Indian pastor, wife freed after 30 days behind bars
Court says police cannot prove the couple were converting people to Christianity A Protestant couple accused of religious conversion in a northern Indian state has been released from jail after spending 30 days behind bars. “Pastor John and his wife were granted bail and were released on March 27 after a district court observed that allegations of religious conversion against them could not be proved,” their lawyer, who did not want to be named, told UCA News on March 29. Pastor Santosh John and his wife, Jiji John, were arrested on Feb. 26 following complaints of religious conversion by Bajrang Dal, a group of Hindu hardliners, in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state which is ruled by the pro-Hindu party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The lawyer said that “the hardline Hindu group could not give any solid evidence” against the couple who were picked up while conducting Sunday prayers in the state's Ghaziabad district. “The allegation that the pastor and his wife distributed some T-shirts, pamphlets and conducted prayer services at their rented house does not prove that they have been forcing people to change religion,” the court observed while releasing the couple. Minakshi Singh, a Christian activist who helped the couple secure bail, said it
Indian state backs welfare benefits for Dalit Christians
Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam are currently excluded from India’s affirmative action program A provincial government in southern India has urged the Indian federal government to award scheduled caste status to Christians who were former untouchables to enable them to claim welfare benefits. The Andhra Pradesh government on March 24 passed a resolution in its legislative assembly to support Christians from the Dalit community becoming a Scheduled Caste (SC) which, if approved by the central government could one day allow them social benefits they are currently excluded from. These benefits include reservations in legislative bodies, educational institutions, and job quotas in state-run institutions. “Somewhere or somebody has to start it for this noble cause, hence we appreciate and thank the Andhra Pradesh government for taking such a step as it is in the right direction and at the right time,” Father Vijay Kumar Nayak, secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Scheduled Castes and Backward Castes, told UCA News on March 27. “The Andhra Pradesh government’s support will have an immense impact" “It’s the need of the hour,” he added. Father Nayak said other states like Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal already support the claim by Dalit Christians to
Demand to scrap welfare benefits for India’s tribal Christians
Hindu nationalist group in northeast Assam state calls conversion to foreign religion threat to indigenous faith, culture A Hindu nationalist organization has asked the Indian government to end welfare benefits to indigenous people who have embraced Christianity and Islam, which they say are foreign-origin religions. Binud Kumbang, working president of the Janajati Dharma Sanskriti Suraksha Mancha, an affiliate of the pro-Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh working among indigenous communities, told a gathering in northeastern Assam state, that “conversion of indigenous people to foreign religions has been a threat” to the faith and culture of indigenous people, who constitute 8.6 percent of India’s 1.3 billion population. “The converted people completely give up their original tribal culture, customs, rituals, and traditions,” he told the gathering in Guwahati city of Assam on March 26. Kumbang and his organization claim to be working to liberate indigenous communities "from the clutches of foreign religions." In India, Christianity and Islam are considered foreign-origin religions, while Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism are said to be of indigenous origin. Indigenous people are classed as scheduled tribes while Dalits, former untouchables, are called scheduled caste. As part of the affirmative action plan devised in 1948, the federal and provincial governments provide social benefits like reservations in legislative
US report censures Indian states’ anti-conversion laws
USCIRF has called for repealing the laws to comply with the global human rights regime of which India is a signatory The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for the repeal of anti-conversion laws in India that have been enacted by state governments and often misused to prosecute Christians in the country. The commission, a US federal government entity, on March 14 said in its latest report, compiled after an extensive study, that the sweeping anti-conversion laws in India are inconsistent with the international human rights regime. More Indian states are considering introducing such laws, it added. The commission has recommended that the US State Department designate India as a country of “particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act. According to the report, anti-conversion laws are in force in 12 of India’s 28 states. “The anti-conversion laws also worsen religious freedom conditions in India, which are already poor,” the report said. “Such laws enable and embolden existing government harassment, vigilante violence, and discrimination against religious minorities, as well as crackdowns on civil society organizations,” it noted. It has also stressed the need for repealing these laws to comply with international human rights treaties to which India is a signatory. The report comes at
Constitution And Conversion: Does Right To Propagate Religion Mean Right To Proselytise, What’s Scope Of Article 25?
