India’s hijab dispute reaches its most populous state
Lucknow, India Reuters A dispute over restrictions on the wearing of the hijab by female students in a southern Indian state has now reached India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, with a group of youngsters asking a college to ban the head covering. Authorities closed colleges in Karnataka in India’s south last week after […]
Politics may stop Catholics in south India from building Asia’s tallest Jesus statue
Banglalore, IndiaReligion Unplugged Standing almost 35 metres high, Asia’s tallest stone statue of Jesus would look out from a four hectare plot in the Catholic-majority Harobele village on the outskirts of the global technology hub Bangalore, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. After a large, undisclosed donation to the Catholic Church’s $US1.5 […]
Indian state sets aside college places for slavery survivors
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation An Indian state has set aside hundreds of college places for survivors of trafficking and sexual assault, a move welcomed by anti-slavery charities on Friday for helping improve the lives of rescued slaves. The southern Indian state of Karnataka said this week that one per cent of all places in government-run […]
Christians’ names missing from electoral lists in India
World Watch Monitor Hundreds of Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state found their names missing from the lists of voters in elections for the State Assembly on 28th November, AsiaNews reports. One of them was the Bishop of Bhopal, Leo Cornelio, who told AsiaNews that after waiting at the polling station for 45 minutes and presenting […]
Indian Christian forum demands withdrawal of ‘bogus’ charges of forced conversions
World Watch Monitor The Christian Forum of Chhattisgarh state in India called on its political parties to commit to ensuring freedom of religion, as elections for the state’s legislative house took place on Monday, Catholic news agency UCAN reported. Meanwhile, several attacks on Christians were reported in the first week of this month, across a number […]
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 […]
Catholic Archbishop of Delhi calls for prayer in run-up to 2019 elections
World Watch Monitor The Catholic Archbishop of Delhi’s call for a ‘prayer campaign’ in India, made ahead of next year’s elections, has been criticised by the governing party. In a circular to all Catholic churches in the capital, dated 8th May, Archbishop Anil Couto asked for a weekly day of fasting “for the nation”, Indian […]