In the past year, there has been an increasing crackdown on any form of dissent, including human rights defenders, lawyers, including Christians, writers and religious leaders.

This week, please:

• Father, we ask for Your blessing on the nation of India and all its people. May it become a leading voice and example for religious freedom in South Asia.
• Pray for the effectiveness of CSW’s submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India’s human rights situation, which is taking place this month.
• Pray that many nations will take note of the violations of religious freedom and echo CSW’s recommendations during the UPR.
• Pray that countries would raise human rights issues in a constructive way, and for the Indian Government to take practical action in response.
• Pray for all victims of communal violence in Orissa in 2008 (mostly Christians) and Gujarat in 2008 (mostly Muslims) to be protected, compensated, and re-housed.
• Ten years after the mass killing of Muslims in Gujarat, pray for full justice and equal treatment for the Muslim community in that state.
• Thank God for the first conviction for murder in cases relating to the 2008 violence against Christians in Orissa. Pray for justice for all victims, not only of the Orissa violence, but also of ongoing smaller-scale violence against Christians and other minorities across India.