Shuriah Niazi

The issue of young women wearing hijabs in schools has become a controversial and heated topic in the Indian state of Rajasthan following a similar battle in the southern state of Karnataka. Hijab bans in Hindu-majority India are nothing new. However, such edicts have intensified recently under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, who adhere to Hindu nationalism and have focused on limiting the rights of religious minorities.

A 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.

An unbelievable story of reunion after 40 years is being hailed as an example of religious harmony in India. A Muslim truck driver found a mentally disabled Hindu woman on the side of the road near his village and gave her shelter. He and his family searched for her relatives, until finally during a COVID-19 lockdown, a breakthrough in the mystery came.

(OPINION) India needs to urgently tackle its problems of obvious intolerance and police brazenness against members of the minority Muslim community and those who protest the government. Recent viral videos show physical attacks and intimidation have become commonplace, particularly under the guise of enforcing COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Indian 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.

From 2016 to 2019, Indian Christians recorded 1,774 cases of hate crimes, with 527 in 2019 alone.

India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party is fighting a state’s proposal to provide eggs to government daycare centers, where many of the women and children come from tribal backgrounds not adhering to vegetarian or Hindu diets.