Twenty-eight civilians, held captive by armed groups on both sides of the Kuki-Naga divide in Manipur’s Kangpokpi and Senapati districts, were released on Friday, May 15, in a coordinated exchange facilitated by the United Naga Council, civil society organisations, security forces and state government representatives.
The burial of three Thadou church leaders killed in an ambush in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district took place on May 15 at the campus of the Thadou Baptist Association India church at Motbung, with mourners drawn from across the hill districts to attend the final rites.
Christian organisations and Catholic bishops in India have condemned the killing of three indigenous Christian leaders in the violence-hit state of Manipur, where tensions and fears continue to grow amid ongoing unrest.
Thousands of Christians across Arunachal Pradesh gathered in peaceful demonstrations on 30 April amid growing concern over the possible enforcement of a long-standing religious law in the north-eastern state.
Three senior Baptist church leaders were shot dead and at least five others injured on Wednesday , May 13, when armed men ambushed their convoy in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. The victims were returning from the United Baptist Convention Assembly in Churachandpur when gunmen opened fire on their two vehicles between Kotzim and Kotlen villages along the Imphal-Tamenglong highway.
A pastor’s family in Surat district is currently shielded from investigation by a Gujarat High Court stay, after the court found that police had invoked charges against them under the state’s anti-conversion law without obtaining mandatory prior sanction. The matter comes up for hearing in August, when authorities must file their replies.
Church leaders from across India have launched a new national Christian body aimed at strengthening unity among denominations and responding to growing concerns over persecution and discrimination against Christians in the country.
The Gujarat government has handed back administrative control of the Seventh-day Adventist Higher Secondary School in Ahmedabad to its management, four months after the state took over the institution following a student’s murder and allegations of financial irregularities.
Christian leaders in Chhattisgarh state have raised concern after a Christian family was reportedly attacked and threatened because of their faith.
A disciplinary dispute at St. Teresa Academy in Modinagar, Ghaziabad, briefly took a communal turn this week after a Physical Training teacher levelled allegations of forced religious conversion against the school management, triggering protests by Hindutva organisations. The controversy ended on May 7 after the teacher withdrew her accusations and police found no evidence to support the claims.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday, April 29, declined to pass any immediate order on a public interest litigation challenging the constitutional validity of Punjab’s newly enacted anti-sacrilege law, saying it would first examine whether the petition was even maintainable.
The Baptist Church in West Garo Hills has offered its premises in Tura for a government rehabilitation centre, as Meghalaya’s anti-drug mission steps up efforts to tackle the state’s growing substance abuse crisis in partnership with faith-based institutions.
