Violence against Christians in India
[2][1] Anti-Christian violence increased dramatically since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started its rule at the center, first in March 1998 and more recently in 2014 (incumbent).
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are the organizations which have been most frequently accused of inciting the violence.
India's ministry of internal security and its National Commission for Minorities officially list more than a hundred religiously motivated attacks against Christians each year.
[3] As of 2020, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom placed India as Tier-1 in minority persecution along with countries like China, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
[4] Indian Christians were relatively unaffected by communal violence until the end of the 1990s and they enjoyed social harmony with their majority Hindu neighbours.
[1][7][8] Historically, the BJP and the Hindu nationalistic Sangh Parivar organizations were more likely to accept violence against minorities than their rival Congress Party.
[9] The Human Rights Watch report stated that Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and RSS (the sister organisations of the BJP) are the most accused organizations for violence against Christians in India.
[1] Although these organizations differ significantly in many ways, have all argued that since Hindus make up the bulk of Indians, India should be a Hindu state.
[5] The Human Rights Watch reported that the attacks against Christians are part of the right-wing Sangh Parivar organizations' orchestrated effort to encourage and exploit sectarian violence to raise their political power base.
[1] A 1999 Human Rights Watch report stated that in many instances, Christian institutions and individuals were singled out for violence in response to their efforts to promote education, good health and financial independence among the members of the tribal and Dalit communities.
The Human rights Watch report also noted that a significant reason for the publication and circulation of anti-Christian propaganda and the acts of violence which it contributes to is a vested interest in keeping these communities in a state of economic dependence.
[10] In 2008, the National Commission for Minorities reported that the State governments which were controlled by the BJP and its allies supported the perpetrators of violence against Christians.
These attacks include the ransacking of churches, monasteries, and other Christian institutions, the burning of copies of the Bible, the desecration of cemeteries, the murder of priests and missionaries, and the sexual assault of nuns.
[15] Multiple news organizations reported an increase in the number of incidents of violence against Christians after the new BJP government under Narendra Modi came to power after the general election in April–May 2014.
Despite the small number of Christians, as per the BJP's declared agenda of establishing a Hindu Rashtra, the other faiths are seen as enemies and must be ousted.
[30] Chad M. Bauman argued that the Sangh Parivar leaders followed the same technique in the 2008 Kandhamal riots by linking their local politics and clashes with broader national fears like extinction of Hinduism, a Christian demographic increase and even a 'Christian military coup'.
From the late nineties, affiliates of the Sangh Parivar such as the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram began to set up schools for adivasi people and Dalits where simple skills were taught along with Religious teachings which were aimed at bringing the more Sanskrit and all-India upper-caste Hinduism into sync with the Dalit and Adivasi faith and ritualistic practices.
[27] During the 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat, the Human Rights Watch reported more than 20 incidents of Churches being burnt down and damaged in and around the Dang District.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that by March 2009, and at least 3,000 individuals were still in government relief camps.
[53][54] In October 2008, During the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka the police reported 20 graves in a cemetery were desecrated in Tamil Nadu, three churches were stoned in the districts of Karur and Erode, bibles in the outer walls of Chennai and Coimbatore were damaged, a statue of Mary was stolen in Krishnagiri, a Virgin Mary icon was damaged in Kanyakumari and an idol of Jesus in Madurai was vandalized in the state of Tamil Nadu.
[citation needed] The prime minister had earlier publicly admitted that the ongoing violence against the Christian communities was a matter of great "national shame".
[59] In July 2021, at least 17 human rights organizations including Amnesty International cosponsored a Congressional briefing in the Washington to request the US Government to take action against the growing persecution of Christians in India.
In a written address to Hindus, the Vatican office said Christian and Hindu leaders needed to foster a belief in non-violence among followers.
