Essay: With democracy under threat in Narendra Modi’s India, how free and fair will this year’s election be?
PRIYA CHACKO, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at concerns ahead of this year’s general election in India…
Indian election: Gandhi dynasty, trailing Modi, battles for political survival
RUPAM JAIM, of Reuters, reports on the status of one of India’s most storied political dynasties ahead of the upcoming election…
India’s Modi promises jobs, infrastructure if BJP wins third term
New Delhi, India Reuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised on Sunday to create jobs, boost infrastructure and expand welfare programmes if it wins a third term, seeking to address key voter concerns ahead of next week’s elections. The general election, which begins on 19th April, will be held in seven […]
India: Farmer protest fuels opposition hopes of denting Modi’s appeal
RUPAM JAIN, RAJENDRA JADHAV and MANOJ KUMAR, of Reuters, take a more in-depth look at the ongoing farmer protests in India…
India’s Assam scraps colonial-era Muslim marriage law
Guwahati, India Reuters India’s Assam state has scrapped an 89-year-old law that allowed marriage involving underage Muslims, against opposition from leaders of the minority community who called the plan an attempt to polarise voters on religious lines ahead of elections. Assam, which has the highest percentage of Muslims among Indian states at 34 per cent, […]
Modi opens Hindu temple built on ruins on razed mosque, in political triumph for Prime Minister
Ayodhya, India AP Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a controversial Hindu temple Monday that was built on the ruins of a razed historic mosque – a political triumph for the populist leader who is seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state. The temple, dedicated to Hinduism’s Lord Ram, sits on […]
India’s Modi says peace returning to strife-torn Manipur
New Delhi, IndiaReuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday peace was returning to the strife-torn north-eastern state of Manipur where at least 180 people have been killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes in sectarian clashes since May. The Federal Government has deployed security forces to the hilly state bordering Myanmar governed by Modi’s […]
Muslims flee Indian business hub after religious clashes, attacks
Gurugram, India Reuters Over 3,000 poor Muslims have fled a business hub outside New Delhi this month, fearing for their lives after Hindu-Muslim clashes and sporadic attacks targeting them, residents, police and a community group said. Shops and shacks owned or run by Muslims and their houses in two large slum areas were padlocked when […]
India’s Modi government faces no-confidence vote over ethnic clashes
New Delhi, IndiaReuters India’s parliament on Wednesday authorised a no-confidence vote against Narendra Modi’s government by an alliance of opposition parties, to force the prime minister to address in detail concerns about ethnic clashes in a northeastern state. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has a clear majority of 301 members in the 542-seat lower house of […]
Essay: The abuse of Christian women in Manipur tells a tragic story of the new India
Archbishop JOSEPH D’SOUZA, Archbishop of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India, president of the All India Christian Council, and founder of Dignity Freedom Network, says – in an article first published on Religion News Service, that Indian authorities are ignoring attacks by radicalised Hindus on Christians…