Nirmala Carvalho

A 14-year-old boy suffered burns to 70 per cent of his body. Local Christians complain of ongoing intimidation by Hindu nationalist, but the authorities refuse to investigate. For Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak, Dalit Christians are the victims of double discrimination.

A webinar discussed ways to guarantee the essential rights to tribal people who lost their land, forcing them into outskirts of big cities. “Migrants in India they are like sheep without a shepherd,” said Redemptorist Fr Ivel Mendanha. The “Lord asks us to stand by” them.

In a small town in the district of Kandhamal, they were prevented from accessing the well and their homes were ransacked. Some have returned to live in the forest. The Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Msgr John Barwa: "Discriminatory, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Sister Jophy Jose, superior of the convent of the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel, went before the High Court with other farmers because animals are destroying their crops. “We could not keep silent,” she said.

Brainchild of the Diocese of Sindhudurg, the facility will care for the children following their mental, emotional and social development. For Archbishop Barreto, the children “must not suffer because of the situation of their parents”. They must have a “safe haven”.

The revenue department in a local district sent a letter the members of the clergy of the Shalom Mission Church asking them to present personal documents and certify that their conversion did not take place by force. For Auxiliary Bishop Paul Muniya, “conversion takes place in the mind and the heart; we do not force anyone to become a Christian.”

Schools are still closed in many states and access to remote learning is still difficult. In rural areas, only 8 per cent of rural students are attending e-classes. The average level of education is getting worse while the gender gap is getting wider. For experts, schools must be reopened now to avoid a disaster.

After four years of legal wrangles, the High Court acquitted Fr George Mangalapilly. Hindu extremists had accused him of forcing residents of a village to convert via Christmas carols sung by a group of seminarians. Certain of his innocence, the priest is relieved of the verdict.

Oscar Fernandes, who hailed from Karnataka, died yesterday at the age of 80. A leading member of the Indian National Congress, he served as a minister in the Singh government. For Cardinal Gracias, India “lost a true patriot” who ““always upheld Gospel values in public.”

Hindu extremists disrupt another Christian prayer meeting. Christian clergymen are arrested in Azamgarh district. For Sajan K. George (Global Council of Indian Christians), anti-Christian attacks “continue to grow and are reaching alarming proportions” with the divisive anti-conversion laws used as a pretext.

For the court, called to rule on a request for termination of pregnancy in the 31st week, there is no reason to treat an unborn child differently from a born child. For Dr Carvalho, this “is not primarily a religious position, but a human one.”

On the same Sunday, a Pentecostal clergyman was arrested in Madhya Pradesh and another beaten up in a police station in Chhattisgarh. For the Global Council of Indian Christians, a “fundamental human right such as freedom of religion continue to be denied in a secular country like India”.