Christians in India protest rising tide of persecution

MUMBAI – Leaders of various Christian denominations gathered for a mass protest in New Delhi, the national capital, on Oct. 26, objecting to what they describe as a mounting pattern of harassment, persecution and violence directed at the country’s Christian minority.

Organizers said the rally was intended to draw attention to a widespread rash of attacks on church leaders, pastors, nuns, school principals and teachers, doctors and nurses, as well as other members of the community.

Many observers assert that the harassment of religious minorities in India, especially Muslims and Christians, has increased since the rise to power of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, whose electoral base is among right-wing Hindu nationalist movements.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India on Oct. 24, two days before the protest, community leaders and activists laid out what they described as a real and rising threat. Data collected by the United Christian Forum (UCF) stated, “585 incidents targeting Christians were recorded so far this year till September,” said Michael William, president of the group.

A few days earlier, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), a human rights movement, compiled reports of five distinct incidents between Oct. 13 and 20 alone, scattered across various states, of persecution of Christians in India.

On Oct. 13, for example, an incident unfolded in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where police disrupted a Christian prayer meeting after a complaint was filed by Sarvesh Singh, the president of a Hindu nationalist movement.

Singh, who is also associated with a group notorious for its vigilante actions under the pretext of “cow protection,” accused the Christians in the gathering of engaging in conversions. In response, the police arrested a couple and detained several attendees. Christian observers stated that the police showed a bias towards the complainant’s accusations without any prior investigation.

On the same day in Jagatsinghpur district, in the state of Odisha, Hindu radicals raided a Christian prayer meeting, accusing the attendees of engaging in religious conversions. The attackers threatened extreme violence, including beating the Christians to death, and threatened to strip the participants.

Though the attackers were handed over to the police, observers say their boldness reflects a belief in their immunity from legal consequences, especially since incidents of this nature are rarely followed by strong action from law enforcement. Instead of protecting the victims, the focus often shifts to investigating baseless claims of conversion, leaving Christians vulnerable to repeated attacks.

Four days later, on Oct. 17 in Dhamtari, a Christian family seeking to bury a deceased loved one was met with resistance from Hindu radicals who protested, arguing that Christians should not have the right to use the village cemetery, despite the fact that Christians have lived in the village for generations.

The extremists demanded that the body be buried outside the village limits, and it was only after the local administration intervened that the burial was allowed to proceed. However, the family had to concede to the extremists’ demands and bury the deceased outside the village.

On the same day in Saharsa, in the northeastern state of Bihar, Hindu activists accompanied by the local police disrupted a Christian prayer meeting, confiscating religious items including Bibles and other Christian literature. A pastor was detained as well.

Three days later in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh state, police raided the home of a Christian family after local villagers complained about alleged religious conversions taking place under the guise of prayer meetings. The Oct. 20 raid, based on unverified allegations, resulted in the detention of three members of the family.

Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore, who serves as President of Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops Conference (KRCBC), told Crux, “I am aware of the overt and covert attacks on the Christians in many parts our country, especially in Chattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.”

“The attacks and persecutions are now not restricted to religious factors alone, but also extended to social and educational institutions, as well as burial grounds etc.,” Machado said. “The intolerance, the discrimination and the hate speech is hurting. The silence, and, at times, the complicity of the government machinery is baffling.”

“On the one hand, India wishes to project itself as a forward-looking country with the largest democracy, but on the other hand, with restrictions placed on the citizens as regards freedom of belief and religion, we are regressing ourselves as a backward nation,” Machado said.

“To think that twelve states have passed so-called Freedom of Religion bills, which are in fact anti-conversion laws, contradicting constitutional provisions, speak of a mentality that is more deplorable than the colonial mind-set,” he said. “That even Karnataka, one of the most developed states in India, is still persisting with an anti-conversion law passed by the previous regime, goes on to show that the economic development has nothing to do with constitutional freedoms.”

“God bless our country,” Machado said. “I pray in the words of National Poet, Rabindra Nath Tagore, ‘Into the heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country arise.’”