The bodies of 12 indigenous Christian youths were laid to rest 25 days after they were killed in India’s sectarian strife-torn Manipur state. Many people turned up on Dec. 5 for a special prayer meeting organized at the Peace Ground at Tuibuong in Churachandpur district, a tribal Christian stronghold in the northeastern state, bordering civil war-hit Myanmar. The mourners observed a one-minute silence before the bodies with gunshot wounds were buried in the Martyrs’ Cemetery. Speakers at the meeting called them “martyrs” who laid down their lives while protecting their tribal community which is fighting with the majority Hindus in the hilly state. A total shutdown was observed in Tuibuong and thousands of people joined the funeral procession. Among the 12 youths, 10 were killed in an alleged encounter with the Central Reserve Police Force in Jiribam district on Nov. 11. Two others were allegedly killed by Meitei groups. However, the pro-Hindu government in the state has called the youths “militants.” Their burial was delayed as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), repre-senting Kuki-Zo tribal Christians in Manipur, insisted on their postmortem reports. The youths, aged between 19 and 35, accord-ing to the postmortem report, were shot from behind.

Catholic bishops have urged India’s lawmakers to act against a high court judge who said the country should be ruled by the wishes of the “majority” Hindus. Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav reportedly delivered the controversial remarks on Dec. 8 at an event organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) at the Allahabad High Court in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Yadav endorsed the extremist agenda of the clandestine outfit Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent body of the VHP and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. “The law works according to the majority. Be it in the context of the family or society. Only what benefits the welfare and happiness of the majority will be accepted,” Yadav said at the function held inside the high court’s library hall. Yadav even used the controversial term kathmullah to refer to fanatic or excessively devout Muslims during his speech. A majoritarian rule is “the opposite of everything that is intended by Article 14 and the constitution of India,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) noted in a statement. Article 14 guarantees the equality of all persons before the law. “The comments were made during a function organized by an outfit “that was reportedly responsible for communal violence in the past,” the bishops said in the statement on Dec. 11. The judiciary is entrusted with the duty to guard the constitution and judges are sworn in to uphold the constitution, the prelates noted. Persons who do not have “faith in our constitution and its morality should have nothing to do with the judiciary, much less be a judge,” the statement further said. The government should take action against the judge under Articles 124 and 217 of the constitution, which allow parliament to impeach high court judges. If the government fails, the opposition lawmakers should step in, the prelates demanded. The CBCI asked all parlia-mentarians to rise to the occasion to take action against Yadav. Lawyers and civil rights groups have asked India’s Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to initiate disciplinary action against Yadav and send him packing.

The legal cell of Catholic lawyer-priests and nuns has vowed to extend help to Indian minorities, including Christians, as persecution against them increases in India. “We have decided to provide legal help to the victims of atrocities and discrimination from the minority communities, especially Christians, irrespective of their denominational differences,” said Father Bondala Sleeva Raju, Telegu regional convener of the National Lawyers’ Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP). The regional forum is based in the southern Telugu region, covering India’s two Telugu-speaking states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Our teams will extend the help “free of cost” as our primary objective is to protect the rights of the country’s minorities, Raju told on Dec. 9 after a three-day convention of the NLFRP concluded in Eluru in Andhra Pradesh on Dec. 8. We are concerned about Christians amid rising persecution against them over alleged charges of religious conversion, the priest attached to Vijayawada diocese in Andhra Pradesh added. Eleven states, most of them ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party governments, have enacted a draconian anti-conversion law that curbs the citizen’s right to change religion without prior approval from government officials. These laws often target Christians and Muslims, the NLFRP meeting noted.

Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias has opposed a proposal to enact a stringent law restricting conversion in the poll-bound western Indian state of Maharashtra, saying it violates fundamental rights. In its election manifesto, the state’s ruling alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), promised to enact a stringent law making religious conversions difficult if re-elected to power. Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, said that state laws should not try to control a religious conversion, which is the choice of a person’s conscience. “No civil authority has the right to enter the shrine, which is the conscience of every single person, let alone decide what a conscience should say,” Cardinal Gracias said. Some 96 million voters in the state are scheduled to elect their 288 representatives to the state legislative on Nov. 20. According to the Election Commission of India, which conducts the elections, more than 4,136 candidates are in the fray. Although hundreds of independent candidates are contesting, the major fight is between the BJP-led ruling alliance and the secular alliance led by the Indian National Congress party that led the Indian independence struggle. Cardinal Gracias said all political parties should respect the secular values of the Indian constitution, which includes religious freedom. “Freedom of religion and the right to convert are fundamental human rights, protected by India’s Constitution,” and “for Christians, conversion is a personal transformation of the heart,” he said. “No government can come into my soul and tell my conscience saying, ‘you cannot change your religion. You must worship God in this way,” he said.

Bangalore City hosted the first National Catholic Media Confe-rence dedicated exclusively for Clergy and Religious at St John’s Medical College from November 23 to 24. The conference, entitled “ILLUMINAIRE: Nurturing Digital Stewardship in the Era of Artificial Intelligence,” was orga-nized by the Salesian Commu-nication departments in Rome and India, in collaboration with the Vatican Dicastery for Commu-nication and other national Church communication bodies. Among 16 experts who shared their perspectives on using social media and artificial intelligence for pastoral ministry with some 300 participants, were Member of Parliament from West Bengal Mr. Derek O’Brien who urged clergy and religious leaders to embrace digital tools while staying true to their mission and authenticity. Member of Vatican Dicastery for Communication and director of its Theological Pastoral Department Dr. Natasa Govekar encouraged participants to integrate the values of faith and communion into the digital realm, offering a vital framework for those engaged in digital ministry today. Recalling the great media apostles in the church, Daughters of St Paul Sr. Joeyanna D’Souza, a Social Media Ethics Specialist from Mumbai, emphasized the need for consecrated persons to prioritize community goals rather than personal recognition, share uplifting content that inspires and motivates others, and maintain a balanced online presence.

The top court in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu has ordered a federal probe into allegations of illegally selling British-era Church properties worth millions in a Protestant diocese. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Nov. 22 asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the country’s top investigating agency, to probe the allegations linked to properties of the Madurai-Ram-nad diocese of the Church of South India. The court order was issued in response to a public interest petition filed by D. Devasahayam, a diocese mem-ber. The petitioner alleged that the Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA) and dio-cesan officials sold 31.10 acres of land worth over 220 million rupees (US$2.6 million) for a mere 12 million rupees. During the sale, the accused persons accepted 9 million in cash, in gross violation of the country’s existing banking norms. “There were fraudulent transactions of astronomical level,” including “illegal transfer of money,” the court’s order noted. In 1912, the ruling British colonial govern-ment gave the land to the Ameri-can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, later known as the United Church Board for World Ministries, to set up an industrial home for needy women, carry out farming, and use the income for the welfare of the inmates. The mission body continued to administer it till 1973 and later handed it over to the CSITA without changing its original purpose. The petitioner said he approached the court because the police failed to address the corruption.

A Church leader in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has warned of legal action against political parties and candidates falsely claiming the Church’s support in the ongoing state assembly election. Father Bishu Benjamin Aind, vicar-general of Khunti diocese in the state, said that “the Church never endorses or asks its faithful to support any political party or candidate.” “People are free to exercise their voting right according to their choice,” the priest told and added if any such cases are reported, “we will initiate legal action.” Aind was reacting to a video circulating on social media since Nov. 10 claiming that Christians were told to vote for an independent candidate named Anita Surin from the Torpa constituency in Khunti district. However, the priest denied any such direction was issued by the Church. Polling was held in Torpa and 42 other constituencies in the first phase on Nov. 13. The second phase of polling for 38 of the total 81 constituencies is scheduled on Nov. 20. “Since there is one more phase due, there is a high possibility of similar cases occurring,” the priest said. Aind, who belongs to the indigenous Oraon tribe, said the video claiming Church support for Surin could be “the handiwork of some anti-social elements who want to divide people in the name of caste, creed and religion.”

