Church leaders and activists have criticized India’s Maharashtra state for threatening legal action against Dalit Christians, who allegedly benefited from India’s affirmative action pro-gram. Chief Minister Devendra Fadna-vis, who heads the state government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said on July 17 that legal action will be taken against Dalit people from religions other than the three recognized – Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh – ones for claiming benefits. Chri-stian leaders say the move aims to target “Crypto Christians,” a term BJP leaders use to describe people who they say follow the Christian faith but officially remain Dalit Hindus to claim benefits from affirmative action.
Justice Bhuyan Calls for Protection of Dissent and Personal Liberty
Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has expressed concern over the growing trend of treating peaceful dissent and ordinary actions as criminal offences. Speaking at a
