Displaying items by tag: India

500 Hindu nationalists accused 60+ Christians of forcible conversion. The mob harassed them, searched their belongings, including women’s undergarments, physically assaulted them, and vandalised their vehicles. But when the police came they arrested the Christians, not the Hindus. Violence and hate incidents against Christians are increasing. An intervention specialist commented, ‘These include disrupting or stopping Sunday services, physical attacks, vandalising churches, social boycotts, false accusations of religious conversions and as in this case arrests on the basis of false charges. Many attacks remain unreported and unrecorded through fear of further victimisation’.  Also, on 6 November, fifty radical Hindu nationalists went from house to house in Metapal village, attacking Christians, to make it a ‘Christian-free’ village. Wielding fists, clubs, and other objects, they beat everyone including women and children leaving nine seriously injured. Six were hospitalised and remain in a critical condition. Without significant government intervention, 2021 will be the worst year on record for Christian persecution in India.

With over one billion people, Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. The majority of Hindus have never heard the name of Jesus, and less than 2% of Protestant missionaries are serving among them. Centred mostly in India, Hinduism is much more than a religion; it is a way of life and a cultural identity. Acts of violence and intimidation by militant Hindus are on the rise, particularly against Christians. The five-day festival of Diwali, also called Festival of Lights, began on 4 November. Diwali can often also be celebrated by Jains, Sikhs and some Newar Buddhists. Few Indian festivals are as popular or anticipated, or as widely celebrated worldwide as Diwali. Diwali symbolises a spiritual ‘victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance’. Despite the candles and fireworks, these millions of people remain in darkness.

On 17 October Sri Lankan fishermen launched a flotilla of boats from the northeastern fishing town of Mullaittivu to Sri Lanka’s northernmost tip, Point Pedro away. They are demanding that the government does more to protect the nation's prawn-rich northern waters from poaching by Indian fishing trawlers in the narrow Palk Strait which separates the South Asian neighbours. Bottom trawling was banned from Sri Lankan waters in 2017 because it involves dragging heavy nets across the seafloor to catch a large volume of fish, causing severe damage to the marine ecosystem. However, the authorities have failed to stop Indian poaching even though their fishing community has been complaining for years. Mass poaching takes valuable fish stocks away from Sri Lankan fishermen, so they struggle to make ends meet. Palk Strait is a rich fishing ground known for jumbo prawns. Sri Lanka regularly detains large numbers of Indian fishers and seizes their boats, but poaching continues.

A mob of 300 chanting ‘Hail Lord Ram! Victory to Lord Ram’ attacked the House of Prayer church, destroying CCTV cameras, lights, fans, musical instruments and furniture. Eva Lance, the church leader, tried to call the police but couldn’t connect. The mob tried to set fire to vehicles parked outside and attacked twelve church members. One man was beaten semi-unconscious, a woman’s hair was pulled out and a young boy was found lying in a pool of his own blood and vomit after having his ears cut off and being badly beaten. He was hospitalised. The police opened an investigation naming Eva’s former school principal and a member of a right-wing Hindu group among those responsible. Then the mob filed a counter case against the victims, accusing them of non-bailable offences like molestation, robbery and organised crime. Christian Solidarity Worldwide said the involvement of the police and community leaders in this attack must be a wake-up call to India’s lawmakers.

Record-breaking rains and heavy flooding have killed over 150 people in India and Nepal in recent days. 77 have been killed, 22+ injured, and 26 are missing across Western Nepal; at least 46 have died in Uttarakhand, and 27 bodies have been recovered in Kerala. 11 teams from the National Disaster Response Force also evacuated 6,500 people to 184 relief camps. Crops have been destroyed, roads are waterlogged, bridges washed away, vehicles submerged, and houses reduced to rubble in Kerala, home to 33 million people. The flooding comes in the middle of a religious pilgrimage when Hindus journey to Uttarakhand. 3,000 pilgrims were evacuated from a barge on the Sarda River, which had overflowed. Meanwhile more than 200 families are currently in a further 26 evacuation camps across the state. Heavy rainfall is forecast to continue for the coming days, and residents are urged to stay indoors.

