Church leaders and activists have criticized a state government’s decision to enact an anti-conversion law in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, calling it “politically motivated.” The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-run government in the state approved the draft for a tough new law to prevent so-called “forced religious conversions” in the state. The draft bill, containing stringent provisions, will be tabled for a vote at the upcoming session of the state assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel told media people on Nov. 30. The bill, which was approved in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bajanlal Sharma, proposes a jail term of up to 10 years for proven cases of forced conversion, according to media reports. The bill stipulates that individuals wishing to convert to another religion must apply to the district magistrate at least 60 days in advance. “The district magistrate will examine whether or not it is a forceful conversion,” Patel said. The minister said that special focus is being given to addressing the issue of conversions in tribal areas, where such activities are reportedly prevalent. If the bill is passed by the state legislature, Rajasthan will become the 12th state in India to promulgate an anti-conversion law. Currently, 11 Indian states, most of them ruled by the BJP, have the repressive law in place. “It is too early to comment on the subject as it is a sensitive issue,” Bishop Joseph Kallarackal of Jaipur, the state capital of Rajasthan told UCA News on Dec. 3. He said prelates in the state will have to discuss the bill with legal experts and leaders from the community. “We will examine in detail the likely impact of the proposed law,” Kallarackal added. Christian activist Minakshi Singh condemned the decision to enact the repressive law. “Under article 25 of the Indian constitution, people are free to profess, practice and propagate any religion of their choice,” she said.

India’s top court has told the warring factions in the Oriental Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch to share all public amenities at disputed Church properties in a southern state until a solution to the row can be found. The government in Kerala is finding it difficult to implement a 2017 apex court order that awarded disputed churches to the Orthodox faction due to stiff opposition from the Jacobite camp, a breakaway faction of the Da-mascus-based Church. While hearing a contempt petition against the communist-led state government and the Jacobite faction, a division bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court on Dec. 3 told the warring fa-ctions to share among them-selves all public amenities in the disputed church compounds without discrimination. The current stalemate concerns six disputed churches located in the state’s Ernakulam and Pa-lakkad districts. These chur-ches are under the control of the Jacobite faction of the Oriental Church, which has nearly 2 million followers in Kerala. “All public facilities like burial grounds, schools, hospitals, etc. on church premises shall continue to be availed by everyone, including Catholics,” the judges said in the order. Though it is an interim order, “it is significant as the court wanted to see both sides come together,” as shar-ing the amenities was not there in the 2017 order,” observed Biju Oommen, secretary of the Orthodox Church Association. He said they would consult their lawyers before sharing the amenities.

An archbishop has conde-mned an attack on a revered Hindu seer’s statue in a south-ern Indian state. “We have learned through media reports of the unfortunate and deeply disturbing incident of the defacement and vandalization of the statue of the late Shivakumara Swamiji in Girinagar in Banga-lore,” Archbishop Peter Ma-chado of Bangalore said in a statement on Dec. 5. The act, which has rightfully outraged people, “has no place in our society,” the prelate said, urg-ing the public not to be pro-voked by such incidents. Police arrested a 37-year-old delivery executive for damaging the statue on Dec. 4. The bronze-colored statue of the Lingayat seer was vandalized in the early hours of Nov. 30. “We arrested him under Section 324 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (the new Indian penal code),” police told the media. Shiv Krishna hails from neighboring Andhra Pradesh state. During questioning, he claimed he was “inspir-ed” to deface the statue by a vision of Jesus Christ in a dream. “The claim of the alleged culprit is baseless,” the prelate observed. He said such statements can “sow discord and create communal tension.” The statue was installed five years ago and local residents staged a protest, demanding stiff punishment for the accus-ed. “The Swamiji has been an inspiration to countless indi-viduals,” Archbishop Machado said. His legacy promotes har-mony, and this act of disrespect toward him is a “violation of the very principles he upheld,” he noted. The prelate has urged the police to conduct an impartial investigation.

Five Christians, including a pastor, have been arrested in a northern Indian state under a sweeping anti-conversion law after hardline Hindu activists objected to their holding a Sunday prayer meeting. Police in Uttar Pradesh on Dec. 8 arrested Pastor Vineet, his wife Payal, who were both identified by a single name, and three others, who were not named, in Kherki Mujkkipur village in Meerut district. The pastor was holding a prayer meeting and a medical camp at his house. The police recovered religious books, registers, bank details, and other materials from the house, the local Hindi newspaper Jagaran reported on Dec. 9. Vineet embraced Christianity a decade ago and converted around 250 people, according to the police. He purchased the house six months ago and organized Sunday prayer meetings there under the banner of the Kingdom of God Ministries Trust. The Dec. 8 meeting was attended by 50 people when a mob from the Hindu Raksha Dal (Hindu Protection Army) reached the spot and objected to it. The Dal’s state president Gaurav Parashar alleged people were being converted at the prayer meeting and informed the police.

Internet was restored in India’s conflict-torn northeastern state of Manipur on Dec. 9, weeks after a blackout was ordered to contain deadly ethnic violence and clashes between protesters and police. Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur last year between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, killing more than 250 people. Since then, communities have splintered into rival groups across swaths of the northeastern state, which borders war-torn Myanmar. Fresh clashes that killed at least 17 people last month in a part of Manipur previously spared from the violence prompted the latest of several internet shutdowns imposed in the state. That order came after protesters, outraged by the killings, tried to storm the homes of politicians in state capital Imphal, vandalising some of the properties. The local government on Dec. 9 ordered the lifting of “all forms of temporary suspension of internet and data services” imposed on November 19. Internet services were shut down for months in Manipur last year during the initial outbreak of violence, which displaced around 60,000 people from their homes according to government figures. Thousands of the state’s residents are still unable to return home owing to ongoing tensions. Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs. Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain. Manipur is ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party and Human Rights Watch has accused the government of facilitating the conflict with “divisive policies that promote Hindu majorita-rianism.”

More than 100 priests, brothers and nuns who practice law have resolved to reach out to those affected by anti-conversion laws and anti-minority atrocities. The National Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP) that held its Dece-mber 6-8 convention at Eluru in Andhra Pradesh has also formed three high-power committees to deal with such cases. The convention at Eluru’s St. Joseph’s Dental College addressed the theme, “Changing the Landscape – The Context and the Call.” The convention began with a Mass led by Bishop Jaya Rao Polimeru of Eluru, who has a background in criminal law. “I am pleased to note there is a good amount of awakening within the Church. There are so many of you–religious priests who are also law-yers,” Bp Polimeru said welcoming the participants from 16 Indian states.

Catholics have sought the resto-ration and protection of a 16th-century Portuguese-era church in a western Indian state after it was reportedly struck down in the new development plan by the local urban body. The Our Lady of Mercy Church was built by Portuguese Jesuits in 1562 at Thane in Maharashtra. “When we went through the draft [of the development plan] we found that the name of the church was missing from the official list” of monuments, said Melwyn Fernandes, general secretary of the Mumbai-based Association of the Concerned Christians. The organi-zation along with the Bombay Catholic Sabha sought immediate intervention of senior officials from Thane district to restore the church in its official records.

Thousands of people cutting across religious affiliations have taken part in an annual Christmas music festival in India’s commercial capital Mumbai. Catholic parishes and members of the Methodist Church and the Church of North India participated in the Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav (Lord Jesus’s Birthday) festival on the evening of Dec. 8. “In its 59th year, the Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav has grown into a beacon of unity and joy, bringing together people from all walks of life,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay told the gathering at Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai. This special occasion inspires us to be “messengers of peace and goodwill in a world yearning for healing and reconciliation,” the cardinal said.