Hundreds of members of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stormed the ‘maqbara’ (tomb) of Nawab Abdus Samad despite police barricades. According to extremist leaders, a Hindu temple once stood on the site. Local bishops appeal for tolerance.
More than 600 young men and women from dioceses across India are currently taking part in the large gathering with Leo XIV at Tor Vergata. Many had something to say to AsiaNews. “I came with doubts, but I leave with deep gratitude,” said one. “I felt like I was part of a huge global Catholic family,” said another. “The songs and dances of our culture have found friends here,” said a third. For Father Chetan Machado, these youths show that “the Church is alive and vibrant in India.”
Pragya Singh Thakur, leader of the extreme right-wing nationalist party, and six other defendants have been acquitted of a 2008 attack that killed seven people in Malegaon ‘due to lack of evidence’. Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh, two nuns remain in prison after being accused of forced conversions despite no evidence to support the charge. The case is sparking political protests and new accusations of repression against religious minorities.
Two nuns from the Green Garden Sisters of Agra were targeted at the Durg railway station by a group of Hindu nationalists while accompanying three Christian girls to work in a hospital run by their order, with the written consent of their parents. Cardinal Gracias: “India respects the law, but these attacks tarnish the image of the nation.”
In Trichy, Tamil Nadu, “outcastes” are marginalised even during annual Catholic celebrations. Bishop Amalanathan noted that inside the Church, Dalits “participate in the choir, do the readings, prayers, collections, etc.”, but the problem lies “outside celebrations”. For him, “all should be treated equally.”
The Bombay High Court has overturned the 2015 convictions of twelve men accused of carrying out the “7/11” attacks in 2006, in which 189 people were killed and over 800 injured. The judges ruled that the confessions had been obtained through torture. The charges were based on a flawed investigation and a presumption of guilt, denounced lawyer S. Muralidhar, highlighting the social stigma and devastation in the lives of the defendants, who had been imprisoned unnecessarily for years.
In the state that includes Mumbai, the state government is targeting people who allegedly hide their conversion to Christianity to avoid losing benefits reserved for disadvantaged groups. The state legislature is expected to vet a new anti-conversion law in the coming winter session. The Church is against forced conversions,” said Card Gracias. For Fr Devasagaya Raj, crypto-Christians is a meaningless term. The real problem is discriminatory laws in a multicultural country.
The woman had given birth on the vehicle during a trip in the interior. This extreme act is one of 160 cases of newborns dangerously abandoned every year in the garbage or on streetlights in the large state that includes the metropolis of Mumbai. The Church remains committed to welcoming life.
On 29 June, nine minors fled the Vidyadeep Children's Home in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. They caused a disturbance and reported abuse to the district authorities. The Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod deny all allegations. Sr. D'Souza: ‘The story has taken a political turn.’ Bishop Pinto: ‘An example of selfless dedication for over a century.’
The purge of non-Hindus at Sri Venkateshwara Swamy in Tirumala has also reached the top of the organisation that manages the sacred site. Muslims object: ‘If Hindu temples are to be administered only by those who profess this religion, why is this same principle not applied to the Islamic Waqf?’
Just four months before local elections, the Commission has ordered a review of the eligibility of nearly 30 million voters who have registered over the past 20 years. Sr. Dorothy Fernandes tells AsiaNews: ‘The government is afraid of losing and will end up depriving the marginalised, migrants and Muslims who are unable to complete the necessary paperwork of their right to vote.’
The report was presented in Geneva by the World Organisation Against Torture. There were 2,739 deaths in prison in 2024, an increase on the previous year. New Delhi has never ratified the UN Convention against these horrific practices. Emblematic of impunity is the story of two Christian traders from Tamil Nadu who died in prison in 2020 after being arrested for violating the lockdown during Covid: their family has still not obtained justice.
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