Around 50 members of the Akhil Bharati Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, entered the premises of St. Peter Higher Secondary School in the Diocese of Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh this past July — and placed portraits of Hindu goddesses. The ABVP members targeted the statues of St. Peter and Mary, demanding that they be replaced with portraits of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, who is regarded as the patron of knowledge, and Bharat Mata, which represents Mother India, on the school premises. However, this was not the first such attack. In February, a poster telling Christian schools to remove Jesus and Mary appeared in the northeast state of Assam. Father Mathew Anchukandam, the archdiocesan vicar-general, mentioned that similar posters were discovered that month, prompting Christian schools to seek police protection and file complaints with the state government. Dr. Michael Williams, secretary for the Forum of Minority Schools, said people who commit such crimes think that they will get national attention. However, they have neglected to remember the important role played by the Christian schools in educating Indian youth. The enduring presence and contribution of Christian schools — built by Catholics and other denominations — across India highlight their pivotal

Every day, two Christians in India face attacks, according to data compiled by the United Christian Forum (UCF), an ecumenical organization that tracks atrocities against Christians in the country. "Targeted violence against minority Christians has been rising sharply year after year since 2014," said A.C. Michael, national convenor of UCF. In 2014, there were 127 recorded incidents of violence against Christians. The numbers have escalated steadily, with 142 cases in 2015, 226 in 2016, 248 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020, 505 in 2021, 601 in 2022, and 734 in 2023. By the end of August 2024, 489 incidents had already been reported. Many of these attacks stem from the misuse of the Freedom of Religion Act (FORA), a law that criminalizes religious conversions in several Indian states. False accusations of forced conversions are frequently used to justify violence against Christians. Persecution and discrimination have become more common in the Hindu-majority country, especially since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. Under BJP rule, church leaders have repeatedly called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the increasing number of attacks on Christians and their institutions, but their appeals have largely gone unanswered. India, with a population of

US Senator Tim Kaine criticizes India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for severely restricting NGOs from receiving global donations. He highlights that this act hampers organizations like Amnesty International and the Sambhali Trust, ultimately affecting the beneficiaries of their services. Kaine advocates for attention to this issue, highlighting its broader implications on human rights and development efforts. US Senator Tim Kaine has criticized India's Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for making it exceptionally difficult for NGOs to receive foreign donations. Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on 'Anti-NGO Laws and Other Tools of Democratic Repression,' Kaine underscored the impact of the 2010 and 2020 amendments that restrict NGO operations. Kaine highlighted that organizations like Amnesty International and the Sambhali Trust have substantially curtailed their activities due to funding difficulties imposed by the FCRA. He stressed that these restrictions not only hamper human rights activists and NGOs but also affect the beneficiaries who rely on their services. Emphasizing the broader implications, Kaine stated that while the US-India relationship remains crucial, the US must pay attention to these restrictive measures that undermine development and human rights efforts. He noted that although agencies have helped some NGOs like the Sambhali Trust, many others continue

New Delhi: A gathering of prominent social and human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, academicians, and political leaders was held at Jawahar Bhawan here Saturday to discuss the growing challenges faced by religious minorities in India, particularly Muslims and Christians. The event, organized by ANHAD and the United Christian Forum, focused on the theme “The Quest for Equality and Justice,” examining the current status of these communities in contemporary India. The program also paid tribute to Sitaram Yechury, recognizing his lifelong dedication to promoting equality and justice. John Dayal, a veteran human rights defender, was the first speaker to honor Yechury. Dayal highlighted Yechury’s major contributions during his 12 years in the Rajya Sabha, where he advocated for religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians. He pointed out that under both the first NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the current Modi regime, the laws and actions taken by the BJP were designed to target both religious minorities simultaneously. Dayal drew attention to the weaponization of anti-conversion laws and the Uniform Civil Code, emphasizing how these measures have been used to suppress Christians and Muslims alike. Dr. Dayal also reflected on the misuse of bulldozers as a tool of intimidation. While initially

