Signaling his commitment to diversity, President Joe Biden has chosen record numbers of non-white and female cabinet members, including a spree of Indian Americans. Even more statement-making, he has excluded some of his former staff members linked to India’s Hindu nationalist movement, also called Hindutva.
Read MoreFor the first time in 120 years, a Hindu festival known to draw 1.5 million pilgrims and tourists every year will take place without worshippers. But Malaysia’s 1.9 million Hindus will celebrate at home.
Read MoreOn Jan. 26, thousands of Indian farmers turned their months-long sit-in protest on the outskirts of the capital into a massive rally, driving their tractors over police barriers to enter the city and even climb up the walls of the historic Red Fort—all on one of India’s biggest national holidays, Republic Day. The farmers’ protest—led in Delhi by Sikhs— is proving one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest political headaches.
Read More(REVIEW) A new Pakistani short film is making waves for criticizing blasphemy laws. “Swipe” follows a young boy in a dystopian future who is addicted to iFatwa, a fictional crowdsourcing app that lets players decide who deserves a death sentence.
Read MoreOn Jan. 19, Kashmiri Pandits marked 31 years since their migration. In the 90’s, an estimated 300,000 Kashmiri Hindus fled for their lives and settled outside Kashmir. Many still live in migrant camps today and are eager to return to Kashmir, but their path there is uncertain.
Read More(OPINION) Never having had any formal training in drawing and painting, Coreen was entirely self-taught. Over the years, she developed her skill to the point where her works found acceptance in many parts of the country. Her first love was depicting flowers, believing that God has created this colorful tapestry for us to enjoy and so in the early years she focused on nature and landscapes.
Read MoreThis week while much of the media dissected why some Christians were drawn to QAnon, investigated pastors’ links to the rioters, and examined the Christian symbols present in photos from the protest, smaller but important stories slipped through the cracks.
Read MoreThe World Watch List 2021, a list compiled by Open Doors, an international NGO advocating on behalf of persecuted Christians, paints a concerning picture of the situation Christians face around the world. The most likely and violent place for Christians to be located is in North Korea, though the list grows daily as countries shift towards religious persecution.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The move — in the wake of a decades-old priest shortage — will grant women the chance to serve as lectors, read Scripture and serve as eucharistic ministers. The changes, however, will continue to forbid women from being made deacons or priests.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What will 2021 bring? That’s the big question following a 2020 that will forever remain a year where the world was held hostage by a pandemic. It was also a year where we had a combative presidential election and a reawakened social justice movement that brought our divided politics out into our streets.
Read MoreIndia’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost local elections in Jammu and Kashmir Dec. 23 to a rare local political alliance that wants to reverse the sweeping constitutional changes made to the Muslim-majority region that opened it up for greater Hindu settlement, a severe lockdown and arbitrary detentions. Kashmir-based political parties put aside their differences to form the People’s Alliance For Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), explicitly to fight the BJP.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Thousands of Islamic militia members are going to gather outside churches in Indonesia this Christmas week. This sounds like a terrifying scenario, and in parts of the world it certainly would be. But very few, if any, Indonesian Christians are worried. They are more likely to greet the militia members with tea and cake.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Last week, the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court confirmed that it would not go further with the trials for the alleged crimes against the Uyghurs in China. The court does not have jurisdiction over crimes in China, allowing for senior Chinese leaders to continue religious persecution.
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 More(REVIEW) David Geisser’s new cookbook in time for the holidays, The Vatican Christmas Cookbook, offers up over 100 recipes from around the world.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A narrative pushed by Hindu nationalists suggests Muslim men are forcing Hindu women and girls to marry them and convert to Islam. An anti-conversion law that prohibits “love jihad” was passed at the end of November and criminalizes Hindu-Muslim couples.
Read MoreJews are fed up with being told where they can worship and what they can build, and the Department of Justice has swept in to have their back. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is having a rare moment of bipartisan unity begging other countries to stop persecuting religious minorities. In India, fears of “love jihad” have fueled a new anti-conversion law in the country’s most populous state, appeasing Hindu nationalists. Finally, California churches have won a step forward in a lawsuit against the governor.
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 More(ANALYSIS) The recent return from Saudi Arabia of Islamist firebrand Muhammad Rizieq Shihab sparked massive welcoming crowds, threatens to reform old political alliances and may even create new ones.
Read MoreAnalysts say if the election is fair, it could be a referendum on the constitutional changes made on Aug. 5 last year. But there is evidence that the Indian government is preventing local political parties from campaigning in India’s only Muslim-majority region.
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