Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations (FIACONA)
Pray for a Persecuted Church
FIACONA
FIACONA is a cultural, charitable and voluntary organization based in Washington DC representing the concerns and interests of over 1 million Indian American Christians across all 50 states
Vision
To work with the poor and oppressed, to promote human transformation, to seek justice and bear witness to the Good News of Christ.
Mission
Protecting the interest of the Christian church in the Union of India is our primary mission.
FIACONA Twitter Feeds:
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Positive image of Indian Americans is helping the Modi government to deflect the problems in the US: David Curry of @USCIRF
A very sophisticated messaging of the Indian government and their money spent in Washington tries to demonize anyone critical of the Hindu extremism: David Curry of @OpenDoors
Political agenda of the Hindu nationalist party will not be acceptable to business community as was evident with recent decision by Apple: says David Curry of @OpenDoors and @USCIRF
David Curry of @OpenDoors says that the violence against has tremendously increased after Modi of the Hindu nationalist party came to power.
David Curry of @OpenDoors says in a meeting at the US Capitol, police and authorities in India under Modi supported and encouraged Hindutva vigilante groups against Christians and Muslims in India.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
FIACONA has called for a PRAYER & CONSULTATION of clergy and community leaders in the Frisco, TX area (Dallas Metro area) on Monday, December 12 @ 6:30 PM.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss some of the serious concerns raised by our members in the wake of new developments in the area.
If you live in Dallas/Frisco area, please RSVP using the QR code above in the flyer. You can also reach out to your pastor for more information.
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USCIRF Outraged by Omission of Nigeria and India from State Department’s List of Countries of Particular Concern
USCIRF Outraged by Omission of Nigeria and India from State Department’s List of Countries of Particular Concern
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) finds it inexplicable that the U.S. Department of State did not include Nigeria or India in its latest designations of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPCs) under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), turning a blind eye to both countries’ particularly severe religious freedom violations.
“There is no justification for the State Department’s failure to recognize Nigeria or India as egregious violators of religious freedom, as they each clearly meet the legal standards for designation as CPCs. USCIRF is tremendously disappointed that the Secretary of State did not implement our recommendations and recognize the severity of the religious freedom violations that both USCIRF and the State Department have documented in those countries,” said USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. “The State Department’s own reporting includes numerous examples of particularly severe religious freedom violations in Nigeria and India.”
Pursuant to IRFA, the State Department re-designated 10 countries as CPCs—Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The State Department also added Cuba and Nicaragua to its CPC list, both of which previously had been on the Department’s SWL. In its 2022 Annual Report in April, USCIRF recommended re-designation of the 10 CPC countries, and also recommended CPC designation for Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam. At that time USCIRF recommended SWL placement for Cuba and Nicaragua based on conditions in those countries in 2021, but the situation in both has deteriorated in 2022.
The State Department placed on its SWL Algeria, the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros, and Vietnam. USCIRF recommended in its 2022 Annual Report that Algeria and CAR be placed on the SWL, but also that Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan be included as well.
“USCIRF welcomes the State Department’s recognition of the worsening situations in both Cuba and Nicaragua this year. We also appreciate the State Department’s inclusion this year of CAR and Vietnam on its Special Watch List. While we believe conditions in Vietnam meet the CPC standard, we hope the State Department’s SWL designation will encourage the Vietnamese government to take concrete steps to address longstanding religious freedom concerns,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper. “USCIRF is disappointed that the State Department did not include Afghanistan as a CPC this year. While it did re-designate the Taliban as an ‘entity of particular concern,’ or EPC, that does not reflect the reality that the group is the de facto government of the country.”
The State Department also designated nine EPCs, which are non-state actors that engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom pursuant to IRFA. USCIRF recommended the redesignation of seven of these actors in its 2022 Annual Report: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Houthis, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) (also referred to as ISIS-West Africa), and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
Since the issuance of its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF has consistently shared its recommendations with the U.S. Department of State and Congress. USCIRF’s recent publications include updated reports on Religious Freedom Conditions in India, Blasphemy Laws in Nigeria, Violence and Religious Freedom in Nigeria, Religious Freedom in Afghanistan, Religious Freedom in Nicaragua, and Constitutional Reform and Religious Freedom in Cuba. During 2022, USCIRF held hearings on Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Nicaragua.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or Danielle Ashbahian at dashbahian@uscirf.gov.
