Nirmala Carvalho

Swarni Swarupanada Saraswati, Hindu spiritual leader, has described conversions as immoral, just as Hindu nationalists enjoying his protection "reconverted" outcastes who were never Christians at all.

The highest legal authorities of Shiite Indians have drawn up a bill of law that gives women the right to initiate divorce proceedings in case of physical or mental torture, neglect or fraud.

Outcastes from Bhandara district were protesting because an entire family was slaughtered for daring to oppose the seizure of its land. Outcastes revolted in Karnataka too.

The Sachar Committee has completed its report on the Muslim minority, which will be presented in mid-November. While backing Muslim demands, Catholics have called on the government to deal with all social and religious minorities in the same way.

The vice-president of the BJP – composed of nationalist Hindus – has accused 68 foreigners in the area of converting 6,000 tribals through fraud. He urged police to intervene instead of just looking on.

A report by the National Commission of Minorities has charged the local government with paying only a fraction of compensation owed. The victims of the inter-faith clashes are still living in miserable conditions in camps for displaced people.

Run by a catholic priest, the ashram in Shimoga helps men with mental disorders. Police arrest the centre's volunteer workers and move patients elsewhere without evidence on the basis of rumours and hearsay. According to the bishop, fundamentalists who object to the centre's work are behind the incident.

The secretary-general of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh called on the government to stop the trend, "even using force", and announced that the movement will take its own measures. A Catholic activist counters: "They are not worried about a deteriorating society, they are only bothered about non-existent Christian activities".

Following his new appointment as head of the archdiocese of India's economic hub, Mgr Gracias tells AsiaNews his new pastoral plan. The prelate replaces Cardinal Dias who was appointed chairman of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples last May.

Supreme Court adjourns hearings till April 2007. Frontline Christian leaders are "frustrated" their campaign to have rights cover all Dalits has to wait further.

"World Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Religion Day" will be held on October 14 in Nagpur. People will be able to forsake India's caste system by making a written statement.

The chairman of the Commission on Labour of the Bishops' Conference and its former secretary general tell AsiaNews that implementing the law would be meaningless unless the poor are not educated and the complicity between those charged with child protection and those who exploit them is not uncovered.