Christians face arbitrary arrests, grave religious freedom violations in India

 

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

More than 160 violent attacks against Christians were reported in India this past year as laws passed by the country’s reigning Hindu nationalist government added to the threat to religious freedom in the nation.

According to a recent report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Christians in India are facing increasingly hostile threats of violence and religious discrimination.

USCIRF is now calling for India to be added to the U.S. government’s list of international religious freedom violators as a country of particular concern (CPC) — a move that has provoked outrage from the country’s government.

A spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry spoke out against USCIRF on Thursday, describing the U.S. agency as “a biased organization with a political agenda,” according to news reports.

“We reject this malicious report,” the spokesperson said, “which only serves to discredit the USCIRF further.”

The spokesperson called on USCIRF to “desist from such agenda-driven efforts” and to instead focus its attention on human rights issues within its own country.

Incidents of religious freedom violations listed in the USCIRF report include physical attacks on individuals, places of worship, and schools; restrictions on public prayer; and false accusations of “forced conversion” for which the punishment ranges from hefty fines in some states to life in prison in others.

Violent attacks and discrimination

According to the USCIRF report, “from January to March, 161 incidents of violence against Christians in India were reported — 47 of which occurred in the state of Chhattisgarh.”

“Such incidents ranged from violent attacks on churches and prayer meetings to physical assaults, harassment, and false allegations of forced conversion,” the report said.

In the northeast Indian state of Assam, government authorities have repeatedly targeted Christians throughout the past year, passing laws such as the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, banning prayer over the sick. According to USCIRF, Assam’s chief minister stated his intention to “restrict Christian evangelism and conversion in the state with the bill.”

A Catholic school in the state was targeted by several Hindu organizations that entered the school and “demanded instructors cease using Christian images and symbols.”

In the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, Christians have been denied access to community water sources and, in some cases, according to sources cited by USCIRF, deceased Christians have been denied burial by local Hindu villagers.

Arbitrary arrests over ‘anti-conversion’ laws

Authorities have arrested dozens of Christians on accusations of “conducting or participating in forced conversion” since 2021. Under “anti-conversion” laws currently present in 12 of India’s 28 states, authorities can prosecute religious minorities for alleged attempts at forced conversions. Many of these laws, according to the USCIRF, “far exceed cases of coercion.”

For example, the report cites an incident that took place in Uttar Pradesh where 13 Christians, including four pastors, were arrested after participating in a house prayer meeting after local villagers had reported them to the police on suspicion of “conversion activities.”

In Uttar Pradesh, a recently passed law allows anyone, not just a victim or blood relative, to file a First Instance Report (FIR) against any purported suspect of “forced conversion.” Those arrested and charged with the crime in the north Indian state face life in prison without the possibility of applying for bail.

Political climate

Ahead of the country’s most recent elections in June, politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party adopted Hindu-nationalist slogans for their campaigns. These politicians promoted “increasingly wielded hate speech and discriminatory rhetoric” against minority religious communities such as Christians and Muslims, according to the report.

USCIRF noted the prime minister in particular accused his opposition of intending to “wipe out [the] Hindu faith from the country” and make Hindus “second-class citizens in their own country.” Modi specifically directed many of his comments against Muslims, whom he referred to as “infiltrators.”