Article 25 of the Constitution of India provides the freedom to practise, profess, and propagate religion, but does it also cover the right to proselytise and convert others? The Supreme Court addressed the question of whether right to propagate also means right to proselytize in Stainislaus (1977) verdict Archana Hande’s installation ‘My Kottige’ is her innovative take on urbanisation and changing times. In her artwork, she has arranged discarded things as a witness of their time and spac “One of the most sacred principles of law is, that a written instrument must be construed upon the face of it, and that no parol evidence can be used for the purpose of inserting any words not therein contained.” — Sir R. Malins, High Court of England and Wales (1868) The founders of modern India chose a very clear path for the new country — a republic with no state religion where everyone would be free to practise any faith. This is enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution of India as the Right to Freedom of Religion. “Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
Modi ‘scolding’ Albanese on temple vandalism smacks of double standards
An Australian newspaper unambiguously stated that their Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, “received a public scolding from another world leader while conducting business overseas” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to publicly raise the issue of some incidents in recent weeks, such as acts of vandalism on Hindu temples in Australia by alleged pro-Khalistan groups, is, first and foremost, an instance of boorish diplomacy. Barely a day after exhibiting the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the cricket stadium named after him in Ahmedabad to bolster his popularity, Modi’s decision to rake up the issue at a joint press conference in New Delhi smacks of double standards. It is simultaneously a conspicuous violation of the much-repeated saying, Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest is akin to God). This was the second time that Modi staged a grandiose event with an international leader at the erstwhile Motera Stadium. He mounted such a theatrical extravaganza for the first time in February 2020 when then-American President Donald Trump visited India and joined a rally that pledged support to Modi who was weathering the political storm created by the anti-CAA agitation. Unhappy with Modi’s treatment of their prime minister, at least one Australian newspaper and leading website, The Australian, in a news
114-year-old Christian hospital in Uttar Pradesh faces harassment
Fatehpur, March 10, 2023: A Christian hospital that has served a northern Indian city for more than a century faces closure after it became a victim of religious bigotry since one year. The Broadwell Christian Hospital in Fatehpur has faced “physical, mental, and emotional abuse due to the false allegations of forceful religious conversions,” bemoans Sujith Varghese Thomas, the institutions senior administrative officer. Fatehpur, a city situated between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers in Uttar Pradesh state, is some 550 km southeast of New Delhi. Some Hindu nationalist groups have accused the hospital of indulging in forcible religious conversions, which the hospital authorities say are false allegations. In “an open letter” to the media, Thomas claims the hospital that provides dedicated service in social development and healthcare has remained a “vital resource” for the local community for the past 114 years. “For over a century, the hospital, its staff and its management have shared a fraternal bond with the community – something that goes beyond mere doctor and patient association. This bond is a deep two-way relationship of care, of trust, of service and of dignity – the metaphorical blood flow that has kept us connected, healthy, motivated and in service through the years,” adds
Christian persecution and human rights
Christians have traditionally adopted a posture of social leadership to the wider community in multiple ways. Education, medical care, social services, rural development, services to the hungry and poor, vocational training, community development, and a host of other development models were introduced by the church and its lay affiliates through Indian history. The post-independence model of community development adopted by the Government in 1952 when Five Year Plans were inaugurated by the Government had its origins in YMCA philosophy and ideology. One could reel off unending and vibrant specifics about Christian contribution to Indian society; the facts are astounding. Christians have imbibed the notion of ‘Antodya’ – welfare of the people in the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. It is, therefore, a shocker that the persecution of Christians today is currently on overdrive countrywide despite its historical and continuing accomplishments in favour of the least and last of society. In 2014 the Ministry of Home Affairs reported a “steep 30 per cent rise in the number of communal violence incidents in 2013 as compared to 2012. Reported incidents of abuse carried out against Christians in India went up to 177 in 2015, and have, since, steadily escalated. Those figures have sharply
UP: Bajrang Dal Activists Allege ‘Forced Conversions’; Vandalise Church, Assault Worshippers
New Delhi: A group of Bajrang Dal activists on February 19 allegedly vandalised a church, and assaulted and threatened the worshippers, in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district, claiming the church was carrying out “forced religious conversions”. The incident took place at the Himalayan Evangelical Mission. “A group of 50-60 men, armed with rods and sticks, came and disrupted our prayer on February 19. They hit me and my son with rods, accusing us of converting Hindus into Christians in the church,” pastor Satyen Bishwakarma told The Wire. The pastor added that he and his family have been living in constant fear as the Siddharthnagar police have refused to register a first information report against the Bajrang Dal. However, as on March 5, an FIR has still not been lodged by the police. A woman, who belongs to the Dalit community and requested anonymity as she was allegedly threatened by the Bajrang Dal, told The Wire that she was beaten up by the group. She added that they even warned her not to come back to the church. “Why haven’t the police registered an FIR against them? The police saw everything when they came [to the church] but did not intervene, they were seen supporting the group [Bajrang
Indian Christian educators denied bail in conversion case
Catholic residents have voiced concerns about the historical structure they say has been in use since the 17th century when it was built. To beautify a Daman football ground, a 400-year-old church could be demolished Special arrangement A 400-year-old chapel in Daman could soon be history as the local administration is in the process of acquiring land on which it stands. The purpose of the move, the administration says, is to “beautify a football ground” adjacent to it. The notice from the district collector for acquisition of land on which the Chapel of Our Lady of Angustias stands has shocked the Catholic community in the Union Territory. “They [the authorities ] did not tell us so but we fear they may even demolish the church,” said Father Anselmo D’Souza, a priest in Daman. The matter has also drawn the attention of the National Commission for Minorities, which has asked the administrator of the Union territory to send it a detailed report on the matter by March 21. According to church officials, the Chapel of Our Lady of Angustias or Our Lady of Sorrows, located next to the popular Moti Daman Fort, was constructed in the early 1600s, and has been in use since then. It is
