Assaults on non secular minorities soared by 555% over 10 years
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to India after assembly President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., Christian leaders in India stay unsure whether or not the U.S. president mentioned ongoing assaults on minority communities with Modi through the go to.
Modi traveled to the US after a earlier cease in France, holding talks targeted on commerce insurance policies and funding alternatives, famous the U.S.-based persecution watchdog Worldwide Christian Concern. Regulatory approval for Elon Musk’s Starlink operations was additionally reportedly mentioned.
Whereas Trump’s latest announcement to impose a 25% tariff on metal and aluminum imports with out exceptions drew main consideration in India, information from the native group United Christian Discussion board (UCF) confirmed that the nation recorded 834 documented incidents of violence and intimidation towards Christians in 2024, marking its highest annual tally.
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Non secular freedom gave the impression to be off the agenda, as no media outlet has talked about it since Modi’s return to India on Friday.
The UCF determine represented an increase from 127 incidents reported in 2014, marking a rise of greater than 555% in a decade, in line with an evaluation by the Switzerland-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
UCF additionally recorded 149 bodily assaults, 209 situations of property injury, and 798 instances of threats or harassment concentrating on Christians final 12 months, CSI famous, including that many of those assaults concerned disruptions of non secular gatherings, typically below the accusation of “forcible” conversions.
Twelve Indian states have anti-conversion statutes, many enacted below Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP), which holds energy on the federal degree in addition to in a number of areas, ICC mentioned. Whereas formally enacted to counter compelled conversions, the legal guidelines broadly outline prohibited actions, making almost all types of outreach or evangelism topic to authorized scrutiny.
One instance is Uttar Pradesh’s legislation outlawing “conversion from one faith to a different by misrepresentation, power, undue affect, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means.” The definition of “allurement” consists of any “provide of […] gratification, straightforward cash, or higher way of life,” which critics say criminalizes respectable non secular train.
In lots of instances, those that are arrested below anti-conversion legal guidelines stay in custody with bail denied, a sample UCF described because the “justice course of” turning into punitive in itself.
Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh topped the checklist with 165 and 209 incidents respectively in 2024. Authorities and Hindu nationalist teams halted or restricted 331 gatherings, typically citing anti-conversion issues. Though India’s structure gives for non secular freedom, many Christians say officers improperly demand permission for worship providers, even in non-public houses.
Hindu nationalists declare that compelled conversions is a risk to the nation’s society, however UCF mentioned that formal police complaints below anti-conversion legal guidelines are steadily lodged with out proof. Police registered solely 392 “First Data Stories,” or formal complaints, out of the 834 incidents documented by the group final 12 months.
India’s Christian inhabitants features a important variety of Dalits, who traditionally confronted social and financial discrimination. UCF recorded 342 victims from Dalit backgrounds and 354 from indigenous teams in 2024.
UCF President Dr. Michael Williams mentioned the Christian neighborhood experiences widespread worry as a result of rising assaults.
A examine from the Heart for the Research of Organized Hate discovered a 74% improve in hate speech incidents from 2023, primarily directed at Muslims but additionally at Christians. About 80% of those incidents occurred in BJP-governed states.
As Modi resumes his schedule, Christian teams look ahead to any indication that the U.S. journey will have an effect on official responses. He has not publicly addressed them.
