Christian organizations in Assam are calling for legal action against Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Surendra Kumar Jain after his controversial remarks accusing churches in the state of involvement in drug trafficking. The Hindutva leader, Jain made these statements on Sunday, October 27, while felicitating a local freedom fighter Joya Thaosen at an event in Haflong, Dima Hasao District. During his speech, Jain connected churches with drug trafficking asserting that the practice was negatively impacting the region. His comments have prompted significant outrage among local Christian groups. Christian leader’s joint statement On Tuesday, November 5, Several Christian organisations including the United Christian Forum of Dimahasou, the United Christian Forum of Karbi Anglong, and the Assam Christian Forum (ACF) issued a statement a joint statement condemning the Jain’s statement while expressing “deep shock and dismay.” They stated that the VHP leader’s statement was appalling and ‘rude’ and sorely polarized the society. In response to Jain’s accusations, the ACF described the allegations as “frivolous” and as part of a plan to isolate the Christian population. They pointed out that such statements are not only distorting the function of the church in society but also undermining the traditions of inter-Christian harmony in Assam. Other Christian leaders have strongly criticized

India’s path toward 2047, the centenary of its independence, reveals a troubling paradox. Once celebrated for its pluralism and diversity, India is now grappling with an ideological shift that threatens to unravel its inclusive foundation. Since 2014, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the rise of Hindutva ideology, an ideology that blends Hindu identity with Indian nationalism, has reshaped India’s domestic and international reputation, challenging the very principles on which the country was founded. If this trend continues, India could face a perilous future marked by fragmentation, deepening social divides, and international condemnation. The evolution of Hindutva from a fringe ideology to a political force is at the heart of India’s transformation. Under Modi’s leadership, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promoted a vision of India as a Hindu nation, alienating minority communities and redefining national identity. This shift is meticulously documented in The Atlantic (2022), which observes how Hindu nationalism, now a political mainstream, has embedded itself into India’s state machinery, influencing policies that many argue discriminate against religious minorities, particularly Muslims. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) are two such policies. The CAA, for example, fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from neighboring countries, signaling

Not a “natural partner” of the US, India is a “wild card” in the Quad. The grouping is built more on geopolitical pragmatism than on shared liberal-democratic norms and values. After the 2024 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Delaware, United States in September, commentators have raised concerns over the relevance of the minilateral grouping, asking if the Quad “has lost its way” or if it “is here to stay.” Our research resonates with these concerns, and is driven by an empirical puzzle: despite the resuscitation of the Quad in November 2017, Quad 2.0 had not taken any quadrilateral collective action until 2021. In 2017-20, the four states had neither held leaders’ summit meetings nor issued joint statements after lower-level meetings. Contrary to conventional wisdom, India’s national identity has not been built on conceptions of democratic legitimacy, but premised on a complex amalgamation of non-alignment, post-imperial ideology, Hindu nationalism, and Indian exceptionalism. India’s attitude towards the Quad is shaped by how it perceives China and the US in light of India’s evolving views on external forces that define its identity and represent a “pre-eminent danger”—the so-called “Significant Other.” India inherited an electoral democratic system from Britain when it achieved independence in 1947. However, its post-colonial

It was probably a matter of time before the United States called India out for religious intolerance. In its latest annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). This designation, signaling severe concerns over religious freedom and human rights, emerges amid rising communal tensions and a deteriorating climate for religious minorities across India. The implications of this designation are broad, touching on domestic policy, civil liberties, and India’s complex relations with the United States. The USCIRF, an independent U.S. federal advisory body, annually evaluates religious freedom worldwide, recommending certain countries for CPC status based on persistent, systemic violations against religious communities. This designation considers government policies, societal hostility, and sweeping human rights concerns. Since gaining independence in 1947, India has maintained a secular democratic framework. However, recent years have seen growing fears for the safety and rights of its religious minorities—especially Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs. Many argue that policies promoted by Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have intensified societal divisions and undermined India’s secular principles enshrined in its Constitution. The USCIRF report highlights an alarming increase in anti-Muslim violence, including mob lynchings and other forms of targeted persecution. High-profile

