rupees. According to Crux, the Chief Minister of Assam said the bill was "an important milestone" in efforts to "curb evangelism in Assam." The bill was passed on February 26 and will need to be ratified by India's president Droupadi Murmu before it comes into force. Local Christians fear that it is a precursor to the introduction of anti-conversion laws that have been used in other states to crackdown on Christians. John Moolachira of Guwahati Archdiocese and president of the Assam Christian Forum shared his disbelief about the bill in comments to India's The Print. "We don't simply go around healing — it is part of our prayer. We have healing prayers like every other religion — when sick people come, we pray for them — individually, or by making them stand together in a group. We don't do magic to heal people. Why is the government making it illegal and

Eight Christians from a local house church in Chhattisgarh, India, were recently attacked and beaten in the street on their way home from their weekly worship gathering. The attack was predicated on the accusations of forced conversion activities and carried out by the same radical Hindu groups that have been behind many similar incidents.   According to a witness to the event, the mob began harassing the pastor and several of his congregants after they left the service. It didn’t take long before several other villagers joined the mob, and it became violent. The attackers beat them with sticks and clubs for some time before emergency services had to transport them to the ICU in order to care for their injuries.   The pastor sustained the worst of the injuries to both his head and chest, and he remained in critical condition for some time. He has led this church in his home for many years, and this is not the first time he has been subjected to brutal persecution. Still, he continues on in the work the Lord has called him to, serving the local church as much as he is able to.   In response to the incident, a local believer said, “The persecution has increased after

New Delhi: After the cancellation of the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) licences of five prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on April 3, the home ministry has said that the action was taken following “due process of law”, the Economic Times reported. CNI Synodical Board of Social Service, Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), Indo-Global Social Service Society, Church Auxiliary for Social Action and Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), are the five NGOs that lost their license. EFI general secretary Vijayesh Lal confirmed that their renewal application of FCRA licence was denied. “It is very surprising that the umbrella and representative body of Evangelical Christians in India and one that is involved in significant inter-faith, charity, and prayer initiatives to bless and unite the nation, is identified as a body that can ‘prejudicially’ affect inter-religious, or social harmony,” Lal told the Economic Times. “On the contrary, it is one of EFI’s main works to act as bridge builders and agents of reconciliation to bring together a society that is increasingly being fragmented on religious and political lines. We are still debating on the next course of action and will take a call on the same soon,” he added. It may be noted that EFI collects

Two Christians were arrested on Easter Sunday in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly violating the state’s sweeping anti-conversion law, media reports said. Police on March 31 intercepted two buses with 110 passengers, traveling from Kanpur to Unnao. They were allegedly heading for an event where a religious conversion event was taking place, according to the Times of India newspaper. Two people were arrested on charges of violating the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021, media reports said.Mahesh Kumar, assistant commissioner of police, said the accused - Simon Williams and Deepak Morris - promised 50,000 rupees (some US$600) each to the passengers if they embraced Christianity. Activists of the right-wing Hindu group Bajrang Dal alerted the police and the buses were intercepted."Apart from cash, they were assured jobs. The unmarried people were promised help in finding partners," Kumar added. Williams and Morris were arrested based on a complaint by Sunil Balmiki, one of the passengers who filed a complaint.“We are closely monitoring the case” of Williams and Morris, Christian activist Minakshi Singh told UCA News on April 2. Singh, general secretary of Unity in Compassion, a charity based in Uttar Pradesh, said that “it is too early to

India has seen over 150 incidents of anti-Christian discrimination and persecution so far in 2024. According to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the lives of Christians are under threat in 19 states in India. A new report from the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCF), an Indian ecumenical organization monitoring Christian persecution, says a total of 161 incidents of anti-Christian discrimination and persecution have been reported so far this year. ACN says almost 30 percent of the cases occurred in Chhattisgarh, a landlocked state in central India with a population of nearly 30 million people. According to the most recent census, 93.25 percent of the state is Hindu, 2 percent is Muslim, and just 1.92 percent are Christian. The Catholic organization says Chhattisgarh is notorious for the ostracization of Christians –“including villagers denying their neighbors the right to bury their dead according to Christian rites.” The state is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also is the ruling party of the national government.The UCF report came out in anticipation of the general elections for the lower house in India, which will be held between April 19 and June 1. The report, sent to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in

A Catholic bishop in Uttar Pradesh state on March 12 expressed relief after a court granted bail to a Catholic and 10 Protestants. “Finally, I am able to give you good news. The District Judge [in Barabanki] has granted bail to Father Dominic [Pinto] and all those who were arrested with him. Praise the Lord,” says a message from Bishop Gerald John Mathias of Lucknow. The 11 were in judicial custody since February 6, a day after they were arrested for allegedly trying to convert poor Hindus in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Bishop Mathias thanked all those who prayed and made sacrifices for the bail. “So many people including bishops, priests, sisters, lay faithful, and youth have been praying. God has finally heard our prayers,” he added. Besides Father Pinto, the court granted bail to Anil, Surju Prasad Gautam, Pawan Kumar, Sunil Pasi, Ghanshyam Gautam, Surendra Paswan, Rahul Paswan, Ramcharan Rawat, Dharmendra Kori and Suraj Gautham. On February 5, the police in Barabanki district arrested Father Pinto, 41, and others after some Hindu hardliners complained that they had conducted a mass religious conversion gathering at Navintha, the pastoral center of the Lucknow diocese. The following day, the Chief Judicial