Nirmala Carvalho

The provincial of the Missionaries of the Holy Cross says that Brother Phillip Nononha is the victim of a conspiracy organized by the Hindus with the complicity of the authorities. For the religious claims of harassment are only a pretext to expropriate the school of the Holy Cross of Whitefield of its land for the benefit of the local Hindu temple.

Brother Philip, vice principal at Holy Cross School in Whitefield, is currently in hospital recovering from a beating he received last Saturday. The religious tells AsiaNews that he has forgiven his attackers but that he wants guarantees for Christian missionaries who serve Indian society.

Founded in 1885, the Institute is the oldest facility for the differently abled in the whole of Asia. It is open to students of every caste and creed. It aims at providing the right tools to learn a trade. English, Hindi and Marathi are the languages of teaching.

Brother Philip, a member of the Brothers of the Holy Cross, was seized and beaten; a police inspector was among his attackers. He is accused of molesting female students but his superior and school authorities say he is innocent. His attackers threatened to kill him if he dared to further expand the school or tried to stop a nearby temple from getting school land confiscated to build an access road.

Developed and launched by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, micro financing has turned into a system of brutal exploitation where agents push debtors to take their own lives in order collect insurance money to pay off their debts. In six weeks, 45 confirmed cases of suicide have been attributed to this reason. An activist slams the system as something “worse than Nazism”.

Gradually, Beijing introduces Chinese as mother tongue in Tibetan schools. The Tibetan language is increasingly marginalized as well as the Tibetans at work. Activists: it is a slow inexorable cultural genocide.

Catholic priest tells AsiaNews about the many episodes of anti-Christian violence by Hindu extremists in the state of Orissa and elsewhere. Indian states run by Hindu nationalist parties do not protect Christians from Hindu violence.

The celebrations began on October 14 with a solemn mass and will last until next October 28. Bishop Salvatore Pennacchio, new Apostolic Nuncio to India also attended the event. Mgr. Robert Sarah secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Mumbai.

The prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile says that this award "encourages democracy advocates in China and the world." Liu is a "sincere friend" of the Tibetans, who has always defended against Communist repression. Beijing rules with repression, but people want democracy and rights.

Clergymen, journalists and experts agree that the case of the Catholic professor who had his hand chopped off for alleged blasphemy is a sign that fundamentalism is growing in the Indian Union.

Fr George Joshua, an Indian priest, leads the activity. He is an important figure in the struggle for the religious freedom of Indian Catholics living in Saudi Arabia. He tells AsiaNews about the suffering and abuses inflicted upon on the million Christians living in the Muslim country, where every religion other than Islam, is banned.

India is trying to project the image of an emerging and reliable nation but has to try to make people forget organisational nightmares. Human rights activist tells AsiaNews that the Games have come at huge cost in terms of human lives and workers’ dignity.