India
India Hindus begin pilgrimage in Kashmir amid heavy security
By Aijaz Hussain — June 30, 2022
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — In massive security arrangements, tens of thousands of police and soldiers carrying automatic rifles and wearing flak jackets have been deployed to guard the pilgrimage.
Hindu man killed as religious tensions boil in India
By Krutika Pathi and Sheikh Saaliq — June 29, 2022
NEW DELHI (AP) — Experts worry that the latest incident could worsen India’s religious fault lines that critics say have deepened since Hindu nationalist Modi came to power in 2014.
Arrest of Indian Muslim journalist sparks widespread outrage
By Sheikh Saaliq — June 28, 2022
NEW DELHI (AP) — Pratik Sinha, the other co-founder of Alt News, said Zubair was arrested without any notice from police, which is mandatory in the sections of law under which he was detained.
In the world’s largest democracy, people of faith aren’t free
By David Curry — June 22, 2022
(RNS) — Alarming new data shows hundreds of violent attacks are being carried out against Christians in India.
Why Muslim countries are quick at condemning defamation – but often ignore rights violations against Muslim minorities
By Ahmet T. Kuru — June 16, 2022
(The Conversation) — A scholar of Islam writes about how widespread authoritarianism in the Muslim world shapes governments’ foreign policy toward Muslim minorities abroad.
India’s dark turn from model of religious pluralism to cautionary tale
By Khyati Y. Joshi — June 10, 2022
(RNS) — We need to see ourselves in India’s religious minorities.
India’s insult of the Prophet Muhammad is a sign of deeper Islamophobia
By Omar Suleiman — June 8, 2022
(RNS) — Boycotts and media outrage won’t change India’s attacks on its own Muslim citizens.
Hindu’s classical texts strictly forbid abortion. Here’s why many Hindus don’t.
By Dheepa Sundaram — May 20, 2022
(RNS) — Support for abortion rights is often rooted in the ethic of individual choice.
In India, Hindu nationalists embolden challenges to atheism
By Varsha Torgalkar — May 17, 2022
PUNE, India (RNS) — Organizations that support and promote atheism in India are being attacked by Hindutva activists.
Minority Hindu Kashmiris protest killing of community member
By Aijaz Hussain — May 13, 2022
(AP) — Scores of the region’s minority Hindus, locally known as Pandits, took to the streets, blocking roads and demanding that Rahul Bhat's killers be brought to justice.
Lost in Ukraine and SCOTUS: Five urgent Christian persecution situations
By David Curry — May 6, 2022
(RNS) — The American media’s single-story focus has crowded out alarming developments on the religious freedom front.
Caste doesn’t just exist in India or in Hinduism – it is pervasive across many religions in South Asia and the diaspora
By Aseem Hasnain and Abhilasha Srivastava — May 5, 2022
(The Conversation) — Several US universities now recognize caste as part of nondiscrimination policies. Two scholars of South Asian studies explain how caste-based violence isn’t limited to Hinduism, or to India.
Muslim properties razed in New Delhi after communal violence
By Sheikh Saaliq — April 20, 2022
(AP) — Officials say they are targeting illegal buildings and not any religious group. But critics argue this is the latest attempt to harass Muslims, who make up 14% of India’s 1.4 billion people.
Jains celebrate the founder of their small but ancient faith
By Kalpana Jain — April 13, 2022
(RNS) — A contemporary of the Buddha, Mahavir preached his own way of nonviolence, or ahimsa.
How Americans have adopted — and adapted — the Indian festival of Holi
By Kalpana Jain — March 17, 2022
(RNS) — Religious practices go through change and transformation.
