National
Pentecostal mission center demolished in India; pastor, 17 others arrested
Hindu nationalist government officials in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state have demolished a Pentecostal mission center and arrested 18 people amid concerns over the persecution of the Christian minority in the country, according to reports.
The demolition took place last Wednesday in the Bhulandih area of Jaunpur district, according to the Union of Catholic Asia News. A special police squad tore down the Jeevan Jyoti Church mission center, which had existed for over a decade, and closed off roads leading to the mission center.
Eighteen individuals, including Pastor Durga Prasad Yadav, were arrested.
Yadav, his wife, Leela, and his brother, Jai Prakash, were accused of criminal conspiracy in an information report. Two days before the demolition, Yadav, his wife, son Manish, and associates, pastor Sanjay Masih of Mirzapur and Manoj Jacob, UP president of the Christian forum Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh, were arrested, The Wire reports.
According to the outlet, police also opened a case against Yadav under the UP Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.
A senior government official, Neha Mishra, told UCA News that the demolition was aimed at “razing illegal structures on government land.” She claimed the mission center lacked official permission.
A church official refuted this, asserting that most of the center was not on government property, albeit admitting that a portion of the campus was.
“The wall was built with approval from local officials, but the permission was verbal,” the church official told UCA News.
A church official disclosed that unidentified people had torn down the boundary wall on Oct. 5.
The government subsequently ordered the mission to pay $3,400 to cover the cost of the demolition, local media reported.
Local government officials lodged three first information reports against managers of the prayer center in September, according to The Wire. The first report centers on the complaint of a revenue official who said the prayer center was built on land that was “illegally occupied” and that the land was initially allotted for burial grounds.
“The portion which was found to be legal and privately owned ‘was not touched,'” Deputy Superintendent of Police Gaurav Sharma told The Wire.
A source close to the situation told the outlet that even if a portion of the center was on government land, the administration could have exchanged it with additional land outside the compound.
Christians in Uttar Pradesh express rising apprehensions as the state enacted an anti-conversion law in 2021.
“The government does not want Christians to organize prayer services,” Pastor Dinesh Kumar told UCA News.
Presently, 89 Christians are jailed in Uttar Pradesh for alleged violations of this law, according to UCA News.
International Christian Concern, a U.S.-based persecution watchdog organization, warns that upcoming state elections in Uttar Pradesh have emboldened Hindu nationalist political leaders.
Anti-conversion laws have been a driving factor behind increased imprisonments of Christians, the watchdog reported last week, revealing that nearly 400 Christians have been jailed since the end of 2020 due to these laws. Attacks against Christians are also escalating, with even home gatherings being targeted.
Nearly a dozen states in India have enacted anti-conversion laws. Proponents of such laws say they are needed to crack down on Christians or Muslims, forcing or giving money or goods to Hindus to persuade them to convert.
These laws typically ban conversion through coercion, allurement, fraudulent practices, marriage or misrepresentation. Hindu nationalist activists and groups have often used the laws to file allegations of forced conversion with police against religious minorities. The burden of proof falls on those accused to prove that conversions were not done in force.
The United Christian Forum recorded 104 incidents of violence against Christians in Uttar Pradesh alone this year until August. Nationwide, this number reached 525. Christians constitute a minuscule 0.18 percent of the state’s 200 million-strong population.
Christians make up around 2.3% of India’s national population, as indicated by the U.S. State Department.
The UCF reported a significant upsurge in violent incidents against Christians since 2014. Their findings show a substantial increase in 2021 and 2022, making 2021 the “most violent year” in India for Christians.
This rise in violence includes vigilante mobs composed of religious extremists who target Christians. The UCF’s report attributes the increased persecution to impunity, resulting in these mobs threatening and assaulting people before turning them over to police on allegations of forced conversions.
India ranks as the 11th-worst country when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List, attributing deteriorating religious freedom conditions in the country to the rise of the Hindutva ideology, which holds that only Hindus are true Indians.
“Increasing numbers of states are implementing anti-conversion laws, supposedly to stop Hindus being forcibly converted to other religions, but in reality, they are often used as an excuse to harass and intimidate Christians who are just doing things like distributing aid or having a private church meeting,” Open Doors states. “These laws do not seem to protect Christians from being coerced back into Hinduism.”
