New Delhi, India, Jan 6, 2020 / 12:01 pm
Church officials in India have said the nation will not host the 2021 Asian Youth Day as planned, ucanews reported Monday.
"Our country was given the responsibility of hosting Asian Youth Day … After consultations with higher authorities, it was decided that it was better to call off the event as the present scenario does not allow us to hold the program," Bishop Nazarene Soosai of Kottar, head of the Indian bishops' youth commission, told ucanews Jan. 6.
India's ruling political party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has been increasingly hostile to religious freedom for minorities.
Bishop Soosai commented, "We had hoped that there would be a change of government in 2019, but that did not happen and the present situation does not look good either.