Three positive developments in India – thank you for praying

There is welcome news for Christians in India, with positive developments emerging from three separate court hearings. Thank you for your prayers!

Thank you for lifting India and its Christians in prayer in recent months, particularly during the general election. These prayers are already making a difference – as shown in positive developments from three recent court rulings.
 

Recognising abuse of anti-conversion laws

In the first, the Supreme Court has said that the state of Uttar Pradesh might be violating people’s constitutional right to freedom of religion or belief with its anti-conversion law. The comment was made during a hearing on 16 May into conversion charges against employees of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, a Christian university.

“The Supreme Court… orally commented that the Uttar Pradesh anti-conversion law in some parts may seem to be violative of the fundamental right to religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution,” reports CNA.

Anti-conversion laws have been implemented in twelve states in India, including Uttar Pradesh. Whilst in theory they are meant to stop forced conversion to another religion other than Hinduism, in reality they are often used to target religious minorities, like Christians, who are simply expressing their faith, such as hosting a prayer meeting, or sharing their faith with others.
 

Freedom for Christian schools

In the second development, the New Delhi High Court has ruled that schools that are run by linguistic and religious minorities are free to appoint staff without government approval.

“So long as the principals and teachers, who are appointed, possess the prescribed qualifications and experience, there can be no restriction whatsoever on the right of the petitioner [a minority institution] to make appointments to fill in the vacancies in the schools run by it,” the court said in May.

  In India, minority groups can establish their own educational institutions, which are eligible for government funding. However, in some cases, such as with the Delhi Tamil Education Association, the government has started to demand control over staff appointments. The new ruling seeks to prevent this from happening.

While the New Delhi court ruling only applies to Delhi State, church officials say it could be implemented in other states as well.
 

Revocation of controversial order in Manipur

And in the third piece of good news, the Manipur High Court has revoked a previous order which had asked the state government to expedite the inclusion of the Meitei ethnic community in the Scheduled Tribe category, granting them tribal status.

The court’s ruling on 27 March 2023 is considered a key factor behind the violence that engulfed the state two months later, resulting in the displacement of 70,000 people, largely from the majority-Christian Kuki community.

In its review, the court ordered the paragraph be deleted from last year’s ruling.
 

Please continue to pray

Thank you for faithfully praying into the many issues, news and stories from India. These three answers to prayer are but a glimpse into how God is working throughout the country in response to prayer. But please continue to pray, particularly that these rulings will be honoured at all levels. Whilst we give thanks for these recent developments, it’s one thing for a court to make a ruling on an issue, it’s another for it to be implemented on the ground so that it impacts believers positively.

“These are surely positive developments for Christians in the country,” said Rinzen Baleng, Advocacy Officer with Open Doors International. “However, as long as the ambiguity in the definitions of offences such as what constitutes ‘misrepresentation’, ‘force’, ‘undue influence’, ‘coercion’, ‘allurement’ and ‘fraudulent means’ remain, the anti-conversion laws will be weaponised against religious minorities.”

Header image: Istuti is from Manipur – members of her own family burned down her church in the violence that engulfed the state last year