Sources:Christian Post
National
ഐ.പി.സി. നേര്യമംഗലം സെന്റർ യുവജന ക്യാമ്പ് പെരുമ്പാവൂർ കീഴില്ലത്ത് വച്ച് ഞാറാഴ്ച 6 pm ന് ഉദ്ഘാടനം നടത്തപ്പെടുന്നു
IPC നേര്യമംഗലം സെന്റർ PYPA യുടെ ആഭിമുഖ്യത്തിൽ ഞാറാഴ്ച 6 pm ന് കീഴില്ലം ഇവാഞ്ചലിക്കൽ റീ ട്രീറ്റ് സെന്ററിൽ വച്ച് സെന്റർ ക്യാമ്പ് സെന്റർ പാസ്റ്റർ: സണ്ണി മാത്യൂ ഉദ്ഘാടനം ചെയ്യുന്നു: PYPA സെന്റർ പ്രസിഡന്റ് പാസ്റ്റർ: ഫ്രീ ജോ ഫ്രാൻസിസ് ആദ്ധ്യക്ഷത വഹിക്കും.
തുടർന്ന് 24, 25 തീയതികളിൽ പാസ്റ്റേഴ്സ്: ഉമ്മൻ പി ക്ലമെന്റ് സൺ, ബിനു വടശ്ശേരി ക്കര, മാത്യൂ വർഗ്ഗീസ്, ഇവ: പി.സി. ജെ ബു, ഷാർലെറ്റ് പി. മാത്യൂ തുടങ്ങിയവർ വിവിധ സെക്ഷനുകളിൽ ക്ലാസ്സ് എടുക്കുന്നു.ഗാനശുശ്രൂഷകൾക്ക് നേതൃത്വം നൾക്കുന്നത് പാസ്റ്റർ സോജൻ സി.എസ്, ജീസൺ ജോർജ്ജ് എന്നീവരാണ്.
സമയം വിണ്ടെടുക്കുക (Redeem the time) എന്നതാണ് ചിന്താവിഷയം.
ഇവാ: ജെയ്സൺ സാബു (സെക്രട്ടറി), ജോബ് പി. ഏലിയാസ് (ട്രഷറാർ ) ബിബിൻ ബി ജ്ജു (പബ്ളിസിറ്റി ) തുടങ്ങിയവരുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തിൽ വിവിധ കമ്മറ്റികൾ പ്രവർത്തിച്ചു വരുന്നു.
25 ന് 1 pm ന് നടത്തപ്പെടുന്ന സമാപന സമ്മേളനത്തിൽ ഐ.പി.സി കേരളാ സ്റ്റേറ്റ് കൗൺസിൽ അംഗങ്ങൾ, സെന്റർ എക്സിക്യൂട്ടിവുകൾ തുടങ്ങിയവർ പങ്കെടുക്കും സെന്ററിലെ 21 സഭകളും പ്രവർത്തന മണ്ഡലങ്ങളും ഏറണാകുളം, ഇടുക്കി ജില്ലകളിലായി സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്നു.
Sources:cchintha.in
ആരോമലായി അരോമ, പുന്നമടയിൽ പുതിയ താരോദയം! കന്നിയങ്കത്തിൽ ഫോട്ടോ ഫിനിഷിൽ നെഹ്റു ട്രോഫിയിൽ മുത്തമിട്ടു.
72-ാമത് നെഹ്റു ട്രോഫി ജലമേളയിൽ അരോമ ചുണ്ടൻ ജേതാക്കളായി. പുന്നമടക്കായലിൽ നടന്ന വാശിയേറിയ ഫൈനൽ പോരാട്ടത്തിൽ ഫോട്ടോ ഫിനിഷിലാണ് അരോമ ബോട്ട് ക്ലബ്ബ് തുഴഞ്ഞ അരോമ ചുണ്ടൻ കന്നി കിരീടം ചൂടിയത്. 4 മിനിറ്റ് 23.328 സെക്കൻഡിൽ ഫിനിഷ് ചെയ്താണ് അരോമ ജലരാജാക്കന്മാരായത്. 4.23.44 സമയത്തിൽ ഫിനിഷ് ചെയ്ത നടുഭാഗം ചുണ്ടൻ രണ്ടാം സ്ഥാനവും, വീയപുരം, മേൽപ്പാടം ചുണ്ടനുകൾ യഥാക്രമം മൂന്നും നാലും സ്ഥാനങ്ങളും നേടി. ചമ്പക്കുളം മൂലം വള്ളംകളിയിലെ വിജയത്തിന് പിന്നാലെയാണ് സ്വന്തം ക്ലബ്ബിന്റെയും ചുണ്ടന്റെയും കന്നി സീസണിൽ തന്നെ അരോമ നെഹ്റു ട്രോഫിയും സ്വന്തമാക്കുന്നത്.
