Indian Christian Day celebrated
Christians cutting across denominations came together at various parts of India July 3 to organize special programs to mark the 1950th martyrdom day of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Saint Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of India, is believed to have come to India in 52 AD and preached the Christian faith in the western and southern regions of the country. He was martyred 20 years later in Chennai, currently the capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Since 2021, the day is being observed as the Indian Christian Day to “love the neighbor, serve society, celebrate Jesus and bless India.” The ecumenical annual day helps Christians to remember and celebrate “the person and message of Lord Jesus Christ in India.” The also helps them preserve their identity with the Indian cultural heritage and promoting unity. The day, a people’s movement, saw Christians organizing festivities, cultural programs, community service, health and literacy camps, food and clothes drive, environmental cleanup and workshops. In the national capital, Christians came together in the downtown Constitution Club from 10 am to 1 pm, and at B M Gange School in Old Delhi’s Raj Niwas Marg, from 5 to 8 pm. A part of the celebrations was the play, “Rahi
Attacks on Christians: Lay leader welcomes Supreme Court move
New Delhi, June 29, 2022: Leader of an ecumenical forum that monitors attacks on Christians in India has welcomed the Supreme Court’s willingness to hear a petition on such incidents. “I hope the court takes note of the rising incidents of violence against Christians and directs concerned authorities to initiate criminal investigations and prosecute the criminal offenders in accordance with law,” says A C Michael, national coordinator of the United Christian Forum. He was reacting to the apex court on June 27 terming as “unfortunate” if what is said in the petition is right. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala then listed the case for hearing on July 11. The petition was filed by Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore along with the National Solidarity Forum, and the Evangelical Fellowship of India. “In May, 57 cases of violence happened and more attacks are anticipated,” said Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, and sought an urgent hearing. The petition urged the court to stop the “targeted hate speech” against the Christian community and attacks at their places of worship. Michael says it would be good if the court asks each affected state “to provide police protection for prayer meetings, and to let
STATEMENT
FIACONA WELCOMES THE USCIRF REPORT ON INDIA. April 25, 2022, Washington DC. The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations applauds the designation of India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for the 3rd consecutive year in its 2022 Report released today. India has been going through tumultuous upheavals caused by the rise of Hindu nationalism in recent years. The formation of a Union (Federal) government by Hindu nationalists in 2014 and their re-election in 2019 under Mr. Narendra Modi has seriously jeopardized the foundational framework for a functioning democracy in India. 2021 has been the most violent year on record for the Christians in India. The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations (FIACONA) has documented an unprecedented 761 violent acts against Christians[i] in India by the groups directly affiliated to the Hindu nationalist Modi government. The attacks against other religious minorities in India have also gone up several-fold in the last 7 years. These attacks are motivated in part by the perceived protection provided for the attackers by the government officials. The Modi government has maintained an eerie silence against such attacks giving the impression that the government tacitly supports such attacks. While we are appreciative of
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2022. Washington DC. The Federation of Indian American Christians Releases 2022 Report on India Documenting 761 cases of Violent Attacks. Asking Sec Blinken and Sec Austin not to Allow themselves be Blackmailed by their Indian Counterparts Today at 2+2 Meeting. Washington, D.C. Federation Indian Christian Associations of North America (FIACONA), an advocacy organization, representing a million Indian American Christians in the U.S., released its 2022 Report documenting 761 attacks against Christians in India. This report was released ahead of the soon-to-be-released report from the United States Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF). India is becoming more and more prominent in America’s global engagement. Policymakers in the US Administration tend to blink first to demands from the Indian side that India’s domestic policies be ignored for cooperation on issues involving foreign policy like India’s cooperation on Ukraine issues. FIACONA asks that America stay firm and resist compromising on its principles and not allow it to be blackmailed by Indian officials meeting with Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin today. The Report shows that all 761 attacks on Christians across India were carried out by the radical Hindu extremists affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government headed by Prime Minister Modi. The party’s objectives
