Statement of Inter-Religious Solidarity Council on recent attacks on Christians

India is internationally recognised for its civilisational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—the belief that the world is one family—which reflects the country’s long-standing commitment to diversity, pluralism, and mutual respect among religions and cultures. This inclusive tradition has historically enabled people of different faiths to celebrate each other’s festivals with joy and camaraderie.

In this context, reports of attacks targeting Christmas celebrations in the year 2025 across various parts of India is deeply distressing. In Assam, St Mary’s School in Panigaon village, Nalbari district, was vandalised, with festival-related items in shops damaged, Christmas decorations set on fire, and provocative slogans raised. In Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, a BJP city vice president publicly abused and physically assaulted a visually impaired woman attending a Christmas feast. Similarly, in Rajasthan, Hindu extremists vandalised a school in Nagaur during Christmas celebrations. In a Mumbai suburb, two Christian women were harassed on December 11 while distributing pamphlets. The men accused them of trying to convert Hindus, even though the women said the pamphlets were only about a church prayer service. These are only examples of some of the attacks. Attacks on Christmas celebrations are only one form of anti-Christian violence. Anti-Christian violence takes different forms, including attacks on prayer meetings, denial of burial space, assaults etc.

The Inter-Religious Solidarity Council (IRSC), Mumbai, unequivocally condemns these acts of violence and intimidation in the strongest possible terms.

We reiterate here that IRSC opposes all religious conversions using force or coercion, or undue inducement, or by use of fraudulent means, as it militates against the principle of genuine religious freedom. IRSC emphasises that neither violence nor coercion has any place in religious discourse. No religion sanctions violence or hatred against followers of other faiths, just as no true faith can be spread through deceit or compulsion. India’s rich philosophical heritage is grounded in the principle of “yato mat, tato path”, meaning there are as many paths as there are a number of opinions. This idea was eloquently articulated by Swami Vivekananda, who observed that just as rivers from different sources ultimately merge into the sea, diverse spiritual paths—though varied in their practices—lead to the same ultimate truth. His teachings affirmed the legitimacy of multiple paths to spirituality and God. This inclusive vision has shaped India’s social ethos and enabled harmonious coexistence, influenced by the teachings of religious leaders such as the Buddha, Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekananda, Kabir, Mother Teresa, and Nizamuddin Auliya.

Mumbai, in particular, has long stood as an exemplar of cosmopolitan and inclusive living, where Christmas is celebrated with enthusiasm across religious communities. The festival embodies the message of Jesus Christ—love, compassion, and sacrifice.

The IRSC urges the authorities to ensure swift and impartial justice against the perpetrators of these acts of violence and to uphold the constitutional right to freedom of religion for all citizens without fear or favour. The Council also calls upon people of all faiths to reaffirm the spirit of solidarity, mutual respect, and love—the shared moral foundation of all religions—through dialogue and lawful means, rejecting both violence and coercion in favour of genuine understanding.

Prabhu Keshav Chandra Das, Convenor of IRSC

Irfan Engineer, Co-Convenor of IRSC

6th January 2026

The real reason the US is invading Venezuela goes back to a deal Henry Kissinger made with Saudi Arabia in 1974. This is actually about the SURVIVAL of the US dollar itself. Not drugs. Not terrorism. Not "democracy." This is about the petrodollar system that has kept America the dominant economic power for 50 years.  the entire American financial system is built on one thing: The petrodollar. In 1974, Henry Kissinger made a deal with Saudi Arabia:  All oil sold globally must be priced in US dollars. In exchange, America provides military protection. This single agreement created artificial demand for dollars worldwide. Every country on Earth needs dollars to buy oil. This lets America print unlimited money while other countries work for it. It funds the military. The welfare state. The deficit spending. The petrodollar is more important to US hegemony than aircraft carriers.

And Venezuela just threatened to end it.

Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. The largest on Earth. More than Saudi Arabia. 20% of the entire world's oil. Venezuela was actively selling that oil in Chinese yuan. Not dollars. In 2018, Venezuela announced it would "free itself from the dollar." They started accepting yuan, euros, rubles, anything BUT dollars for oil. They were petitioning to join BRICS. They were building direct payment channels with China that bypass SWIFT entirely. 

 what happens to leaders who challenge THE Petro dollar!:

2000: Saddam Hussein announces Iraq will sell oil in euros instead of dollars. 2003: Invaded. Regime change. Iraq's oil immediately switched back to dollars. Saddam lynched. The WMDs were never found because they never existed.

