At the request of the Jesuits, the High Court of Bombay agreed to open new proceedings in connection with terrorism charges levelled at the clergyman who died at 84 years after a long imprisonment. The stigma associated with Fr Stan’s memory must be erased.
Rajapaksa grants China a port project awarded first to India and Japan
| SRI LANKA – CHINAA Dalit in Oxford: Suraj Yengde fights for the emancipation of the 'untouchables'
by Alessandra De Poli | INDIA
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An “outcast” suffers brutal violence in a Madhya Pradesh village. For Fr Devasagsyaraj, “nothing has changed” in half a century. “Culprits should be punished”, and civil society “should raise their voice on behalf of the voiceless”.
India's prime minister has announced a u-turn on the disputed laws. Small farmers had been protesting for a year that subsidies and state warehouses would suffer under a new system they feared would favor monopolists. The president of the Indian bishops' labour commission: "The cry of the poor has been heard".
Today's headlines: Burmese junta arrests former Democratic MP and hip-hop star. Japan launches record 431 billion euro stimulus. Military talks between China and India on border issue resume. Alibaba's stock market plunge. Moscow wants to send prisoners to work at the North Pole. Collapse of the Turkish lira: the opposition calls for early elections.
According to statisticians, with the increase in population there should have been 20.2 million, but instead there are only 12.7 million. Among the causes are emigration due to discrimination and a high mortality rate due to poor living conditions. Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council: "In 1971 we did not fight to create an Islamic state".
Eating habits are targeted in Hindu nationalist strongholds. Local authorities claim that non-vegetarian food vendors cause traffic snarls and “offend religious sentiments”. Yet, about 71 per cent of India’s population consumes non-vegetarian food. A member of the Indian Social Institute says that the goal is to “impose one culture, one religion, one ideology”.
While boasting about its interethnic harmony, the Singaporean of Indian origin and immigrants with an Indian background are refused housing by Chinese landlords because of their “smelly” cuisine. Members of Singapore’s ethnic minorities complain of hidden racism. Indo-Singaporeans represent 9 per cent of the country’s population.
Today's headlines: UAE announces purchase of South Korean anti-missile system. US and China agree on visas for journalists. Japan tests first self-driving superfast train. Protests in Kazakhstan over high prices. India reopens export of Covid vaccines. Tensions between Indonesia and Vietnam over fishing rights.
Fr. Bikash Nayak: "During the violence of 2008 I had to hide in the forest with my family. I was inspired by the example of Fr. Digal, who was killed: the threat to my life did not stop my desire to dedicate my life to the Kingdom of God".
Today's headlines: Kuwait "pardons" three political dissidents; China imprisons a blogger for "insulting" dead Chinese soldiers on the border with India; Journalist Danny Fenster freed in Myanmar; Hindu radicals attack the home of former Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid.
The Churches of Asia yesterday marked the observance established by Pope Francis. Auxiliary Bishop D'Silva of Mumbai listened to their stories. Philippine Bishop Pabillo told election candidates not to spend money on the poor, not on ads or bribes. In South Korea, a local cardinal and a new archbishop served food.
The Jesuit clergyman, who died in Mumbai after nine months in detention, wrote a scathing article against the Indian government’s policy of auctioning off 41 coal mines to private interests. India’s coal is front-page news in the wake of COP26 in Glasgow.
In the headlines today: A new Covid outbreak in China; expectations ahead of the virtual meeting between Xi and Biden. Japan's economy declines sharply. Two journalists arrested in India for reporting on clashes in Tripura. Kabul mediates truce between Islamabad and Pakistani Taliban. Israel and the US launch partnerships against ransomware. Schism in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Tomorrow is the fifth World Day of the Poor, and the seventh World Day of the Redemptorist Missionary Vocation. The latter are involved in a couple of projects; one to improve ground and water resources management, and the other to educate poor and lower caste children, marginalised by society.
Child protection agency president inspected the Bishop Clemens Memorial Boarding hostel searching evidence of "conversions" by the nuns. Fr Joseph would like to see the same agency “take note of the safety and security of thousands of children living in the streets of Indian cities.”