ഉച്ചയോടെ മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി വി.ഡി. സതീശൻ ജലമേള ഉദ്ഘാടനം ചെയ്തു. കർണാടക മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി ഡി.കെ. ശിവകുമാർ, കേന്ദ്രമന്ത്രി ഗജേന്ദ്ര സിംഗ് ഷെഖാവത്ത്, രമേശ് ചെന്നിത്തല, കെ.സി. വേണുഗോപാൽ എം.പി. തുടങ്ങിയ പ്രമുഖർ ചടങ്ങിൽ പങ്കെടുത്തു. മന്ത്രി പി.സി. വിഷ്ണുനാഥാണ് ചടങ്ങിൽ പതാക ഉയർത്തിയത്.
http://theendtimeradio.com
In Keralam, Aroma Chundan has won the 72nd Nehru Trophy Boat Race in a nail-biting finish at Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha. In one of the closest contests in the history of the legendary water festival, Aromal Chundan crossed the finish line in 4 minutes, 23 seconds, and 328 milliseconds to secure the coveted trophy.
Nadubhagom Chundan finished a close second with a time of 4 minutes, 23 seconds, and 448 milliseconds, while Veeyapuram Chundan took third place, clocking in at 4 minutes, 23 seconds, and 770 milliseconds.
The high-octane race was the highlight of a grand event that featured 71 boats, including 22 traditional snake boats, competing across various categories. Thousands of spectators, including race enthusiasts and foreign tourists, gathered along the backwaters to witness Keralam’s iconic sporting and cultural spectacle, for which a local holiday was declared across government offices and educational institutions in Alappuzha district.
http://theendtimeradio.com
Church leaders have welcomed a ruling by a provincial top court in southern India allowing a Christian woman to seek dissolution of her marriage in a family court where she currently resides after moving out of her matrimonial home.
The Kerala High Court’s Aug. 19 ruling came on an appeal filed by a Christian woman seeking legal separation from her husband due to domestic violence.
The woman, who resides at her parental home in Kerala state’s Wayanad district, had challenged a family court order directing her to file her application in Kasargod district, where her estranged husband and his family live.
Global Catholic
The British-era Indian Divorce Act of 1869, which governs judicial separation and marriage dissolution, among other things, for Christians in India, makes it mandatory for women to approach a family court in the place where “the marriage was solemnized, or the husband and wife reside or last resided together.”
In her appeal to the High Court, the Christian woman argued that this restriction resulted “in serious prejudice to Christian women who intend to file for divorce.”
The woman had earlier challenged the family court order before a single bench of the Kerala High Court on the grounds that she was not in a position “to travel long distances, in protracted litigations in a hostile jurisdiction.”
She pointed out that women were allowed to approach family courts where they resided under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, as well as the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which enables marriages between individuals of any religion, caste, or nationality, but not under the law governing Christian marriages.
The single-judge bench, in a June 30 ruling, agreed with her contentions but refused to grant her relief, holding that amending the law was the only solution and leaving it to the Indian Parliament to decide.
The judge, however, directed that the order be sent to the federal government, recommending it to amend the 1869 law.
The High Court’s division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Preeta A K, whom she approached later, allowed her appeal.
It ruled that she could file her application before a family court “having jurisdiction over the place where she is currently residing, even if that place is different from where the marriage was solemnized or where the couple last lived together.”
Church leaders hailed this Aug. 19 ruling as a “landmark decision” based on “a wise interpretation of a contentious clause.”
Father Ebigin Arackal, secretary to the Commission for Canon Law of the Kerala Region Latin Catholic Bishops’ Council, said, “We are glad that the top court, through its wise interpretation of a contentious clause, has ended decades-old discrimination against Christian women.”
Aleykutty P T, a lawyer in Kerala’s Idukki district, said Christian women were often forced to travel to places where their husbands were based, which made them insecure and sometimes even posed a threat to their lives.
“Now with this order, they can obviously choose a place where it’s safer and they get support,” she told UCA News on Aug. 20.
Govind Yadav, a lawyer at the Supreme Court in New Delhi, said this order for Kerala can become a precedent for other states to follow.
“But as long as the federal government fails to amend the colonial-era law, this discrimination against Christian women will continue,” he added.
Christians make up 2.3 percent of India’s more than 1.4 billion people; about 80 percent of whom are Hindus.
Sources:ucanews
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ഐ.പി.സി. നേര്യമംഗലം സെന്റർ യുവജന ക്യാമ്പ് പെരുമ്പാവൂർ കീഴില്ലത്ത് വച്ച് ഞാറാഴ്ച 6 pm ന് ഉദ്ഘാടനം നടത്തപ്പെടുന്നു
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