Goanet Digest, Vol 21, Issue 75

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Today's Topics:

   1. Read: Court Denies Bail To Luthra Brothers In Goa Nightclub
      Fire Case (Vivek Pinto)
   2. Read: Court Denies Bail To Luthra Brothers In Goa Nightclub
      Fire Case (Vivek Pinto)
   3. Read: Why a Kerala bishop?s claims about a banned Islamist
      group is drawing criticism from Christians (Vivek Pinto)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2026 06:28:18 +0900
From: Vivek Pinto <[email protected]>
To: Goanet <[email protected]>
Subject: [Goanet] Read: Court Denies Bail To Luthra Brothers In Goa
	Nightclub Fire Case
Message-ID:
	<CAH3OY9xwY7LBNpLf81OGhhcbY9RP=bP6fT95bFvkuYfXA=W7nA-JsoAwUIsXosN+BqQ9rBEUg@public.gmane.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

By: PTI
Published in: *NDTV*
Date: February 12, 2026
Source:
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/court-denies-bail-to-luthra-brothers-in-goa-nightclub-fire-case-10994197#

The fire broke out on December 6, 2025 at the nightclub in Arpora village
in North Goa, when it was hosting a dance party. As many as 50 people were
injured in the incident.

Panaji:

A court in Goa on Thursday dismissed the bail applications of Saurabh
Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, both owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub
where 25 people were killed in a devastating fire in December last year.

The fire broke out on December 6, 2025 at the nightclub in Arpora village
in North Goa, when it was hosting a dance party. As many as 50 people were
injured in the incident.

A sessions court at Mapusa town in North Goa rejected the bail pleas of the
Luthra brothers.

Talking to reporters, advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing the families of
victims in the court, called the decision a victory of the famillies (sic)
of the victims who are fighting for justice.

"The court has rejected the bail applications filed by Luthra brothers,
refusing to give them any respite," he said.

The Luthra brothers, who had fled to Thailand after the incident and were
deported from that nation on December 17, are currently in North Goa's
Colvale central jail.

Advocate Parag Rao, representing the Luthras, said the court rejected the
application and a detailed order was awaited.

He said they are examining the future legal recourse, including the
possibility of approaching the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court for bail.

*(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and
is published from a syndicated feed.)*


------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:05:44 +0900
From: Vivek Pinto <[email protected]>
To: Goanet <[email protected]>
Subject: [Goanet] Read: Court Denies Bail To Luthra Brothers In Goa
	Nightclub Fire Case
Message-ID:
	<CAH3OY9zv49HQYRPHJKxzoO8EHNu+fSp7Zcc7OqUzfy6Og87hkQ-JsoAwUIsXosN+BqQ9rBEUg@public.gmane.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

By: PTI
Published in: *NDTV*
Date: February 12, 2026
Source:
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/court-denies-bail-to-luthra-brothers-in-goa-nightclub-fire-case-10994197#

The fire broke out on December 6, 2025 at the nightclub in Arpora village
in North Goa, when it was hosting a dance party. As many as 50 people were
injured in the incident.

Panaji:

A court in Goa on Thursday dismissed the bail applications of Saurabh
Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, both owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub
where 25 people were killed in a devastating fire in December last year.

The fire broke out on December 6, 2025 at the nightclub in Arpora village
in North Goa, when it was hosting a dance party. As many as 50 people were
injured in the incident.

A sessions court at Mapusa town in North Goa rejected the bail pleas of the
Luthra brothers.

Talking to reporters, advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing the families of
victims in the court, called the decision a victory of the famillies (sic)
of the victims who are fighting for justice.

"The court has rejected the bail applications filed by Luthra brothers,
refusing to give them any respite," he said.

The Luthra brothers, who had fled to Thailand after the incident and were
deported from that nation on December 17, are currently in North Goa's
Colvale central jail.

Advocate Parag Rao, representing the Luthras, said the court rejected the
application and a detailed order was awaited.

He said they are examining the future legal recourse, including the
possibility of approaching the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court for bail.

*(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and
is published from a syndicated feed.)*


------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:17:10 +0900
From: Vivek Pinto <[email protected]>
To: Goanet <[email protected]>
Subject: [Goanet] Read: Why a Kerala bishop?s claims about a banned
	Islamist group is drawing criticism from Christians
Message-ID:
	<CAH3OY9wCitfm1LaRWtJGTdiFuMEAaPGU24fLcVLxk6i9yxmnzQ-JsoAwUIsXosN+BqQ9rBEUg@public.gmane.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

By: John Dayal
Published in: *Scroll*
Date: February 13, 2026
Source:
https://scroll.in/article/1090630/why-a-kerala-bishops-claims-about-a-banned-islamist-group-is-drawing-criticism-from-christians
They contend that Hindutva organisations pose a greater threat to
Christians in India.

Archbishop Andrew Thazhath
<https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2026/Feb/05/pfi-extremist-groups-fuelling-divisions-within-church-warns-cbci-president>
 of Kerala has drawn criticism from lay groups in Kerala for claiming in an
interview last week that a banned Islamist group was posing a threat to the
Christian community by promoting sectarianism.