Senior VHP leader Surendra Jain’s purported claim that the Church has contributed to the drug menace in Assam’s Dima Hasao district has prompted the “shocked, hurt and dismayed” Christian community to convene a meeting of Church leaders on Monday to discuss the “baseless allegation” and come up with a “suitable response”. According to the United Christian Forum of Dima Hasao (UCFD), the apex body of Church organisations in the district, the meeting will be held in Haflong, the district headquarters, and will be attended by church leaders from the district and neighbouring states. “We don’t know why they (VHP) are blaming the Church for the drug menace. The only reason I could fathom is that they want to divide the people along the line of faith or why would they blame us? We are shocked, hurt and dismayed,” UCFD president Rev DC Haia Darnei told The Telegraph on Saturday. “The objective of the meeting will be to discuss the baseless allegation levelled by the gentleman (Jain) and make the people aware of the issue. We will also discuss what would be the best way to respond to the allegation, including filing a formal complaint with the authorities,” Darnei added. Drug is a problem in

New Delhi: Members of 25 South Asian communities in Canada have written an open letter to the country’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging the government to list the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates in Canada as hate groups/far right extremist entities. The development comes amid an unprecedented escalation of tensions between India and Canada over Ottawa’s allegations that Indian government agents were involved in killing pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023. “The recent RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) announcement has revealed the “involvement of agents of the Government of India in serious criminal activity in Canada” and that the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies in Canada have investigated and charged a “significant number of individuals for their direct involvement in homicides, extortions and other criminal acts of violence.” The assassination of a Canadian Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, and its alleged hand by India’s Hindu nationalist government appears to be the tip of the iceberg,” says the statement from the members of the South Asian communities. “The Guardian reports that the “allegations of an India campaign of transnational violence and harassment have emerged not only in Canada but in the US, UK and Pakistan, where

Dozens of organisations and individuals have criticised Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, for partnering with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (UK), a known Hindutva group, for this year’s Diwali celebration in London. The event, held on Sunday, 27 October 2024, at Trafalgar Square, is considered one of the largest Diwali celebrations outside India and was organised by the Diwali in London Committee, a coalition of various organisations in collaboration with the Mayor’s office. The VHP has faced accusations of orchestrating the 2002 Gujarat Muslim genocide, which resulted in the mass murder of at least 2,000 people. In an inquiry report on the Gujarat genocide, first cited by the BBC in its documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled India: The Modi Question and later accessed by Maktoob, the United Kingdom government alleged that the violence was “planned, possibly in advance” by the VHP. The VHP was founded by M.S. Golwalkar, who also established the paramilitary Hindu supremacist organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS serves as the parent organisation for numerous Hindutva groups, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling party. An open letter addressed to Mayor Khan condemned the inclusion of the VHP-UK in the Diwali festivities, along with other organisations accused

Hyderabad: In an effort to address longstanding discrimination, several Christian organisations convened in Hyderabad to advocate for the inclusion of Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Castes (SC) category. The All India United Christians Movement for Equal Rights (AIUCMER), in collaboration with the Telangana United Christians and Pastors Association (TUCPA), National Dalit Christian Watch (NDCW), and other supporting bodies, called upon the Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Commission to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which currently excludes Dalit Christians from SC status. The leaders highlighted that Paragraph 3 of the 1950 Order restricted the reservation benefits to individuals professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, thereby excluding those who have converted to Christianity. This exclusion, they argued, perpetuated socio-economic disadvantages for Dalit Christians, who continue to face discrimination akin to their counterparts in other religions. “Faith should not determine one’s access to constitutional rights,” stated Bro. Jos Daniel, President of AIUCMER. He stressed that religious conversion did not alleviate the socio-economic hardships faced by Dalit Christians. Echoing this sentiment, Goneh Solomon Raj, general secretary of TUCPA, added, “The government’s reluctance to amend Paragraph 3 has perpetuated inequality for Dalit Christians.” The delegation discussed the past recommendations by various commissions, including the Mandal and Ranganath Misra Commissions, which

Around 3,000 Christians from various denominations have demonstrated near the Indian parliament in New Delhi, expressing concern against intensifying incidents of persecution across the mainly Hindu country. The Delhi-National Capital Region Christian Fellowship organized the demonstration on Oct. 26 at the Jantar Mantar—an area near the parliament allotted for public rallies and protests in the capital, UCA News reported. "A staggering 585 incidents targeting Christians were recorded so far this year till September," said Michael William, president of the United Christian Forum (UCF), a Christian rights group that tracks violence against Christians in India. The UCF said it recorded a total of 733 incidents of violence against Christians for the whole of 2023, an average of 61 incidents a month. Still, the UCF said it had not included atrocities against Christians in the northeastern state of Manipur, where tribal Christians have been subjected to 17 months of communal violence that claimed over 230 lives, most of them Christians. William said repeated pleas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other government departments, such as the Home Ministry and the national minority commission, have proved futile. Organizers said in a statement that the demonstration aimed to attract government attention to Christians' "deep anguish" over the "targeted violence" they