Authorities Close India Church Over Hindu Protests
Christians in eastern India are questioning the sealing of their church building after authorities ordered the believers to stop gathering for worship, a rights group said Thursday.
Christians in eastern India are questioning the sealing of their church building after authorities ordered the believers to stop gathering for worship, a rights group said Thursday.
A pastor and his wife are among the first Christians to face prosecution under controversial anti-conversion legislation that has been introduced in India’s southwestern state of Karnataka, while another couple faces similar charges elsewhere in India. Pastor V. Kuriyachan, 62, and his wife Selenamma, 57, were detained for two weeks shortly after Karnataka’s governor signed the legislation on May 17, for allegedly converting Hindus to Christianity, police and Christians said.
India is facing major diplomatic outrage from Muslim-majority countries after top officials in the governing Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, drawing accusations of blasphemy across some Arab nations that have left New Delhi struggling to contain the damaging fallout.
At least 30 Christians were imprisoned on false charges in India’s Uttar Pradesh state last month, as Hindu nationalists continue to abuse the state’s harsh anti-conversion laws and accuse believers of forcing Hindus to convert to Christianity, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Nearly four months after their thatched-roof church building was torched, Christian villagers in central India have expressed concern that the suspect has not been charged.
Christian pastors in India’s Uttar Pradesh state were summoned to a police station earlier this month and ordered to cease all house church gatherings and religious activities unless they had a permit from the District Magistrate, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
A pro-Hindu news outlet reported approvingly on May 24 that authorities in India’s Odisha state shut down a church following complaints about local tribal residents converting to Christianity. Persecution against Christians in India has intensified greatly since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
Preparations are underway to turn some 50 million Christians into evangelists over the weekend, with believers worldwide preaching the Gospel, organizers said.
Russian and Chinese bombers flew joint patrols near Japanese and South Korean air defense zones on Tuesday in an apparent warning to U.S. President Joe Biden visiting the region.
Christians in India’s Chhattisgarh state are waiting expectantly for authorities to take action against a Hindu police officer who they believe burned down their church building earlier this year because he did not like their worship services, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. As persecution against Christians by Hindu extremists continues to intensify, believers report that obtaining justice is difficult because police officers are being radicalized by Hinduist hardliners.
Anthony Albanese has been sworn in as Australia’s 31st prime minister after outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat in Friday’s parliamentary election.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Monday to uphold a federal appellate court ruling against a man who sought to prevent his deportation after being in the United States illegally since the 1990s.
Several Christian families in India’s eastern state of Odisha are still homeless and “in dire need of groceries” after Hindu extremists attacked them, several sources told Worthy News.
Coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, the US firearm homicide rate increased by a massive 34.6% from 2019 to 2020, reaching its highest level since 1994, a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday has shown.
Eighteen Christians who were falsely accused in a five-year-old closed vandalism case in India’s Chhattisgarh state were re-arrested and jailed for several days in the same case before being ordered to reappear in court on April 29, Morning Star News (MSN).
Thousands of Christian men, women, and children have entered northeast India to escape deadly violence in neighboring Myanmar, Christian leaders, and aid workers say.
A pastor in northern India is recovering from injuries after he was allegedly detained and tortured by police on false charges of converting people to faith in Christ.
Former President Trump touted victories for the nearly two dozen candidates he endorsed who won their primary races in Ohio and Indiana Tuesday night, predicting the night was just the beginning of a “tremendous season” for Republicans he supports.
The intensifying persecution against Christians in India has shown no sign of abating and, during the Easter holidays, Hindu extremists in Odisha and Chhattisgarh states violently attacked believers, destroyed homes and property, and harassed grieving relatives, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Police in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state have detained dozens of evangelical Christians for allegedly violating a law banning “religious conversion” after complaints by Hindus.