The western Indian Maharashtra state did not include a Christian representative in the state panel meant to safeguard the interests of religious minorities, which Christian leaders say was unfortunate and unusual. “It is unfortunate that no one from the Christian community was given representation on the 11-member Maharashtra State Minorities Commission,” said Father Nigel Barrett, the spokesperson of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who heads the Bombay archdiocese in the state capital Mumbai.
The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on Oct. 11 filled nine vacant commission posts with six Muslims, two Jains, and a Sikh member ahead of assembly polls in India’s most industrialized state on Nov. 20. The minority panels are set up to safeguard and protect the interests of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain, and Zoroastrians (Parsis), who are notified as minority communities in the country. Christians comprise less than 1 percent (0.96) of Maharashtra state’s 126.5 million people, most of whom are Hindus. Buddhists (5.8 percent) and Jains (1.25 percent) are more numerous than Christians. However, Sikhs (0.20 percent), who are fewer than Christians, have a representative in the panel. “As a religious minority, we have every right to have at least one member in the statutory body,” Father Barrett told. The priest added, “There is resentment among the community.” He asked the government to reconsider the decision. It is the first time the state had completely kept Christians out of the minorities panel, noted Abraham Mathai, a former member of the state’s minorities commission. Christians “are legally entitled to get a seat on the commi-ssion,” Mathai told. Catholic activist Melwyn Fernandes from Mumbai (formerly Bombay) questioned the appointments just four days before the elections were announced. These appointments are aimed “at appeasing mi-nority groups,” Fernandes told. The Muslim community that got maximum representation constitutes over 12 percent of the population. So, their support is crucial ahead of the polls, he said. “It is evident that the appoint-ments were purely political,” Fernandes observed.

India’s top court has ended a British-era practice of exempting Catholic priests, brothers, and nuns working in government-funded education institutions from paying taxes on their salaries. The Nov. 7 order of the three-judge bench of Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra dismissed 93 appeals against a 2014 order of the Income Tax Department that asked them to pay taxes. The practice was introduced in 1944 during the British colonial era as part of an effort to promote education across the country. The Income Tax Department, which reports to the federal government, directed state governments in 2014 to deduct tax at source before paying salaries to priests, brothers, and nuns. The Church challenged the order in high courts of the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The state courts upheld the tax department’s order, and appeals were filed before the Supreme Court. The counsels for the Church personnel argued that religious priests and nuns take a vow of poverty, and their salaries are transferred to their respective congregations’ accounts. Unlike other citizens, they do not individually own anything. The country’s top court, in an interim order, temporarily relieved Church personnel. However, in its final verdict, the court wondered how religious people’s vows of poverty or not owning personal property affected the taxability of their income. It asked the government to deduct tax at the source of paying salaries. The Supreme Court also stressed the need for a uniform application of law and held that any person employed and receiving a salary would be subject to taxation.

An Indian church leader has hailed the one-year extension gi-ven to the Justice K G Balakri-shnan commission to study whether socially poor Christians and Muslims are eligible for the nation’s affirmative action policy. “We welcome the extension gi-ven to the panel as it was unable to complete its work within the stipulated time,” said Father Antony Thumma, secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Ecu-menism. Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi’s federal government appointed the commission in 2022 to study and recomm-end whether to extend the bene-fits of the affirmative action policy to Christians and Muslims who come from Dalit communi-ties that were once considered untouchable. The benefits of the policy include seats in educational institutions, government jobs, and electoral politics. However, these concessions are currently limited to Dalits who belong to Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddh-ism. Balakrishnan, a former chief justice of India who headed the three-member panel, was given two years to submit the report. “The panel started its work late as it did not get an office, staff, and other amenities,” said Thu-mma. The priest has been actively involved in the struggles of Dalit Christians to gain benefits from the affirmative action policy. Thumma and a 15-member ecu-menical delegation met the com-mission on Oct. 12 in the national capital, New Delhi, to advocate for the cause of Dalit Christians, who make up more than 50% of India’s 25 million Christians.