The federal government declared relief initiatives of food grains ration cards last March to mitigate the effects of Covid. The cards were insufficient. 50% of rural households had to reduce their number of meals and 68% reduced the number of items in their meals. The Dalit community are at the bottom of the complex cast hierarchy, are marginalised and experiencing the worst effects of pandemic. Over 60% of women are anemic. Livelihoods have collapsed and hunger is now an epidemic. Workers Action Network reported increased workloads for women but decreased pay. Within homes women are the last to eat and have the least to eat. This is particularly severe for pregnant and lactating women. Today’s situation will have long-term effects on public health and nutrition. Dalit and Adivasi women die younger than dominant-caste women, and nutrition and health have always been a struggle for them.

Mobs are targeting Christian households, led by aggressive Hindu vigilantes known for their hardline approach. Churches are vandalised, pastors are beaten or abused. Congregations are broken up by mobs and believers hospitalised with injuries. The police raid church services to threaten and arrest congregations. This persecution coincides with renewed attention on a longstanding claim that a string of forced conversions are taking place in Chhattisgarh. Speeches, rallies and press statements have openly attacked Christian pastors and believers for allegedly converting tens of thousands of people from tribal communities and poor, lower-caste Hindu families. They are alleged (without evidence) to have been lured into churches by proselytising pastors offering cash payments, free medical assistance, and foreign trips, funded by foreign donors. Dozens of ‘anti-conversion’ rallies have been held in the past month.

At least 30 Christians in India’s Uttar Pradesh have recently been falsely accused of forced religious conversions. This was triggered after Hindu nationalists, including members of the BJP party, claimed two Muslim men forcefully converted 1,000 people. BJP politicians publicly praised the arrests and warned against fraudulent conversions of Hindus to other faiths. Now Christians in Uttar Pradesh are being attacked by radical Hindu nationalists justifying their assaults by falsely accusing the Christians of illegal conversions. Similar anti-conversion laws and abuse of Christians are being enacted in eight other states. ‘This is a grave situation for Christians. ‘There is zero response from the Yogi administration. The attacks are mainly perpetrated by hardcore Hindutva activists who enjoy the support of the politicians’, said a church leader, who requested anonymity.

India has ramped up its coronavirus vaccine production and approved Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine for emergency use amid warnings of a third wave. The vaccine, with 85% efficacy, will be introduced through a supply agreement with homegrown vaccine maker Biological E. It is still unclear when the vaccine will be available. Daily case counts have fallen from 400,000, but they still average up to 40,000, and experts have warned that a third wave of infections is inevitable. Johnson & Johnson's jab is the second foreign vaccine to be granted emergency use authorisation under a new policy not requiring manufacturers to conduct local clinical trials if the vaccine is approved by WHO. In June the Moderna vaccine was given Indian approval, but the company is locked in a legal tussle, and no one has yet been given Immunisation.

A new wave of Christian persecution began after two Muslim men were arrested and charged under the new anti-conversion law. Hindu nationalists, including BJP members, claimed they had been involved in forceful conversion of 1,000 people. Using the arrests as an opportunity for political gain, BJP politicians publicly warned against illegal conversions of Hindus to non-Hindu faiths. Since then, International Christian Concern has documented at least thirty Christians in Uttar Pradesh being attacked by radical Hindu nationalists. In each of these incidents, perpetrators justified their attacks by falsely accusing their Christian victims of engaging in fraudulent conversions. ‘This is a grave situation for Christians in the state,’ a church leader, requesting anonymity, said. ‘There is zero response from the Yogi administration, which empowers the attackers to do more. The attacks are perpetrated by the hardcore Hindutva activists who are supported by politicians.’