NEW DELHI: At least 33 people have been arrested by Indian police after fresh ethnic violence rocked the northeastern state of Manipur, where the authorities have imposed a curfew and blacked out the internet. Violence broke out in May this year between the majority Hindu Meiteis and the mainly Christian Kuki tribe. At least 200 people have been killed in the resultant ethnic conflict so far. Fighting of late has been particularly intense, with at least 11 reportedly killed in the latest round of violence. The conflict has seen increased rocket fire and bombs dropped from drones, described by police reports as a “significant escalation”. Following the violence, Manipur Police said that 33 people and seven juveniles have been detained in jail. The state authorities have enforced a shutdown of internet services in different areas, similar to the prolonged shutdown last year. A curfew has also been imposed. Hundreds of protesters defied the curfew imposed by the authorities in the state capital, Imphal, demanding action against Kuki insurgent groups, whom they blame for the recent attacks. Grounds of ethnic tensions lie in the long-running disputes over land and jobs in the public sector between Meitei and Kuki communities. And critics say that local

The Congress-led Karnataka government is yet to take a clear stance on whether Dalits who have converted to Christianity or Islam should receive the same reservation benefits as Scheduled Castes (SCs). This issue has recently come under scrutiny during a two-day meeting led by the Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Commission, which was held recently in the state to gather feedback on social welfare policies. A senior official from the Social Welfare Department has disclosed that the government remains “uncommitted” regarding the extension of SC benefits to Dalit converts. The official stated, “Karnataka can refrain from taking a stand on the issue as Dalit converts already fall under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.” This position reflects the current policy, where Dalit Christians and Muslims benefit from reservations under the OBC category. At present, Karnataka provides a 4% reservation for Dalit Christians under Category 2-B. Dalit Muslims can access benefits through 17 Muslim communities listed in Category-1 and 19 communities in Category 2-A. Christians and Jains are classified under Category 3-B. The state has been cautious about modifying these categories, noting that states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have already granted SC reservation to Dalit converts. “There is a debate at the government level

A pastor and several members of his church were beaten on Sunday as Hindu nationalists attacked a worship service in Odisha on Sunday, accusing the church of forcefully converting Hindus to Christianity. Those who conducted the attack in the city of Bhubaneswar included members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), the self-avowed protector of the Hindu religion, and Bajrang Dal, an RSS offshoot that is prone to violent attacks on minority communities. According to reports, the church had recently rented a three-story building to conduct its worship services. After the RSS and Bajrang Dal learned that more than 100 people were attending the church’s services, they decided to attack the church and make false allegations of forced conversions. Police arrived at the church and took some people, including Christians, to the police station for questioning. Members of the two Hindu nationalist organizations surrounded the police station in protest of the Christians. The situation only calmed down after a leader of the police arrived. Anti-conversion laws are increasingly used against churches and individual Christians throughout India. Meanwhile, another large Hindu gathering, or Hindu Mahasabha, has been announced in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district. The event follows on the heels of another large gathering commemorating the 18th anniversary

According to the Times of India, Uttar Pradesh arrested 1,682 under its strict anti-conversion law and has registered 835 cases – mainly against Christians. And Uttar Pradesh is moving to tighten that law. A new bill increases the maximum penalty for fraudulent or forced conversion to 20 years with provision for life imprisonment. Some 12 states in India have now passed anti conversion laws, reflecting the rise in Hindu religious nationalism and accompanying intolerance in the country. Intolerance rising Intolerance against Christians has been growing since the election of the nationalist BJP government in 2014. The party’s re-election in June has strengthened the hand of Hindu militants, and it is BJP-governed states that are leading the anti-conversion charge. The Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) recorded a record 601 cases of persecution against Christians in India last year – a rise of 45 per cent. They say 440 pastors were arrested in 2023. And in the first six months of 2024 there were 361 attacks against Christians, according to India’s United Christian Forum (UCF). The growing Hindutva nationalist movement aims to keep India a Hindu nation and to prevent Hindus from converting to Islam or Christianity. These spreading anti-conversion laws are a one-way street.

The problem with “fascism” as a description of any modern political tendency is that the term is a weapon of mass destruction that flattens the landscapes that it wants to describe. Fascism is so freighted with historically specific meaning that using it for other times and places can seem sloppy and excessive. And yet, juxtaposing the politics of contemporary south Asia with fascism, in its Nazi variant, serves a double purpose: it connects modern Indian majoritarianism with one of its ideological ancestors and it helps us name and identify the ideological kernel of fascism that survived to fight another day. India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is the political arm of a Hindu militia, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), founded in 1925, around the time Adolf Hitler began to find his political bearings in a routed, angry Germany. The RSS is a nationalist militia that defines India as a Hindu nation; only Hindus can be members. While there are many similarities between the RSS and the fascist paramilitary organisations of the prewar decades, from uniformed drills and distinctive salutes to a persistent anxiety about masculinity, at the core of both is a feral ethnic nationalism that aims to mobilise