The enduring presence and contribution of Christian schools across India, a majority Hindu nation, highlights their pivotal role in shaping the nation’s educational landscape. Despite facing challenges and opposition, these institutions continue to provide quality education to students from diverse backgrounds. Here's a look at the history of these schools and their enduring legacy to Indian society.
Read MoreIllegal bans on nonvegetarian food are increasingly being introduced in towns that attract Hindu pilgrims, like Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Since it is perceived as a manifestation of tradition and culture, it is difficult to challenge it in a court of law.
Read MoreThe Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage gives a major push for reconciliation between Hindus from the rest of India and Muslims in Kashmir, acting as a catalyst for bringing together communities divided by violence. The holy cave was discovered by a Muslim devoted to Lord Shiva, a deity in the Hindu trinity. Despite the government’s intervention, the pilgrimage has brought people together.
Read MoreManipur is witnessing renewed violence, with the latest escalations being reported from Jiribam district, an area that borders Assam’s Cachar district, after a Meitei farmer’s death was attributed to a Kuki-Zo armed group. Two people from the Hmar-Mizo tribal communities, which are part of the larger Zo tribe, were killed, and 48 houses and a church owned by tribals were destroyed.
Read MoreAs India gears up for the largest national elections ever conducted on the planet, the Christian community, although a minority, faces unique challenges that underscore the significance of its political representation. The issues range from persecution to the enforcement of anti-conversion laws, with the recent unrest in Manipur spotlighting the urgent need for their voices to be heard.
Read MoreNikhil Mandalaparthy is the advocacy director with Hindus for Human Rights, a human rights nonprofit that advocates for pluralism and civil and human rights in South Asia and North America. He spoke with Jody Hassett Sanchez in Washington during Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s state visit.
Read MoreEarlier this month, the two-part BBC documentary “The Modi Question” was screened at Columbia University's Journalism School and Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, among others. In its most recent attempts at stifling dissent, the Indian government banned the documentary. At Columbia University, the screening was followed by a panel discussion led by progressive academics, Indian activists and journalists.
Read MoreSyed Ali Sarvat Jafri lives near Ayodhya, the Indian city that witnessed violent intercommunal rioting after Hindu nationalists tore down a 16th century mosque. Jafri aims to spark conversations about history, memory and heritage-preservation through his art, which draws on his ancestral legacy of blending Hinduism and Sufism in poetry.
Read MoreOf the 7.6 billion people on Earth, 2.4 billion identify as Christian, 1.9 billion as Muslim, 1.2 billion as Hindu and more than 500 million as Buddhist. Those are just the four largest religions. In other words, 310 million in the U.S. do not necessarily constitute the epicenter for all religion in the world. If anything, religion in America is a unique outlier.
Read MoreLocal Muslims believe the new proposed regulations threaten the culture of the Muslim-majority islands and are aimed at furthering the Hindu nationalist agenda of India's ruling party.
Read MoreThe Indian government has evicted hundreds of nomadic Muslims living in the forests of Kashmir and cut down their sources of income— their apple orchards. The move comes a year after a court order declaring their occupation of the land illegal, but activists say the Hindu nationalist government is ignoring a law allowing tribal people to live on government land and accusing the government of wanting to change the Muslim character of the region.
Read MoreA new bill in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand would recognize the Sarna faith of tribals (indigenous people) for the first time. The state hopes to persuade the national government to pass a similar resolution. But some Hindu nationalist groups are pushing back.
Read MoreSeven months after deadly anti-Muslim riots in New Delhi, calm has been restored, and local Muslims have returned for prayers in the restored mosques. But those complicit in the 53 deaths, of which two-thirds were Muslims, remain at large.
Read MoreIndian Muslims are being targeted in different parts of the country following reports that there was an outbreak of COVID-19 at a mid-March gathering hosted by a Muslim missionary society.
Read MoreOn. March 13, in a surprise move, the Indian government released former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and current Member of Parliament, Farooq Abdullah. He had been detained more than seven months inside his home in Kashmir, since Aug. 5, 2019 when the Indian government revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status.
Read MoreThe Indian government has restored Muslim-majority Kashmir’s Internet access. Kashmiris wonder: for how long?
Read MoreNearly 42 people were killed, including a Delhi cop, and more than 200 injured. The violence began when Hindu mobs clashed with Muslims in northeast Delhi protesting a new citizenship law that fast-tracks citizenship for religious minorities of all major faiths coming from some neighboring countries, except Islam.
Read MoreThe night before President Trump’s arrival, Indian police arrested several activists involved in protests against a controversial citizenship bill and register seen as anti-Muslim. Police released the activists after the "Namaste Trump" event was over and Trump left to visit the Taj Mahal.
Read MoreHindu nationalists are trying to stop a Catholic parish’s proposed 114-feet-high granite Jesus statue atop a hill in rural South India, sparked by a large Christmas land donation from a Hindu politician. The archbishop of Bangalore sought the state chief minister’s intervention this week to continue the $1.5 million project.
Read MoreMass protests in India show a public resistance to Prime Minister Modi and his party’s vision for a Hindu nation over a long-held secularism that treats all religions equally.
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