Nirmala Carvalho

In New Delhi, some 300 Burmese activists call on Indian government to put pressure on junta strongman for a future of democracy in Myanmar. They accuse military regime of denying religious freedom to majority Buddhists and minority Christians. The general’s visit, which began yesterday and will end on Thursday, is centred on the economic and military ties between the two countries.

Abandoned by their families, many lepers end up begging in the streets, where the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa find them and bring them in, wash them and treated them with dignity. Sister Mary, a missionary from Kerala, talks to AsiaNews about her eight years at Delhi’s Prem Nagar Leprosy Center. “The Spirit of Mother is alive and ever present in Prem Nagar.” Although “The disease may even disfigure, here there is no repugnance from anyone towards them.”

Two weeks ago, Catholic missionary Fr Jim Borst was ordered to leave the country by the end of July. Archbishop Peter Celestine met Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who declared that he was not aware of the order. Even Samuel Vargeese, Commissioner of the Interior, said he was not informed about it. A friend of Fr Borst: "The whole thing is a mystery."

Led by bishops and religious leaders the Dalit Christians and Muslims are asking the government to cancel the law that since 1950 recognizes and guarantees rights only to Dalit Hindus and Buddhists. Bishop Neethinathan, of Chingleput (Tamil Nadu): "It 's very painful to see our Dalit people suffer double discrimination in terms of society and religion."

Asghar Ali Engineer, head of Mumbai’s Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, calls the murder a horrible crime that is also against Islam. He blames Muslim clerics for using the blasphemy laws to promote their own interests. “I am completely against the blasphemy laws; there is nothing in Qur‘an about it,” he said.

Mgr Angelo Gracias, Family Commission president, speaks to AsiaNews about a statement by the Indian government in which it says that it would not use coercive methods to slow birthrate. The words are good but facts tell another story. For prelate, “we must stop the demographic winter that afflicts the world.”

Children with thalassemia need blood transfusions for treatment. In five years it has happened to thousands of children. Inadequate controls in Indian blood banks. For Pascoal Carvalho, immunologist and member of the Pontifical Council for Life, the solution exists and costs 16 euros: "We want the NAT, but the government must give subsidies to those who can’t afford it."

Sister Mary Joseph, a former Brahmin Hindu, since 1977 has lived in the cloistered Carmelite Convent in Mumbai. Here she comments to AsiaNews the theme "Religious freedom, the path to peace", chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for World Day for Peace 2011.

Two months from the centennial anniversary of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, preparations are underway in India to commemorate the future saint. Sister Rose Claire, a young Missionary of Charity, talks to AsiaNews about her work among the sick and how Mother Teresa is present in her every day. “I have never met Mother Teresa, but I feel her presence all around us. I hear from the senior sisters, what Mother said, what Mother did; not a day goes by without Mother being spoken of all day long.”

Fr. Jim Borst directed two successful educational facilities in Kashmir. For Predhuman Joseph Dhar, a Catholic convert from Hinduism, it is the result of "jealousy" on the part of Muslims who "can not compete with their schools”. Fr. Borst must leave the country, even though four months ago the government of Jammu and Kashmir renewed his visa until 2014.

Rani Devi was named sarpanch (head) of Serhada. The village is located in the district of Hisar, a long time hotbed of violence and atrocities by Jat (superiors) toward lower castes and untouchables such as Dalits.

Prof TJ Joseph is “a martyr for Islamic-Christian dialogue”. Many Muslims donate blood for him. The nun thanks Benedict XVI for his work in favour of dialogue with Islam.