Thazhath, the outgoing president of the Catholic Bishops? Conference of
India, told the church-run *Deepika* newspaper that the Popular Front of
India had ?planned to break up? the Catholic' church?s Syro-Malabar section.

His remarks have drawn the ire of lay groups, which maintain that it is
Hindutva that poses the main threat not just to Christians but also to
India?s multireligious character.

Almaaya Munnettam , Catholic group in Kerala, has demanded evidence for
Thazhath?s claims, warning that such contentions would foster communal
discord ahead of the Kerala assembly elections expected to he held in April.

The archbishop?s statements echo a pattern where sections of the church
have adopted narratives aligned with the rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata
Party, framing Muslims as threats.
Hindutva attacks

>From a national perspective, Muslims and Christians face parallel
persecution from Hindutva groups. There are almost no documented cases of
organised Muslim violence against Christians.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
<https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/2025%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report.pdf>confirms
this

In its 2025 annual report, the commission documented persistent attacks on
minorities in India: over 98% of the 1,165 recorded incidents in early 2024
targeted Muslims. Christians
<https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/2024%20India%20Country%20Update.pdf>,
comprising 2.3% of the population, accounted for about 10% of cases.

Last year, 1,318 hate speech events were recorded by India Hate Lab
<https://www.csohate.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Hate-Speech-Events-in-India-2025-1.pdf>,
up 13% from 2024. Muslims were the primary target.

Still, anti-Christian incidents were up 41% from 115 in 2024 to 162 in
2025. In the decade from 2014, there was a 500% increase in reported
violence against Christians, rising from 139 in 2014 to 834 in 2024. Most
occurred in states ruled by the BJP.

National Crimes Record Bureau data and independent trackers show that
communal violence disproportionately affects Muslims through cow
vigilantism, demolitions and anti-conversion laws.

Christians are targeted via accusations of forced conversions. In 2024 and
2025, there were more than 700 attacks on Christians each year.

The US religious freedom panels February 2026 update highlighted escalating
mob attacks on Christians in January alone, including the assault of a
pastor in Odisha who was forced to eat cow dung. In July 2025, Hindu mobs
attacked clergy in several states.
Call to uphold Constitution

Despite Thazhath?s anxieties, statements of the Catholic Bishop?s
Conference of India have repeatedly condemn these Hindutva attacks, urging
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to denounce violence and uphold constitutional
values.

For instance, in July 2025, the bishops expressed alarm over the remarks of
the BJP?s Gopichand Padalkar, an MLA from Maharashtra, offering rewards to
those who attacked Christian priests.

Muslim violence against Christians remains negligible. Isolated incidents
have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir but no national pattern exists
comparable to Hindutva-led assaults.

However, this writer has documented church leaders who have echoed Hindutva
language on matters such as ?love jihad?. Love jihad is a conspiracy theory
claiming that Muslim men court women of other faiths merely to force them
to convert to Islam. This sort of rhetoric causes the church to lose
secular and Muslim partners while gaining none from Hindutva supporters.

Both Muslims and Christians suffer economic and social marginalisation. *Prison
Statistics India 2023 *shows that Muslims constitute 16.5% of inmates
despite being 14.2% of the country?s total population. Dalits, who form
16.6% of India?s population, constitute 22% of prisoners. Thirteen per cent
of prisoners are Adivasi though they are only 8.6% of the national
population. In some states, Christians appear overrepresented in
undertrials.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-?24 records Muslim unemployment at
3.2% (up from 2.4% the previous year) and Christians at 4.7% (up from
4.5%). The national rate was 3.2.

Supreme Court petitions by Christian groups have been seeking minority
status extensions for Dalit Christians, denied since 1950 despite Sikh and
Buddhist Dalits receiving Scheduled Caste benefits in 1956 and 1990.

The All India Catholic Union statements echo these demands for equity,
linking internal caste bias to broader external exclusion.
Minorities in the crosshairs

Hindutva policies such as the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register
of Citizens, cow slaughter bans and Uniform Civil Code pushes in
Uttarakhand target Muslims first but ensnare Christians via anti-conversion
laws in 12 states.

Uttar Pradesh?s 2025 bill proposes life imprisonment for conversions. While
bulldozer demolitions hit Muslim homes, church attacks follow conversion
accusations. The Manipur 2023 violence, though ethnic, displaced 60,000
mostly Christian Kukis amid Meitei Hindu dominance. No equivalent
Muslim-led campaigns exist against Christians.

Press releases of the Catholic bishops have repeatedly call for unity. In
February, the bishops urged condemnation of attacks. The All India Catholic
Union has criticised the BJP?s Kerala outreach exploiting Islamophobia.

There have been rare inter-minority tensions, but data shows these to be
insignificant compared to Hindutva violence. Economic anxieties fuel some
Christian fears of Muslim demographic growth, yet census data shows that
India?s Muslim population, which stands at 14.2% of the total population,
has grown only modestly since Independence. Global factors like Christian
Zionism play a minor role in driving Christian fears about Muslims in
India, but Hindutva is the primary threat.

Thazhath?s claims about a Muslim threat to Indian Christians are an attempt
to distract from the real problem.

*John Dayal is a veteran journalist and human rights activist.*


End of Goanet Digest, Vol 21, Issue 75
**************************************