India: Surge in attacks on Christians since right-wing landslide

May 17th, 2017

In the three years since Hindu nationalists swept to power in India, there has been an alarming rise in attacks against Christians.

Violent right-wing Hindu nationalism has been gaining ground, particularly since the BJP swept to power three years ago in May 2014.

"In states across India, militants have threatened and killed church workers. Extremists have tried to force Christians to renounce their faith and convert to Hinduism. And they have bombed, torched, vandalised and demolished churches,’ says Paul Robinson, the Chief Executive of Release International.

A report by the All India Christian Council records violence against Christians rose by 40 per cent last year while murders doubled.

The report, Atrocities on Christians in India, says: "Attacks have become severe and more frequent. Incidents used to be confined to a few states. Now the violence has spread to 23 states."

The sharpest rises have been recorded in Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Release partners describe a further upswing in politically motivated attacks since the March 2017 elections, which also saw mass support for Hindu nationalists.

"Fanatics have become more common, attacking minorities, boys and girls who are dating and the Dalit community,’ says the Release partner, who has to remain anonymous.

The Dalits are the underclass who fall outside the Indian caste system and are assigned the most menial jobs in society. Many are converting to Christianity.

Paul Robinson of Release said: "We are watching an alarming rise of religious intolerance in India. Militants beat one evangelist with chains, stripped him and forced him to drink urine. They desecrated a Christian cemetery, dug up skeletons and scattered them across the graveyard.

"This rising intolerance is linked to extreme nationalism, which argues that to be Indian is to be Hindu – and tries to impose that by force. The authorities must act immediately to prevent the violence."

The All India Christian Council recorded 108 incidents in the first six months alone of 2016. And a separate report by the Evangelical Fellowship of India logged more attacks against Christians in India in 2016 than in the two previous years put together.

There have been moves to put an end to Christian outreach. Hindu nationalists have imposed anti-conversion laws in five states, and are trying to bring in a national bill, aimed at preventing Hindus from converting.

In May 2016, 16 Dalits in Jharkhand who had become Christians were beaten and driven from their homes by the village council. The council ordered them to worship Hindu gods. When the Christians refused, villagers tied their hands and legs and beat them. They also beat women and children who tried to help them.

In Andhra Pradesh a pastor was beaten to death. In Assam, a couple who had recently converted to Christianity were murdered in their sleep. And a woman was raped and murdered in Chhattisgarh.

In the same state, a pastor and his seven-month pregnant wife were doused with petrol by religious extremists, who threatened them with swords and demanded they chant, ‘Hail Lord Rama’.

In Uttar Pradesh fanatics who accused a Christian of converting Hindus, shaved off his hair, eyebrows and moustache and paraded him through the town.

Also in Chhattisgarh, a gang raped and murdered a 14-year-old Christian girl who was on her way to school. Villagers had excommunicated her family for accepting the Christian faith. The authorities have yet to take any action against the culprits.

In Odisha, the body of a 64-year-old pastor was found near a railway bridge. His throat had been cut. The murder weapon, a long handled knife, was found near his body.