Local 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.
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(ANALYSIS) The economies of countries dependent on tourism are clearly hurting, with visitor numbers plummeting as a result of the pandemic. The Thai government estimates $100 billion in losses to GDP but the actual loss cannot be captured in these numbers alone. Many cross-cultural exchange opportunities have been lost as well.
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With peace letters written by schoolchildren to friends unknown to them across the border, Jesuit priest Joseph Kalathil set out to build bridges between India and Pakistan—neighbors scarred by decades of conflict and hostility. The challenge seemed not only risky but insurmountable. Yet, Kalathil remained determined.
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Those who can afford cremation scatter their loved one’s ashes into the water, while the poor often wrap bodies in muslin and release them floating on planks. But during the months-long surge of deaths, cremation expenses soared along with unemployment, and many more of India’s poor are burying bodies in the sand despite the Hindu custom to cremate.
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The popular Indian yoga guru and Hindu nationalist Baba Ramdev spread misinformation about vaccines and modern medicine. After India’s national medical association condemned him, Ramdev’s billion-dollar brand Patanjali claimed the doctors are behind a Christian plot to malign yoga and Hindus.
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Ahead of the world day of prayer for the Catholic Church in China on May 24, Pope Francis asked that the faithful pray the Holy Spirit would help Chinese Catholics “to be bearers of the happy message, witnesses of goodness and charity, and builders of justice and peace in their country.”
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The pandemic has exacerbated the discrimination and social isolation Dalits face. And while many Dalits are on the forefront of essential sanitation work, they are also struggling to survive. Even without contracting COVID-19, many Dalits say with irregular wages and employment uncertainty, they’re concerned about feeding their families.
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(ANALYSIS) The deadly second wave of COVID-19 currently sweeping India is causing a cultural change in the way the country handles the treatment of the dead.
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In the midst of a deadly second coronavirus wave and medical care shortage, Moin Mastan and his team of 25 volunteers have been working round the clock to perform the last rites, cremations and burials of 40 to 50 Indians every day who have died with COVID-19 infections in the central Indian state of Maharashtra—all while fasting daily for Ramadan, a holy month in Islam for tightened devotion in spiritual reflection, worship and prayer.
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(ANALYSIS) Massive crowds are expected to gather at India’s northern city of Haridwar throughout April 2021 for the religious festival of Kumbh Mela, despite the country’s grappling with a COVID-19 surge. The Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage held every 12 years and is the world’s largest religious festival, with a total 100 million pilgrims expected over several weeks.
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Thousands of Kashmiris are flocking to Sufi shrines this Ramadan, where their faith and worship is taking a leading role in their healing from trauma, depression, PTSD and other mental health issues.
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An Asian American ministry leader reflects on rising hate crimes and the murders of six Asian American women in Georgia and offers three takeaways for the U.S. church.
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Thousands of Rohingya refugees settled in India’s only Muslim-majority region Jammu and Kashmir are at risk of arrest and detention after the Indian government moved 175 Rohingya to a detention center March 6, saying the Myanmar government — now controlled by the military accused of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya— asked for the Rohingya to be deported back. The move follows the BJP ruling party’s promises to deport Rohingya, ahead of elections in key states this week.
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(OPINION) The upcoming International Women’s Day should be used to rethink the impact of our everyday choices on the situation of women. This includes the way we shop. Indeed, recent research suggests that it is very likely that my power suit means enslavement, forced labor and abuse of Uyghur women.
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Beyond being one of Mahatma Gandhi’s — or Ghandiji’s — granddaughters, Ela Gandhi has become a symbol of social justice in her own right, living a life of quiet — and not so quiet — resistance over the last 80 years. A new book by Easterbooks, “My Time with Ela Gandhi,” chronicles the lessons learned and stories told by Gandhi throughout their friendship.
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(OPINION) Ravi Zacharias was perhaps the world’s most famous apologist for Christianity until his death last year, but now the most memorable part of his legacy is the apologetics challenge he has left behind for the rest of us. Here’s why we shouldn’t dismiss his arguments even after the revelation of his sexual abuses.
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In an effort to stifle widespread protests against new farm laws, many led by Sikhs, India’s government has launched a new set of regulations to censor online content and is leveraging a colonial-era sedition law to arrest anyone the government deems as critics.
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Just hours after a Feb. 23 court hearing granted a temporary stay to Myanmar nationals in Malaysia to protect asylum seekers who fled religious and ethnic persecution, 1,086 Myanmar citizens were deported on three ships by Myanmar’s military at the Malaysian Royal Navy base in Lumut, on the West coast of Malaysia. The UN’s refugee agency, denied access to the immigration detention centers since August 2019, was not allowed to evaluate and separate asylum seekers from the group deported, which sources say include Chin Christians who had fled persecution in Myanmar.
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After fleeing violence 31 years ago, dozens of Kashmiri Hindus returned to the Himalayan valley to see their childhood temple reopened. Their temple and others have been maintained by Muslim neighbors and protected from militant violence and the land mafia. “I believe if I safeguard the temple, God will keep me safe, it’s my duty to do that,” caretaker Mohammed Sideeq said.
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Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers who left Myanmar for better opportunities in Malaysia are facing uncertain deportation. After Myanmar’s coup, the new military regime announced it would send three ships to collect 1,200 citizens from a Malaysian detention center that houses both migrants and asylum seekers. If deported, religious and ethnic minorities would return to the persecution in Myanmar that they fled.
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