South Asian Americans protest Modi's crackdown from afar
(RNS) — A 'National Day of Action' aims to call out the slice of the Indian American community that is sympathetic to India’s right-wing politics.
Tech company CEO faces backlash over participation in Hindu nationalist event
(RNS) — Facing online backlash, the California-based CEO of enterprise software company Zoho has doubled down on plans to attend an event hosted by India's RSS paramilitary group.
Muslims in fear as police crack down in India's heartland
MEERUT, India (AP) — A crackdown on protests against a new citizenship law has been the harshest in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Muslims comprise 20% of the population.
When retail and reverence collide
(RNS) — Yoga's ubiquity has put Hindu imagery in the mainstream, but until HIndus are seen as equals in the U.S., mocking our faith's images defines us as colonialist caricatures.
The decade's biggest religion news stories
(RNS) — Islamophobia. #Churchtoo. Escalating religious violence. And the rise of the 'nones.' A look back at the stories that drove religion news in the past 10 years.
A spiritual icon to the Boomers, Ram Dass was godfather to the 'nones'
(RNS) — One of the spiritual teacher's great gifts was his great willingness to share his imperfections with the world and his ability to laugh about them.
Ram Dass, who introduced a generation to Hindu meditation, dies at 88
(RNS) — Pioneering the use of psychedelic drugs as spiritual practice, he also explored Buddhism and Hinduism, which took him to India and resulted in his 1971 best-selling book ‘Be Here Now.’
Amid citizenship law outcry, Indian authorities ban protests
NEW DELHI (AP) — The protests have targeted the new citizenship law, which applies to Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally but can demonstrate religious persecution in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Across India, opposition building against citizenship law
(RNS) — Critics say the legislation, which for the first time conditions Indian citizenship on religion, violates the secular constitution of the world's largest democracy.
How India's youth are taking to a path shown by a 15th century mystic
VARANASI, India (RNS) — As Indian millennials chart their own spiritual paths they are leading a revival of the teachings of a mystic who wrote couplets on the nature of the divine and criticized any form of orthodoxy.
More than 1 billion people celebrate on Diwali. What does it mean to them?
(RNS) — In the various stories that make Oct. 27 a holy day for so many, we have models of what true righteousness looks like. They are sharp rejoinders of what we should be doing and how we should be living.
Hindu nationalists open self-styled religious courts as a rebuke to Sharia law
ALIGARH, India (RNS) — Last year, the right-wing Hindu Mahasabha Party demanded the closure of all Muslim Sharia courts in India. When their petition was denied, the party set up its own unsanctioned courts across Uttar Pradesh, based on Hindu principles of justice.
Decades-old Hindu pilgrimage, aided by Modi government, takes a populist turn
VARANASI, India (RNS) — Religious fervor, supported and aided by India’s right-wing Modi government, is on the rise among some blocs of millennials in India.
Interfaith group urges congressman to skip Texas rally for India’s prime minister
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — An event, dubbed 'Howdy, Modi!,' is being held amid reports of violence and intimidation by Indian soldiers in Kashmir villages.
A school where Muslims and Hindus pray together stirs strife in divided India
ALIGARH, India (RNS) — Founded to help poor children of both of India's predominant faiths, the Chacha Nehru's inclusivity has irked Muslim and Hindu leaders alike.