With Dr. Samantha Agarwal of the School of International Service at American University. Discussing her time living in India and working with Adivasis (tribal or indigenous people) in India, the intersection of caste with Hindu nationalism, a new report by SAVERA about the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), the actions of the VHP in India and how the VHPA has aided and abetted it, the problem of Hindu supremacy infiltrating US sociopolitics and what we can do about it, and much more.

We discussed Dr. Agarwal's recent article: https://truthout.org/articles/heres-how-the-hindu-supremacist-movement-is-infiltrating-us-politics/

We also discussed the SAVERA report, promoted in her TruthOut article: https://www.wearesavera.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Global-VHPs-Trail-of-Violence-v2.pdf

Discussing, with many guests at a webinar hosted on 1 March 2024 for the purpose of uniting Christians in solidarity with the persecuted Church in India, what exactly is happening to Christians in India today and what we can do about it. Featuring 12 speakers (including yours truly) from all three major Christian traditions: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. Eight speakers are ordained clergy. The panel includes:

Moderator: Jamey Bennett

Very Rev. Dr. John Jillions

Pieter Friedrich

Dr. John Dayal

Rev. Peter Cook

Rev. Dr. Richard Howell

Fr. Joshua Lickter

Susan Kerin

Pastor Bryan Nerren

Pastor Ben Marsh

Robert Stubblefield

Fr. Steve Macias

With Dr. Obed Manwatkar of North Park Theological Seminary. Discussing his identity as a Christian from a Dalit background, his family’s origins in an Indian village nicknamed “Mini Pandharpur” ("Pandharpur" means “Holy Casteless City”), reclaiming the reputation of Nagpur as a city of interfaith legacy rather than the headquarters of the Hindu nationalist RSS paramilitary, the struggle to secure indigenous control of the Indian Christian Church, why Dalits and so-called “lower castes” convert, the emancipatory power of learning English in India, and much more.