        
Sikkim: winds of change in Himalayas take toll on Buddhism
8 Mar 2004
Buddhist scholars in Sikkim, a frontier state bordering China, are worried over their faith getting diluted as winds of change blow across the lofty Himalayan ranges. 
Turkmenistan: State interference with Islamic religious life in the north east
8 Mar 2004
The Turkmen government has been replacing ethnic Uzbek imam-hatybs (mosque leaders) with ethnic Turkmens, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. The authorities are also forcing imam-hatybs to place the Turkmen flag above mosque entrances, to begin every sermon by praising "Turkmenbashi", "Father of the Turkmens", as President Saparmurat Niyazov insists on being called. Also, a copy of Niyazov's book, the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul), must be placed at the entrance to every mosque and Muslims must touch it as if it were a sacred object. Similar instructions have reportedly been given to other Sunni Muslim mosques and Russian Orthodox Churches. These are the only two confessions allowed some limited freedom to operate in Turkmenistan.
Total number of Lutherans worldwide climbs to nearly 66 million
17 Feb 2004
Membership among Lutheran churches in the last two years increased by 570,000 putting the number of Lutherans worldwide up to nearly 66 million by the end of 2003. Lutheran Church membership in Europe is down by 640,000, but up by 1.1 million in Africa.
Nouvelle-Zélande: situation de l'islam
17 Feb 2004
La population musulmane s'élève aujourd'hui à 20.000 personnes en Nouvelle-Zélande. Les musulmans y disposent de plusieurs mosquées et organisations.
Tajikistan: Islamic party slams banned rival
13 Feb 2004
The Islamic opposition party in Tajikistan has spoken out against the radical Hizb-ut-Tahrir group, in a bid to stake out a position as the only legitimate voice for Muslim political aspirations ahead of next year’s general election.
Kazakhstan: mosques resist pressure to join state-recognised central organisation
13 Feb 2004
Ethnic Uzbek Imams leading mosques in southern Kazakhstan have resisted state pressure to come under the 'Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Kazakhstan', Forum 18 News Service has found. Pressure followed a 2002 attempt to change the law on religious associations, which the Constitutional Council ruled contradicted the constitution. Kazakh officials have frequently privately told Forum 18 that the region is the country's "hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism".
Sri Lanka: Buddhists on warpath
31 Jan 2004
Lord Buddha may have stood for peace and benevolence, but his disciples in Sri Lanka are an angry lot. Buddhist monks in the country allege that Christian groups are busy weaning away Buddhists from their ancient religion, reports OneWorld.
La Malaisie ambitionne d'attirer dans ses hôpitaux les patients musulmans du Moyen-Orient
30 Jan 2004
Le 30 décembre dernier, le gouvernement malaisien a dévoilé un plan destiné à faire de la Malaisie un centre médical de référence pour les patients musulmans pieux du Moyen-Orient. Dans cette région du monde, une campagne de publicité sera prochainement lancée, à coups de brochures et de spots publicitaires sur la chaîne qatarie Al-Jazeera, afin de vanter tant la qualité des équipes médicales malaisiennes que leur stricte observance des préceptes de l'islam.
Sikh religious bodies appeal to France on turbans
30 Jan 2004
Sikh leaders and religious groups from Punjab have asked the French government to review a proposed law banning the wearing of turbans and other types of headgear in public institutions and workplaces.
Le monde albanais peut-il céder à la tentation de l'islam radical?
9 Jan 2004
Dans la nébuleuse des mouvements
nationalistes albanais, les facteurs religieux ne semblent jouer qu’un rôle
secondaire. En raison de la cohabitation de trois confessions, le monde albanais
serait naturellement enclin à la tolérance, et l’appartenance confessionnelle ne
jouerait pas le rôle identitaire majeur qu’elle occupe, par exemple, chez des
peuples orthodoxes comme les Serbes ou les Roumains. Ces lieux communs de
l’idéologie nationale albanaise méritent d’être passés en revue, à l’heure où
les militants de l’islam radical, minoritaires, discrets mais opiniâtres,
prennent pied dans le monde albanais.
Nepalese to spread Osho's gospel in India
9 Jan 2004
Fourteen years after godman Rajneesh aka Osho's death, a Nepalese disciple who spread the movement in this Himalayan kingdom plans to focus on India, the goal being an Osho centre in each village.
Afghanistan: Shia make constitutional gains
8 Jan 2004
Shia Muslims, a significant minority in Afghanistan, made important gains in the new constitution passed Sunday at the end of the Loya Jirga. Unlike the previous constitution of 1964, when the king who then ruled Afghanistan had to be a follower of the Hanafi Sunni school of Islam, a Shia Muslim can now become leader of the country.
Kyrygyzstan: religious freedom survey
7 Jan 2004
In its survey analysis of religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan, Forum 18 News Service notes that both registered and unregistered religious communities appear to function freely, despite a 1996 presidential decree requiring religious communities to register. A dispute in 2003 about headscarves worn by Muslim schoolgirls seems to be over, however the closure of six mosques has not been overturned and the official who ordered the closure has not been punished. A Pentecostal Church which faced a massive tax bill and obstruction in registering affiliated congregations hopes that, due to international concern attributed to Forum 18's reporting, a solution will be found. However, due to Muslim anger at conversions from Islam to Christianity, Forum 18 has been told by some that an official campaign against Christian proselytism may soon be launched.
Les chrétiens en Asie centrale: communautés traditionnelles et nouveaux missionnaires face aux Etats post-soviétiques – Entretien avec Sébastien Peyrouse
5 Jan 2004
Le chercheur français Sébastien Peyrouse vient de publier un ouvrage sur les chrétiens en Asie centrale. Après un rappel sur la période pré-soviétique et soviétique, il nous explique comment a évolué l'approche des autorités envers les communautés religieuses au cours des dernières années. Il raconte aussi le changement de visage du christianisme en Asie centrale, avec l'arrivée de nouvelles communautés chrétiennes missionnaires et les réactions que cela entraîne dans ces pays.
Bouddhisme japonais: toujours vivace, la tradition du pèlerinage s'accommode des méthodes les plus modernes
19 Dec 2003
La tradition millénaire du pèlerinage est toujours aussi vivace au Japon et, si les dévots pèlerins continuent toujours d'arpenter à pied les routes du Shikoku, deux innovations dues à la technique moderne leur rendent l'entreprise plus facile : le pèlerinage par procuration et la visite virtuelle des sanctuaires par un simple clic de souris d'ordinateur.
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