In India, Kandhamal Christians still waiting for justice one decade after massacre
World Watch Monitor Ten years after the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history, the local community continues to struggle, with reparations from the government slow in coming and seven reportedly innocent Christians still in prison. Nearly 100 Christians were killed, 300 churches and 6,000 Christian homes were damaged, and 55,000 people were made […]
Nepali law criminalising “hurting of religious feelings” comes into force
World Watch Monitor A law criminalising religious conversions and the hurting of religious feelings comes into force in Nepal on Friday, a year after the bill was passed. As World Watch Monitor reported last year, Nepal’s Christian minority fears the new law will be abused by those seeking to settle scores – as has happened frequently […]
INDIA: HINDU EXTREMIST VIOLENCE ON THE RISE IN SOUTHERN STATES
TEJASWI RAVINDER reports for World Watch Monitor…
“Total impunity” in India, as Muslims and Christians “bear brunt of ruling ideology”
World Watch Monitor Frequent reports of violent attacks against India’s religious minorities show the “total impunity” enjoyed by their Hindu nationalist attackers, says one civil rights activist. In one recent attack, a pastor, his wife and their congregation were attacked at their ‘house church’ in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state on Sunday, 8th July, advocacy […]
Indian state’s ‘anti-conversion law’ to be repealed
World Watch Monitor Christian groups have welcomed a surprise announcement by a nationalist chief minister of a state in north-east India that he will ensure that a law preventing conversions from one faith to another is repealed. Pema Khandu, a Buddhist who heads the nationalist BJP-led state government in Arunachal Pradesh, told an audience of […]
Indian pastor beaten up, then detained, after 11 Hindus convert to Christianity
World Watch Monitor An Indian pastor was beaten up by Hindu nationalists, then arrested by police on 18th June for allegedly forcing some local families in Muzaffarnagar, a city in Uttar Pradesh state, to convert to Christianity, reports The Times of India. Dipender Prakash was reportedly attacked by members of Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu nationalist […]
Increase in religious harassment globally – Pew
World Watch Monitor Restrictions on religion around the world continued to climb in 2016, as more governments tightened controls on religious practices, populist parties increasingly used rhetoric to attack religious minorities, and the harassment of religious groups increased. A 138-page report by the Washington-based Pew Research Center into global restrictions on religion in 2016 – […]
2017 saw 20 per cent increase in “atrocities” against Christians in India, says lawyer
World Watch Monitor Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a scholar on […]
Four more churches attacked in Nepal
World Watch Monitor A church in Nepal has been bombed and three other churches attacked by arsonists over a five-day period, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Arsonists attacked Hebron Church in Hilihang Rural Municipality, in Nepal’s eastern district of Panchthar, on 9th May; Emmanuel Church, Doti, in the country’s far west, on 10th May; and Emmanuel Church […]
Catholic church interior ‘entirely destroyed’ after arson in Nepal
World Watch Monitor A Catholic church in Nepal’s western Banke District has been left badly damaged following an arson attack earlier this month, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). A group of between eight and ten unidentified arsonists reportedly warned locals to stay inside their houses, before breaking into St Joseph’s, in the town of Kohalpur, in […]