India

Modi’s oligarch friend, one of the richest men in the world, has won the mega-contract to redevelop the huge neighbourhood home to more than 60,000 slum dwellers. The sweet deal is worth a fortune given the land value. Meanwhile, Hindu nationalists back the Adani group over the controversial Vizhinjam port development (Kerala), playing the religious card against the protest of fishermen backed by the local archdiocese.

Archbishop Netto, the prelate of Thiruvananthapuram, has been charged along with some of his priests by the police as the 'organiser' of the protests that erupted into violence after some Adani group trucks tried to force a blockade and enter the construction site. The local Church - which is calling for an independent investigation - stands by the fishermen against the project of a large international port of call that is likely to have a serious impact on the environment.

Migrants do not die only on sinking boats. In India millions of people from poorer states such as Bihar move to the big cities. As a result, almost every day, bodies are found along the tracks. To get the bodies back, families are asked to pay huge fees. For Fr Louis Prakash, nothing was learnt from the pandemic when people were forced to go through hell to walk home.

A local source told AsiaNews that strong pressure is being exerted on Christian communities. “Pray for us,” he asks. For Sajan K George of the Global Council of Indian Christians, this is happening all the time. “Police inertia encourages these right-wing extremists,” he laments. These same people then cry wolf about so-called forced conversions by Christians.

In many Indian dioceses, post-pandemic processions for the feast showed a different face than that of intolerance propagated by extremists. In Odisha and Rajasthan, the observance provided an opportunity to meet and promote peace and harmony among religious communities.

Despite recent progress, the disease has not yet been wiped out. In slums, parents are wary of injections. In addition to increasing the number of vaccinations, the government must also reduce child malnutrition.

The authorities’ proposal of painting the walls of almost 8,000 classrooms with a colour associated with Hindutva is proving controversial. For the opposition, the state should be more concerned about the “More than 10 lakh (one million) children” out of school after the pandemic. Meanwhile, India’s central government unveiled the logo for next year’s G20, and it has more than a passing resemblance with the ruling party’s logo.

India’s highest court accepts to hear a petition filed by a lawyer with the ruling BJP, claiming that "forced" conversions are undermining religious freedom. As a result, the court asked the central government what action it plans to take to stop them. Hindu nationalists have long been pushing for national anti-conversion laws. “The Supreme Court has made a highly exaggerated statement,” the bishop of Lucknow told AsiaNews, “Existing provisions in the constitution are sufficient to take care of any aberrations,” he added, warning that false claims “cause hatred and violence.”

Heeding Pope Francis’s call, the mission of the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel in Bidar marked the observance with widows, leprosy patients, and sweepers, who have been traditionally kept on the margins of society. For the Sisters’ superior, a helping hand is better than a handout.

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For many Indians, especially Dalits, the ruling is discriminatory. The court sets a 10 per cent quota in government employment and university admissions for people earning less than 800,000 rupees a year. The government followed the policy used for disadvantaged castes, who nevertheless continue to be marginalised, so much so that thousands of Hindu Dalits have converted en masse to Buddhism.

Elected by the assembly of the Bishops’ Conference (CBCI) currently underway in Bengaluru, Syro-Malabar Archbishop of Thrissur replaces Card Oswald Gracias in alternation among different rites. Card Alencherry had announced that he was not available for reasons of age.