A Catholic archbishop in the central Indian Chhattisgarh state has urged his Catholics to remain united in their faith amid claims by a Hindu group of having converted about 250 Christian families to the Hindu religion. Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur told UCA News on Jan 29 that “it is time we should be united and firm in our faith as there will be attempts to divide people in the name of religion, caste and creed.” A group of some 1,000 people from 251 families, two of them Muslim and the rest Christian, were welcomed into the Hindu religion, reported Organiser, a mouthpiece of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an umbrella forum of pro-Hindu groups. The conversion ritual involves washing feet with water from the river Ganges. It was reportedly held on Jan. 27 in Raipur, the state capital, in the presence of Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, a Hindu seer, and Prabal Pratap Singh Judev, state secretary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Hindus who had once come under some pressure or greed, and joined other religions or sects

Incidents of vandalism and violence occurred in different parts of the country on Monday, 22 January — on the day of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The incidents were of varying scales ranging from sandals allegedly thrown inside a mosque and a shop being burnt in Telangana and a graveyard set on fire in Bihar, to violent skirmishes in different parts of Maharashtra. In Gujarat, an FIR has been registered after alleged stone-pelting on a Shobha Yatra celebrating the inauguration of the temple. Videos of hateful songs being played in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow have also gone viral. In Madhya Pradesh, a saffron flag with the Ram Temple’s image on it was planted on top of a Church a day before the ceremony. The ‘pran pratishtha’ or consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple took place in Ayodhya on Monday afternoon, with the first pooja done by PM Narendra Modi in the presence of Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and UP Governor Anandiben Patel. Telangana: Ruckus In Front Of Mosque, Shop Set On Fire In Telangana’s Narayanpet district, a procession celebrating the Ram Temple consecration arrived in front of Madina Masjid in Kosgi town, with music blaring from their DJ

The Indian government has banned World Vision India, one of the country's largest Christian voluntary organizations, from accepting foreign funds. “The federal government has indeed revoked our registration to receive foreign funds,” said an official attached to the Christian NGO.The ban will not adversely affect the agency's projects in the country that "are supported by the funds generated from within the country,” added the official who did not want to be named. The official of the child-focused NGO with a footprint in India spanning seven decades, however, refused to divulge details. The government's decision to cancel Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration will cripple World Vision India’s work in the country as domestic funds are insufficient to meet the cost of its country-wide operations, sources said. According to World Vision India, “close to 3,000,000 children and their families in 22 states “are benefiting from its humanitarian services.” The NGO has inked pacts with many state governments.The home ministry has not given reasons for canceling the NGO’s FCRA registration nor has it cited the date of the cancellation. The sources said the decision was taken this month.When UCA News contacted World Vision India's headquarters in the southern city of Chennai, senior officials refused to share details. World Vision India’s

A Mob Nearly 40 Members claiming as the member of Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh of Jeypore town near Lalguda Area beside B.S.N.L Office reached at the Newly under Construction Site of the Community Hall belongs to Christian Community alleging that the Christian are going to Build the Church , We will not allow the Church to be Constructed and assaulted the Working Labourers and the Members Present in the Spot and breaking down the under constructed Community Hall in Jeypore Town of Koraput District. One of the members presented in the Spot reported the information anonymously . The Members have dialed 100 Police Protection Officers however the officials have not yet reached while the report was written. Christian in the state of Odisha are living the state of Fear where they are losing the freedom to Worship and Construct the Community Hall because most of the time they are being beaten and their houses are being burnt down or broken the state of Odisha have witnessed these kind of incidents repeatedly. The leaders of Christian Community seek immediate intervention of the Koraput Police Officials for the Safety of Lives and Community Centre . This article is originally published on https://globaltvlive24x7.com/christians-believers-were-beaten-and-community-hall-broken-by-members-of-radical-hindutva-r-s-s-groups/

Kalanaur (Rohtak). Late Thursday night, Harpreet alias Harry, 16-year-old son of a church priest, was attacked with a knife by some youths in Ward 2 of the city. The body was stabbed at 9-10 places. He was admitted to PGI Rohtak in a bleeding condition, where his condition remained critical. Pastor Jasbir told that he had gone to Delhi on Thursday for some work. At around 7:30 in the evening, a call came from the daughter that some youths attacked brother Harpreet alias Harry with a knife on the railway road. He was taken to the civil hospital, where he was referred to PGI. The family members allege that the attack was carried out by the son of the former councilor of the municipality and his associates. The police were investigating till late night. Complainant Jasbir has lodged a complaint with the police against the accused and demanded appropriate action. At present, the police has met the injured in PGI, but due to his critical condition, his statement could not be recorded. At the same time, police station in-charge Deshraj says that the matter is not in his notice. This article is originally published on https://www.amarujala.com/haryana/rohtak/deadly-attack-on-pastors-son-in-kalanaur-10-stabs-with-knife-rohtak-news-c-17-roh1019-346420-2024-01-26?shareonApp

