At least two cases per day this year, says the UCF Christian group

Since 2014, when the currently ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, the number of attacks against Christians has risen dramatically. From an already high 147 cases per day in 2014, this number increased to 687 cases this year up until November. Which means at least two attack per day.

Even though the Indian Constitution guarantees the freedom of choosing religion, in practice it seems otherwise. Out from all the 28 Indian states, 12 implemented anti-conversion laws, called “freedom of religion acts”. In most of these states the ruling party has the majority votes. This regulation requires people to inform authorities one month I advance their conversion. They have to prove that the conversion is happening by one’s own choice and they were not forced or allured, so they need government approval for changing religion.

The majority of attacks happen in the four northern states, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana. Except for Jharkhand, the anti-conversion law is in full force. A typical example of these attacks was when a violent mob of religious extremists, supported by the pro-Hindu government and police, barged in to a place of worship or a religious gathering. The most  commonly accusation againnst the Christians is that forced conversion.

India stands in 11^th place on the Open Doors’ World Watch List 2023, meaning it is the 11^th worst country for persecuted Christians. The attacks are becoming more and more frequent and this tendency does not seem set to ease while the ruling party maintains  a hostile sentiment against Christians.

Source: UCAnews

Photo: AFP