status of religious freedom in India
I guess if you are embarassed by the actions of your country you call the news about it propaganda...i'd be embarassed and ashamed too if i were Indian. In a country that's overwhelmingly Hindu, why does the BJP feel the desparate need to make anti-conversion laws? could it be that Christians love the tribal people who have been ignored and abused by Hindus and for some strange reason the tribal people and the bottom castes are no longer interested in being Hindus anymore?
India
In India 2005 was characterized by a significant increase in attacks against Christian communities and also a deterioration of relations between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority.
This phenomenon can be blamed on the attitude assumed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- the largest Indian political party, with nationalist Hinduist characteristics -- and by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) -- a paramilitary group of Hindu extremists and considered the BJP’s armed wing. After the sound defeat suffered in the 2004 general elections, they launched a campaign of intimidation and of "rebirth of national pride" to conquer the presidency of each individual state.
In 2005 there were about 200 attacks against Catholics.
Last August the government decided to draft a report on the social, economic and cultural conditions of Muslim minorities in the country, taking into account the number Muslims in the various Indian states, the female condition, child mortality, professional employment and access to public services.
The Indian Catholic
The law says the information from the priest and the individual will help the police will verify that the act of conversion is not being done by force or allurement.
Till now the act prohibited conversion from one religion to another through force, inducement or cheating, but there was no provision for advance information.
The ruling BJP government claimed the existing laws were insufficient to check conversions by force or allurement.
The state has witnessed several anti-Christians attacks in the past months, which Hindu activist claimed were linked conversion activities.
Congress party in a memorandum asked Governor Balram Jakhar to return the bill without signing. His signature is necessary for the amendments to become part of the law.
Congress leaders and Christian leaders termed the move an interference with the religious freedom and human rights of the people.
Indira Iyengar, president of the Madhya Pradesh Christian Association, said the amendment will only encourage communal forces. She urged the governor to return the bill.
Iyengar denied allegations that Christian missionaries in the state were converting tribals forcibly.
“The community is being implicated in false cases. It is facing increasing attacks,” she said adding that this year alone there were more than 20 attacks on Christians in the state.
Hindu outfits fabricate charges of converting tribals to Christianity to attack and harass Christian communities and leaders, she said.
India
In India 2005 was characterized by a significant increase in attacks against Christian communities and also a deterioration of relations between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority.
This phenomenon can be blamed on the attitude assumed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- the largest Indian political party, with nationalist Hinduist characteristics -- and by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) -- a paramilitary group of Hindu extremists and considered the BJP’s armed wing. After the sound defeat suffered in the 2004 general elections, they launched a campaign of intimidation and of "rebirth of national pride" to conquer the presidency of each individual state.
In 2005 there were about 200 attacks against Catholics.
Last August the government decided to draft a report on the social, economic and cultural conditions of Muslim minorities in the country, taking into account the number Muslims in the various Indian states, the female condition, child mortality, professional employment and access to public services.
The Indian Catholic
The law says the information from the priest and the individual will help the police will verify that the act of conversion is not being done by force or allurement.
Till now the act prohibited conversion from one religion to another through force, inducement or cheating, but there was no provision for advance information.
The ruling BJP government claimed the existing laws were insufficient to check conversions by force or allurement.
The state has witnessed several anti-Christians attacks in the past months, which Hindu activist claimed were linked conversion activities.
Congress party in a memorandum asked Governor Balram Jakhar to return the bill without signing. His signature is necessary for the amendments to become part of the law.
Congress leaders and Christian leaders termed the move an interference with the religious freedom and human rights of the people.
Indira Iyengar, president of the Madhya Pradesh Christian Association, said the amendment will only encourage communal forces. She urged the governor to return the bill.
Iyengar denied allegations that Christian missionaries in the state were converting tribals forcibly.
“The community is being implicated in false cases. It is facing increasing attacks,” she said adding that this year alone there were more than 20 attacks on Christians in the state.
Hindu outfits fabricate charges of converting tribals to Christianity to attack and harass Christian communities and leaders, she said.
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