South Asia

The Archbishop of Nagpur highlighted this point to AsiaNews after Indian President Murmu signed the bill. The state government is now awaiting notification of the date when it will enter into force. Under the new legislation, offences are cognisable and non-bailable. Thus, the very essence of freedom and independence envisioned by India’s founding fathers is at risk.

Two separate rallies were held in the capital and the north calling for an international probe into the country's largest mass grave. Priests, nuns, and lay people are demanding the truth about the atrocities committed during the war that pitted the government against the Tamil Tigers. As of 21 July, 454 human remains, including children and infants, have been recovered.

The second round of elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir confirmed the lead of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N; however, the election was boycotted by the opposition amid charges of fraud, along with protests by the local population. The decisive vote in the Poonch Division is scheduled for next Monday.

The church in Nazat is targeted. The radical group's leader issued a seven-day ultimatum to the parish priest to leave. Christian groups reported the incident to the police, to no avail. The bishop of Baruipur, who praises the missionaries' work, expressed his firm condemnation to AsiaNews.  

A court in Colombo found the former police chief and the former defence secretary guilty of failing to prevent the 2019 massacres despite intelligence warnings. The Catholic Church reiterates that it remains unclear who actually is behind the massacre.

Students, lawyers, and activists were detained during Kashmir solidarity marches in Lahore and other cities. Human rights groups are calling for the protesters' release and an independent inquiry. For the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, repressing dissent undermines democracy.

The blast was likely caused by a build-up of methane gas. Rescue operations are still under way and further casualties are feared. Trade unions and human rights campaigners have denounced serious shortcomings in safety measures and are calling for stricter controls. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace states that the protection of miners is “a human rights obligation”.

The government reports that the number of taxpayers with incomes above Rs 100 crore has jumped from 142 to 576. Independent studies show that the richest 1 per cent hold approximately 40 per cent of the nation’s wealth, favoured, among other things, by the abolition of the wealth tax in 2016.

In Bhutan, the outgoing mayor of the capital, Ugyen Dorji, has secured a second term with 67 per cent of the vote. However, voter turnout was the lowest on record. This was due to low turnout among young people, rules requiring many to vote in their home villages, and the exclusion of the diaspora.

Heavy monsoon rains have submerged hundreds of villages in the worst natural disaster in recent years. The local diocese is mobilising to help everyone, without distinction, in the emergency and reconstruction efforts. For Bishop Hemron, “let us be instruments of God’s compassion”.

Human rights groups are shocked by the court’s decision. The girl had been rescued after her family filed a complaint. In court, she was threatened her with apostasy if she rejected Islam. Activist Ashiknaz Khokhar urges the authorities to vet documentary evidence to verify victims’ age.

A new report by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council details 257 incidents of sectarian violence, with 44 people killed in the first six months of 2026. Two years on from the change of government in the summer of 2024, there has been an increase in attacks on places of worship, acts of vandalism and attempts to seize land belonging to religious organisations.