Media’s failure to be watchdogs worries Catholic journalists
Mumbai, Dec 1, 2021: The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) on December 1 expressed deep concern over the media’s failure to become the watchdog of governance in the country. Media, the fourth pillar of democracy has failed in its sacred duty of scrutinizing the government’s policies and programs. Instead it has turned out to be a pliable institution trying to live out of the ‘favors’ dished out by the government, bemoaned the association at its 26th national convention held at St. Paul’s Media Complex at Bandra in Mumbai. The theme of the convention was “Hit the Streets: Listen, Encounter, Engage” based on Pope Francis’s message this year for the World Communications Day that focuses on “Come and See (Jn 1:46): Communicating by Encountering People Where and as They Are.” Speaking at the inaugural function, Justice Aloysius Aguiar, a former Judge of Bombay High Court, said, “A good journalist is one who hits the street in pursuit of truth despite all the hardships and threats to life. But unfortunately the fourth pillar of democracy in the country has failed in its sacred duty of scrutinizing the government’s policies and programs. Instead it has turned out to be a pliable institution trying to live out
Christophe Jaffrelot on the way Hindutva is changing history and science textbooks in schools
An excerpt from ‘Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy’ published on Scroll.in. To read this article in SCROLL.IN where it was originally published please click here. In March 2018, investigative reporters revealed the existence of a committee tasked by the culture minister, Mahesh Sharma, to revise India’s history. This fourteen-member committee (including archaeologists, bureaucrats, and ideologues) was commissioned by the minister to produce a “holistic study of origin and evolution of Indian culture since 12,000 years before present and its interface with other cultures of the world.” The idea that the age of Hindu civilisation is three or four times greater than what has been established by contemporary historiography aimed to achieve two explicit goals. First, it was coupled with the persistent effort by Hindu nationalists to present their mythology as history. Mahesh Sharma himself told Reuters: “I worship Ramayana and I think it is a historical document.” And he added, in keeping with the tried-and-true method of strategic emulation, “If the Koran and Bible are considered as part of history, then what is the problem in accepting our Hindu religious texts as the history of India?” Second, uncovering evidence from ancient history aimed “to prove that today’s
Hindu nationalist leader call for beheading of converters.
IN A VIDEO FILMED IN THE STATE OF CHHATTISGARH, THE SWAMI PARMATMANAND, IN THE PRESENCE OF LOCAL BJP LEADERS, SAYS: "IN OUR VILLAGES WE KEEP HATCHETS AT HOME". DIVINE WORD MISSIONARY FR JOSPEH: "EVERY LIMIT HAS BEEN EXCEEDED" Raipur (AsiaNews) - "Behead all those who come to convert you". In a shocking video circulating on social networks, the Parmatmanand swami, a Hindu religious leader in the State of Chhattisgarh, shows no qualms in calling for beheadings to resolve an alleged "wave" of conversions to Christianity. According to the Indian website The Wire, the speech, which openly calls for violence, was delivered during a demonstration "against conversions" held in the district of Surguja. Prominent figures from the BJP, the Hindu nationalist party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were also present on stage at the event. The video shows the former chairman of the National Commission for the Disadvantaged Castes, Nand Kumar Sai, applauding the words of the swami Parmatmanand. In his disconcerting speech, the Hindutva exponent says: "Keep the sticks in your home. People in the cities don't, but in our villages people keep hatchets. Behead them when they come to perform religious conversions". He added: "You may wonder why a holy man
Two nuns accused of ‘conversions’ seized at a bus stop in the state of Uttar Pradesh
A MOB OF HINDU EXTREMISTS DRAGGED TWO URSULINE FRANCISCAN NUNS TO A POLICE STATION ALONG WITH A GROUP OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS WHO WERE PRAYING AT A PRIVATE HOME. The religious sisters were released after six hours. For Christian leader, “In today's political climate in India, wearing a religious habit means being marked out as a target.” Varanasi (AsiaNews) – Police arrested two nuns in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and held them for a few hours in the latest anti-Christian incident caused by Hindu extremists. The two religious sisters were catching a bus, when they were forcibly grabbed by a group of radicals who took them to a police station along with another fifty Christians, accused of abusive conversion activities. “The incident took place in Mau, a district in eastern Uttar Pradesh,” said Fr Anand Mathew, of the Indian Missionary Society, speaking to AsiaNews from Varanasi. “Around noon, a mob of extremists attacked a group of Christians gathered for the Sunday celebration. "The two women religious, Sister Gracy Monteiro and Sister Roshni Minj, of the congregation of the Ursuline Franciscans, were not part of the group, but were waiting at a nearby stop for a bus to Varanasi,” Fr Mathew explained; however, they too “were
