Don’t shout ‘Horse’ at his Wedding!

Don’t shout ‘Horse’ at his Wedding!

Dalit youths in Rajasthan are asserting their individuality by defying caste-based social conventions and  taboos that robbed them of their dignity. For decades, bridegrooms from lower castes were forbidden to imitate the high castes, especially by riding a horse in wedding processions. The ‘logic’ apparently was that horse riding was symbolic of noble birth and […]

Church takes on ‘lies, half-truths, misleading facts’

Church takes on ‘lies, half-truths, misleading facts’

Catholic priests and nuns in Kerala have become pro-active about the ‘deliberate attempts’ to malign their image, but what’s beneath the surface? Taking serious note of the rising trend to defame the Church in mainstream media and social media platforms, priests and nuns have stopped playing the role of passive victims. Catholic officials in Kerala […]

Refugee babies may be baptized, but no Certificates

Refugee babies may be baptized, but no Certificates

Babies of Burmese refugees in India, may receive baptism, but Churches cannot give them baptism certificates. Christian parishes in the northeastern state of Mizoram have decided not  to issue baptism certificates to refugee babies from Myanmar, because of a lack clear government policy on the status of refugees fleeing across the border from that conflict-torn […]

Hope for Nagaland’s ‘Specially Abled’

Hope for Nagaland’s ‘Specially Abled’

Dimapur: Nagaland is to have  a National Career Service Centre for the Differently Abled (NCSC-DA). It will benefit an estimated 29,000 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in the northeastern state. The Industrial Training Institute (ITI) campus at Khushiabill, Dimapur will host the proposed centre. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Nagaland government and […]

Apostolic Nuncio visits Patna with Pallium for Archbishop

Apostolic Nuncio visits Patna with Pallium  for Archbishop

Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli was given a rousing welcome during his first visit to The Queen of Apostles Parish in the Kurji locality of Patna, the largest parish in Patna Archdiocese. A special escort of honour escorted the car carrying the Papal Nuncio from the Seva Kendra complex to the Queen of […]

Sunday Skirmishes: Evangelicals face Hindutva Ire?

Sunday Skirmishes: Evangelicals face Hindutva Ire?

The gloves are off now, Evangelical Christian prayer services attacked, pastors hauled up and questioned by the police, neighbours calling up the police and filing serious complaints, all happening in various small locations across the country. Is it the Hindu hardliners outrage against aggressive proselyting? Or is it stage one of a more ‘action packed’ […]

Persecution still alive in Odisha’s Kandhamal

Persecution still alive in Odisha’s Kandhamal

Last week in the district of Kandhamal in Odisha four families were kicked out of their own houses. The reason for this was their faith. Their houses were demolished and they were not allowed to access common public resources, such as the village well. Because of this hostile environment some of them had to flee […]

Why are MP Christians suddenly so fearful?

Why are MP Christians suddenly so fearful?

Christians in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh state are in a state of apprehension and fear, following repeated threats by self-styled Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists that they plan to demolish all ‘illegal’ churches in the district. Even though no serious incidents have been reported two days past the deadline, locals say that a […]

Student death, Jesuit Principal Arrested

Student death, Jesuit Principal Arrested

A tragic accident and death of a 14 year old student in a Jesuit run school in Williamnagar town of the North-eastern state of Meghalaya has caused a major stir in the Garo hills region. The incident took place on Tuesday September 24. Following protests, the principal of the school, Jesuit Father Melwyn Fernandes was […]

Two priests and an Angel give Darshan his sight

Two priests and an Angel give Darshan his sight

A 21-year old tribal boy from the Ooladbari tea  gardens of North Bengal, survivor of a near fatal accident,  two years and nine months ago, can now lead a normal life, thanks to the intervention of  two Salesian priests and an ‘angel’ from Italy.  Darshan Oraon,  abandoned by his parents, lives with his ailing grandmother […]

Kandhamal Awards: Keeping Hope and the Memory of the Massacred Alive

Kandhamal Awards: Keeping Hope and the Memory of the Massacred  Alive

Never giving up the struggle for justice and reparation of those killed, displaced, and imprisoned on fake charges, these awards will keep the Kandhamal story alive – a bizarre bloodbath of right wing hate fomented in an Indian state whose founder was a Christian named Michael Madhusudan Das. National Solidarity Forum (NSF), comprising over 70 […]