A temple entry issue raged in the village of Melpathi in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where some members of upper-caste Hindus blocked a local temple and even threatened to immolate themselves to stop Dalits from entering.
Three men in Iran accused of killing three members of the country’s security forces were executed by the Islamic Republic on May 19th, sparking massive protests across the country and drawing condemnation from various governments and human rights organizations.
The Tasnim news agency and the website of Iran’s judiciary confirmed the executions of 30-year-old Majid Kazemi, 36-year-old Saleh Mirhashemi, and 37-year-old Saeed Yaqoubi on the dawn of May 19th at the Dastgerd prison in the city of Isfahan, located in central Iran.
A new global religion survey by Ipsos discovered that 8 out of 10 urban Indians believe in the existence of God and claim to be comfortable around different faiths amidst rising Hindu nationalism and sectarian violence in the country.
Iranian authorities announced that two men accused of blasphemy were hanged amidst a rising number of executions since the protests that rocked the country following the death of Mahsa Amini under police custody in September 2022.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense caused a stir among Indian netizens after tweeting a photo portraying the Indian goddess Kali morphed over a blast fume on April 30th, deeming it “Hinduphobic” and “disrespectful.”
The official Twitter account of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense posted the image showing Kali superimposed over the fumes. The picture depicted the Hindu goddess of war and destruction posing awkwardly with her tongue sticking out and having a Marilyn Monroe-like upskirt moment, with a wreath of skulls around her neck.
Texas lawmakers continue to push religion into schools as proposals to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms mandatorily. They will also require educational establishments to grant time for prayer and Bible reading to gain more support.
Most Americans and people from developed countries believe that believing in God is not necessary to become a good person according to a Pew Research Center (PRC) survey released on April 20th.
The state of Gujarat in western India was shocked upon hearing the news of a husband and wife committing suicide by decapitation as part of a gory sacrificial ritual. The couple’s family members reported that they had been offering prayers in their hut every day since last year.
Authorities arrested a Muslim woman in Pakistan on April 14th after claiming to be a prophet of Islam. Pakistani police accused her of blasphemy, a charge that could carry the death penalty under the country’s expanded blasphemy laws.
Authorities in Pakistan arrested a Chinese man on the night of April 16th for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. This charge could carry the death sentence if proven guilty.