This post is from https://www.uscirf.gov/
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News Updates
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India’s ratcheting up curbs on Christians, Muslims
There are occasional rays of hope amid the gloom but at the moment, there is reason to be pessimistic The fate of the 70-year-old struggle of India’s converts from its erstwhile “untouchable” castes in the Hindu hierarchy may well be in
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Forced conversions a threat to national security, says SC
NEW DELHI: Calling religious conversions by use of force or allurement a threat to national security, the Supreme Court on Monday sought a detailed affidavit from the government on steps being taken to curb this "dangerous trend." As solicitor general Tushar
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Indian court’s quota ruling a stab in the back for the poor
The church should have studied and discussed the judgment in detail before rushing to welcome it. India’s Supreme Court upholding the economic criteria for granting educational and job quotas to the privileged upper castes could be the final nail in the
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Journalism faces great challenges from inside and outside: Dayal
New Delhi, Nov 3, 2022: Journalism now faces great challenges from inside the profession and outside, says veteran journalist John Dayal, after he was selected for a prestigious award by the national association of Catholic journalists in India. The Indian Catholic
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Who benefits from keeping Dalits ‘Hindu’
The narrative of Muslims and Christians being casteless is more significant to India’s handling of caste than we assume. After years of it remaining confined to academic discussions, the prospect of Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Muslims and Christians suddenly feels
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Indian Christians seek an end to abuse by Hindu radicals
Uttar Pradesh state has seen a rise in persecution against Christians after the anti-conversion law was enacted last year Christians in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have sought action against pro-Hindu groups misusing the state’s recently enacted anti-conversion law
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12 arrested for forceful religious conversions in Karnataka
Police said that the arrested 12 persons were making arrangements for a mass religious conversion of Hindu tribals in the region. According to police, after gathering specific inputs, a team of its personnel conducted raids and made the arrests. Police said
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India deports 3 Swedes for preaching Christianity
Trio was attending a faith healing, prayer program in northeastern Assam state while on tourist visas India deports 3 Swedes for preaching Christianity A television screengrab of the Swedish nationals deported by Indian authorities for conducting Christian religious activities while on a
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Indian Hindu outfit targets Dalits adopting Christianity
Vishwa Hindu Parishad says benefits of affirmative action must be denied to those who become Christians The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or World Hindu Council has urged the Indian government to withdraw the benefits of its affirmative action program to Hindus
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INDIA’S HUNGER
RSS body demands action against Global Hunger Index surveyors for ‘defaming India’ The Swadeshi Jagran Manch urged the Centre to take steps against a German NGO which ranked India 107th among 121 countries on the index. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an affiliate
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Citizens’ Report on 2020 Delhi Riots is an Indictment of the Country: Harsh Mander
In an interview with Karan Thapar and the activist discuss the report’s findings that the Delhi police and government did precious little to stop the violence. In an interview to discuss the recently released Citizens Committee report on the 2020 Delhi
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India’s top court halts prosecution for online offenses
Some Church leaders upset as all criminal cases under a scrapped provision of Information Technology Act are to be dropped Church officials in southern India have expressed concern over India’s Supreme Court asking to drop criminal cases filed under a controversial
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Indian MP says Jesuit died in jail after his rights violated
Shashi Tharoor is a former UN official currently in the race to become the president of the opposition Congress party The human rights of Indian Jesuit Father Stan Swamy, who died in judicial custody, were violated even though he fought for
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Approach to democracy, human rights, governance is country-specific, says Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister meets American counterpart Antony Blinken External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his American counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, discussed human rights during their bilateral meeting on Tuesday. The two sides spoke of their commitment to further democracy, governance
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Indian Church steels itself for govt onslaught
Federal government appears bent on cornering minority community on issues of land and properties besides conversion An Indian Supreme Court order on Sept 26 seeking a government response to a petition that pleaded for strict action against “religious conversion through fraud
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The India Fix: Is global Hindutva now driving Indian foreign policy?.
For much of September, Leicester in the United Kingdom saw sporadic bouts of communal tension between Hindus and Muslims. The incident, while unfortunate, was purely a local law and order issue that the city police handled. Unusually, because of the charged
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Remembering the crimes of India’s Dara Singh
Hindu nationalists hail the murderers of Christians such as the killer of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons The Christian community in India remembers Jan. 22, 1999, as the day Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines, who worked with leprosy patients
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Hindu Relatives Suspected of Killing Christian in India
NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Christians in eastern India suspect a church member’s Hindu family killed him last month for refusing to renounce his faith, sources said. In West Bengal state’s Gobindapur village, Jhargram District, Hindu relatives of Madhab Gorai
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Karnataka schools to teach Bhagavad Gita from December
Mangaluru, Sept 20,2022: The Karnataka government has announced that it would include teachings of the Bhagavad Gita as part of moral education in schools from December this year. B C Nagesh, the state’s primary and secondary education minister, said the government
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India’s Dalit Christians, Muslims fear being tricked again
They want nothing less than the abolition of discrimination based on religious bias and bigotry Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, as the powerful chair of the United Progressive Alliance that ruled India some years ago, once told a small, but high-level, Catholic
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Commission to study Dalit converts, a repetition, say Christian activists
New Delhi, Sept 19, 2022: The federal government’s reported move to set up a national commission to study the socioeconomic and educational status of Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam will prolong the issue of granting reservation to the poorest
MISSION
Protecting
lives and properties
The threat to lives and properties of Christian communities in India from political movements, despite having all imaginable protections enshrined in the Constitution of India, remains a serious concern for the Federation.
Ensuring The social
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We seek your help defend the persecuted Christians in India. Although, India is a constitutional democracy that guarantees right to practice one’s faith, recent political developments there are threatening such guarantees. Hence, it is up to us to tell our story of this unprecedented attacks on Christians to the world. FIACONA needs your help. Together we can make a difference.