2009: Gaddafi proposes a gold-backed African currency called the "gold dinar" for oil trade. Hillary Clinton's own leaked emails confirm this was the PRIMARY reason for intervention. Email quote: "This gold was intended to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar." 2011: NATO bombs Libya. Gaddafi sodomized and murdered. Libya now has open slave markets. "We came, we saw, he died!" Clinton laughed on camera. The gold dinar died with him.

And now Maduro. With FIVE TIMES more oil than Saddam and Gaddafi combined. Actively selling in yuan. Building payment systems outside dollar control. Petitioning to join BRICS. Partnered with China, Russia, and Iran. The three countries leading global de-dollarization. This isn't coincidence. 

Challenge the petrodollar. Get regime changed. Every. Single. Time. Stephen Miller (US homeland security advisor) literally said it out loud two weeks ago: "American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property." He's not hiding it.

They're claiming Venezuelan oil BELONGS to America because US companies developed it 100 years ago. By this logic, every nationalized resource in history was "theft."

But here's the DEEPER problem: The petrodollar is already dying. Russia sells oil in rubles and yuan since Ukraine. Saudi Arabia is openly discussing yuan settlements. Iran has been trading in non-dollar currencies for years. China built CIPS, their own alternative to SWIFT with 4,800 banks in 185 countries. BRICS is actively building payment systems that bypass the dollar entirely. The mBridge project lets central banks settle trades instantly in local currencies.

Venezuela joining BRICS with 303 billion barrels of oil would accelerate this exponentially. That's what this invasion is really about. Not stopping drugs. Venezuela accounts for less than 1% of US cocaine. Not terrorism. There's zero evidence Maduro runs a "terror organization."

Not democracy. The US supports Saudi Arabia, which has zero elections. This is about maintaining a 50-year-old agreement that lets America print money while the world works for it.

And the consequences are terrifying: Russia, China, and Iran are already denouncing this as "armed aggression." China is Venezuela's biggest oil customer. They're losing billions. BRICS nations are watching a country get invaded for trading outside the dollar. Every nation considering de-dollarization just got the message: Challenge the dollar and we will bomb you.

But here's the problem... That message might accelerate de-dollarization, not stop it. Because now every country in the Global South knows what happens if you threaten dollar hegemony. And they're realizing the only protection is to move FASTER.

The timing is insane too:

January 3rd, 2026. Venezuela invaded. Maduro captured. January 3rd, 1990. Panama invaded. Noriega captured. 36 years apart. Almost to the day. Same playbook. Same "drug trafficking" excuse. Same real reason: control of strategic resources and trade routes. History doesn't repeat. But it rhymes.

What happens next:

Trump's press conference at Mar-a-Lago sets the narrative. US oil companies are already lined up. Politico reported they've been approached about "returning to Venezuela." The opposition will be installed. Oil will flow in dollars again. Venezuela becomes another Iraq. Another Libya.

But here's what nobody's asking: What happens when you can no longer bomb your way to dollar dominance? When China has enough economic leverage to retaliate? When BRICS controls 40% of global GDP and says "no more dollars"? When the world realizes the petrodollar is maintained by violence?

America just showed its hand. The question is whether the rest of the world folds or calls the bluff. Because this invasion is an admission that the dollar can no longer compete on its own merits. When you have to bomb countries to keep them using your currency, the currency is already dying.

Venezuela isn't the beginning. It's the desperate end.

When Donald Trump ordered United States troops to invade Venezuela in South America and capture its president Nicolas Maduro on January 3, 2026, he was merely going down a well-trodden path. https://www.rediff.com/news/special/history-in-minutes-when-us-invaded-countries-in-the-americas/20260105.htm 

Ever since the fifth president of the US, James Monroe, declared in 1823 that the Americas was off limits to the European powers (later called the Monroe Doctrine), the US has tended to treat the American continent as its backyard, targeting nations therein to enforce its will.

That a country thinks it has the right to randomly invade another country has repercussions that will for sure be played on the global arena in the years to come.

By HARISHCHANDRA

05/01/2026