The United Christian Forum, a human rights group with countrywide presence, has opposed the ‘draconian’ amendments to the anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh, saying it will further encourage misuse of the law. The Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed in the legislative assembly last month. The forum has presented a seven-point memorandum to UP governor Anandiben Patel and urged her not to notify the amendment law. The forum has argued that the proposed new law goes against the right to religious freedom guaranteed in the Constitution and that its provisions are opaque and prone to widespread misuse. At a media conference held in Lucknow on August 19, A.C. Michael, a functionary of the forum, said the existing anti-conversion law of the state was by itself under misuse. “There have been widespread instances of its misuse. People have been harassed due to personal enmity and with malicious intention, leading to unnecessary burden on the courts in terms of cases,” he said. Those who attended the media conference included former Lucknow University professor Ramesh Dixit, a renowned scholar of constitutional law and politics; human rights activist Meenakshi Singh; Father Denis Naresh Lobo, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Lucknow;

As the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has been appropriated by communal right wing politics, discussion around it in the public sphere has lost the larger emancipatory intention with which it was discussed and defended by the members of the Drafting Committee in the Constituent Assembly. Recent advocacy for a ‘secular civil code’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech has reinvigorated the debate, placing UCC at the forefront of public discourse. Whereas the right wing ruling dispensation sees UCC as a tool to punish Muslim men, the other side has largely only reacted to the arguments made by the ruling dispensation, without delving into the larger case that UCC presents. This article seeks to take UCC out of the cage of narrow religious politics and set it free into the larger realm of liberating values. It does so by presenting a case for the implementation of UCC by looking into the constitutionality of such a law and checks if UCC is a threat to the cultural plurality of India. The UCC has had its own share of history in Indian jurisprudence. It was heavily debated in the Constituent Assembly, found mention in reports of Law Commission and

The skies were blue over the 42nd Annual India Day Parade in New York City on 18 August, yet the entire event was overshadowed by over a week of protest surrounding a single one of the over 40 floats that flooded the streets of Manhattan. Controversy centered on the parade’s “centerpiece float,” which featured a replica of a new temple to the Hindu deity Rama. The temple, inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya in January 2024 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was built after a prolonged court battle over a site where a 16th-century mosque, the Babri Masjid, once stood. In 1992, a mob of 150,000 Hindu nationalists swarmed the mosque to destroy it. Uproar over the float came to a head on the eve of the parade. On 17 August, thirteen groups released a letter urging top U.S. law enforcement officials to investigate parade organisers and the hosts of the float for possibly violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by failing to disclose how their choice to promote the controversial temple advances the interests of the BJP, particularly considering New York’s Indian Consulate co-sponsored the parade. The same day, Indian Muslims of North America withdrew their float “since the integrity of the parade

In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court recently denied bail to a man charged under multiple sections, including the stringent Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The court underscored that the primary objective of the Act has been to ensure religious freedom for all citizens. This Act, the court observed, was necessary to ensure social harmony and upholding the secular fabric of the nation. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, who presided over the case, emphasized in his order that while the Constitution grants every individual the fundamental right to profess, practice, and propagate their religion, this right does not extend to a collective right to proselytize. He stated, "The right to religious freedom belongs equally to the person converting and the individual sought to be converted," highlighting the balance between individual rights and societal interests. The case that the Allahabad HC was hearing involved an accused named Azeem, who was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation). The charges also included violations under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. Azeem had been in jail

The police-administration team has taken big action in Mirzapur, UP. On Sunday, the administration bulldozed two churches built illegally on forest department land. Both the churches in Belkhara and Mohal Kummiya of Chunar forest range were running for eight years. The administration says that these churches were built only to convert people by luring them. The police-administration team has taken big action in Mirzapur, UP. On Sunday, the administration bulldozed two churches built illegally on forest department land. Both the churches in Belkhara and Mohal Kummiya of Chunar forest range were running for eight years. The administration says that these churches were built only to convert people by luring them. SP Mirzapur Abhinandan said, "A complaint was received that conversion activity was conducted by luring simple people in the church built illegally on forest land. The district administration has taken cognizance of this and taken legal action. The notice was issued after hearing by the SDM court. The illegal church was demolished for not filing a reply to the notice within the stipulated time. This article is originally published on https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/mirzapur/big-action-mirzapur-bulldozers-run-on-two-churches-being-used-for-conversion-201723385733333.html

More than 300 Christian leaders in the United States, including denominational heads, are calling on the U.S. State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) due to escalating violations of religious freedoms, particularly against Christians. The leaders, representing a wide range of denominations and Christian organizations, have expressed concern over the increasing violence and “systemic persecution under the Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. In a letter sent earlier this month, the leaders, including 18 bishops, three archbishops, and numerous clergy, highlighted the worsening situation for religious minorities in India since Modi’s government came to power in 2014. The letter, organized by the Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations in North America, is the first concerted effort by U.S. Christian leaders to address religious persecution in India. The letter attributes the surge in violence to a “Hindu ethno-nationalist or Hindutva supremacist political ideology,” which it claims has distorted both the Hindu religion and India’s constitutional secular democracy. This has led to state-sanctioned violence against Christians, Dalits, and other religious minorities, both in public and within state institutions. The leaders cite alarming statistics from the United Christian Forum, noting a sharp increase in attacks on Christians, from 127

The enforcement of Uttar Pradesh’s law against illegal religious conversions has led to significant legal action, but cases continue to emerge. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was incepted in 2020, and the law came into action in the year 2021. Since 2020, the state has registered 835 cases of illegal conversions, resulting in the arrest of 1,682 individuals as of July 31, 2024. The most significant actions have been reported in the Ghaziabad Commissionerate, Ambedkarnagar, Bhadohi, Saharanpur, and Shahjahanpur. Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar stated that senior officers were closely monitoring the investigations into these cases to ensure thorough scrutiny and enforcement. As part of the ongoing crackdown on illegal religious conversions in the state, the investigation is still active in 17 cases, according to Kumar. He emphasised that police officers had been directed to act based on solid evidence, ensuring that those who used allurement and illegal means for conversion would not be spared. Action will be taken against them, he said. To date, chargesheets have been filed in approximately 98% of the cases, amounting to around 818 cases, with 17 cases still under investigation. In total, 2,708 individuals have been named across the

NEW YORK, NY – The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) has strongly objected to the inclusion of an anti-Muslim float in the upcoming India Day Parade in New York City on August 18. The parade, organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, along with the Indian Consulate, Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, and the Federation of Indian Associations, has faced criticism for clashing with New York City’s values of inclusivity and respect. FIACONA has responded by launching an Open Letter, signed by over 300 clergy and lay leaders from various denominations, condemning religious persecution in India and the rise of Hindu supremacist nationalism in the U.S. The organization drew parallels between the persecution they have faced and the situation of Muslims in India, emphasizing their duty to speak out. FIACONA also expressed solidarity with Indigenous peoples, linking the destruction of sacred sites in the U.S. to similar acts in India. They warned that remaining silent on these issues would make Christians complicit in the injustices faced by Muslims in India. This article is originally published onhttps://hiindia.com/fiacona-expresses-concerns-over-anti-muslim-float-in-nyc-india-day-parade/