GO TO SOURCE TRIPURA, INDIA, December 8, 2002: Tribal Hindus in Tripura have formed vigilante groups, claiming militants are attempting to convert people at gunpoint to Christianity. Rampada Jamatia, a leader of the Jamatia tribal community, said that the forced conversions were being carried out by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). “We believe up to 5,000 tribal villagers…
Source: Hindustan Times HONG KONG, CHINA, December 8, 2002: East Indians in Hong Kong may now have an opportunity to become Chinese citizens. Fifteen-year-old Vehka Harjani, born in Hong Kong, has been granted Chinese nationality and a Hong Kong passport. She is the first recorded case where an Ethnic Indian with no Chinese blood or relatives has obtained these documents.…
GO TO SOURCE HENHAM, ENGLAND, November 31, 2002: An English vicar has banned yoga from his church because he fears the exercise classes could lead participants on a path to “Eastern mysticism.” The Rev. Richard Farr, of St. Mary’s in Henham, on the Essex-Hertfordshire border, said he had enforced the ban after Tom Newstead, the yoga instructor, had confirmed that…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, December 11, 2002: Toy shop owners in Khan market sometimes engage tribal people to entertain Delhi’s rich kids on their birthdays with dancing bears, elephant rides, monkey shows or snake charmers. When activist-politician Maneka Gandhi got word of a recent engagement at the Kuwaiti Embassy, she reported the toy shop owner to the police.…
GO TO SOURCE ATLANTA, U.S.A., December 17, 2002: The Emory Hindu Students Council is holding a conference entitled, “Solidarity in Diversity: A journey through diverse religious practices in Hinduism.” Scheduled for January 17-20, 2003, the conference will host speakers including Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Dr. Arvind Sharma and Dr. Vasudha Narayanan. Discussion workshops, an Indian classical music concert, banquet and cultural…
GO TO SOURCE DHARWAD, INDIA, December 16, 2002: Pejawar Aadheenam Mahasannidhanam, H.H. Vishwesha Teertha, has supported the anti-conversion act passed by Tamil Nadu and urged all state governments to follow suit. Speaking to reporters at Dharwad recently, His Holiness called upon all the political parties in the country to include as one of their goals the support of the anti-conversion…
GO TO SOURCE KATMANDU, NEPAL, December 10, 2002: Nepal has ordered it’s schools to drop compulsory Sanskrit lessons, but denies it has caved in to demands by Maoist rebels who say the language is foreign to the Himalayan Kingdom. The abolition of Sanskrit lessons is key amongst a list of educational reforms demanded by the rebels who have called on…
GO TO SOURCE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND, December 15, 2002: A study by researchers at the Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution found that adding nutrients to the inmates’ diet reduced antisocial behavior in the unit. The British Home Office backed the study conducted on behalf of Natural Justice, which involved 231 18- to 21-year-old men in the maximum-security jail. Half of the…
GO TO SOURCE COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, December 13, 2002: British reggae group, UB40, say the world should learn from Sri Lanka’s peace process. The group is in Colombo and recently gave a concert for peace in Sri Lanka. The organizers say the idea is to reintegrate Sri Lanka into the rest of the world after two decades of civil war…
GO TO SOURCE CALIFORNIA, USA, December 13, 2002: A Christian marketing research company says non-Christians in the United States view evangelical Christians “somewhat more kindly than prostitutes, but with less affection than lesbians and lawyers.” According to George Barna, president of Barna Research Group, many non-Christians expressed negative impressions of evangelicals because they don’t know who or what an evangelical…