New Delhi: Several Christians in Chattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s Kunkuri constituency have alleged that members of a Hindutva group beat them up with sticks and harassed women members of the community on January 21. Based on a first information report lodged by one Shiv Prasad Mehto, the local pastor, Mahananda, and a few others had gone to Shiv’s house in Basudopur village under the jurisdiction of the Duldula Police Station for lunch on the day. On the way back, they were attacked by members of a Hindutva group. The Christian group was also purportedly questioned and asked not to visit the village again. Kishore, who was part of the Christian group told The Wire, “As we left Shiv’s house, they stopped us with sticks in hand. They were the same people who had been participating in Ram temple rallies regularly,” said Kishore. In various parts of north India, rallies have been taken out to celebrate the Ram temple which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day ago. Kishore further added, “They beat us and then dragged the women who tried to stop them onto the road.” Pastor Mahananda fell unconscious, and his family took him to a local Samudayik Swasthya Kendra, from where he was

KARNATAKA, India (BP) – A mob of 300 people beat and threatened to kill a Christian couple at a police station in Karnataka State, India, after the wife was falsely accused of forced conversion, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said Jan. 23. Beaten were Uppaladinni village residents Vijayalakshmi Chavhan and her husband Ashok. Police feigned an inability to stop the attack, sources told CSW. “This is part of a growing trend of social hostility towards religious minorities across India which the authorities must address as a matter of utmost urgency,” CSW founding president Mervyn Thomas said. “CSW is concerned for the Christians in Uppaladinni who have been singled out, harassed and attacked on account of their beliefs.” Religious conversions are criminalized in Karnataka and 11 other states in the majority Hindu country, punishable by yearslong prison sentences and monetary fines. Spiking persecution of Christians in India has led the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and other groups to urge the U.S. State Department to designate India a County of Particular Concern (CPC) for systematic, ongoing and egregious religious liberty violations. “The ERLC is deeply grieved to hear about the systematic mistreatment of our brothers and sisters in Christ in India,” Palmer Williams, ERLC general counsel

The persecution of minority Christians is going unchecked in Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian state where 17 members of the community, including pastors, have been jailed this month, Christian leaders say. Many Christians are fearful of practicing their faith as police terrorize the community with fabricated charges of religious conversion to appease hardline Hindu groups in the state, one Christian leader said on Jan. 25. In the latest case, police arrested two Christians including a pastor on Jan. 24 and a court remanded them to police custody on Jan.25. “We are trying to seek their bail, but it is unlikely that they will get bail as lower courts often remand those accused in religious conversion charges into judicial custody,” the Christian leader said on condition of anonymity. “Their only crime was conducting a routine prayer service and now they are in a police station,” he told UCA News. Those in jail also were charged with the same offense and were unable to get bail from the lower courts, he added. The situation is very alarming, said Father Anand Mathew, a priest of the Indian Missionary Society based in Varanasi, a city in the state that is home to hundreds of Hindu temples and shrines. “Holding a prayer meeting has become

India's prime minister opened a controversial temple Monday, dedicated to a Hindu deity, built on the ruins of a historic mosque. It's a big political statement for the populist leader who's seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state. It comes as a surge in violence against Christians has flared up in India, where millions believe the country belongs to Hindus. Many think all other religions must be eliminated from society, and several states have already enacted laws to punish non-Hindus. It's all part of a troubling trend emerging in the world's largest democracy. Millions of Indians believe the country belongs only to Hindus and that all other religions, including Christianity and Islam, must be wiped out. Human rights groups have accused India's Prime Minister and his government of supporting the extremist view. In recent years, it has led to a surge in violence against Christians often with tacit approval from the central government. At 16 years old, "Paul" was instructed to target Christians by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or R.S.S., a radical Hindu paramilitary organization. "Since I was a Hindu and part of the R.S.S., I became a staunch follower of their Hindu principles, and because of that, killing Christians and pastors

Christians in a central Indian state have demanded action against Hindu activists who climbed on the top of crosses in four churches and placed their flags as thousands joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open a contentious temple. Right-wing Hindu activists climbed on top of churches and placed their saffron flags on Jan. 21 in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district, inhabited predominantly by tribal communities. The state, a hotbed of anti-Christian violence, is run by Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Hindu activists shouted Jai Shree Ram (hail Lord Ram) as they targeted three churches of the Protestant Shalom Church and a church managed by the Church of South India. They threatened the Church people who opposed their sacrilegious act. “We informed the police, but they refused to register our complaint,” said Auxiliary Bishop Paul Muniya of the Shalom Church. “The police are forcing us to reach a compromise,” Muniya told UCA News. The flag-placing should be seen as part of the festivities linked to the Jan. 22 opening of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh state’s Ayodhya town, considered the birthplace of Ram. The controversial temple is perceived as the Hindu triumph over foreign religions as it was erected after the demolition of a 16th-century mosque built by Muslim invader Babar. Modi has asked people to decorate their houses and light oil