Since the Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014, radical Hinduism has increased steadily. Several states outlaw proselytism, and there have been efforts to impose such so-called “anti-conversion laws” at a national level. The violence of radical Hindu groups or angry mobs of villagers is often allowed by local, state and national authorities dominated by the BJP. This means the Hindu radicals can act with increasing impunity.
India: Persecution Briefs
India ranks No. 31 on the 2013 World Watch List, a ranking of the 50 countries where living as a Christian is most difficult. The list is created annually by Open Doors International, a worldwide ministry to Christians who live under pressure because of their faith. Most Christians live openly […]
2 attacks prompt Christians to stop meeting at Indian church
An uneasy calm prevails 20 miles east of India’s largest city, in a rural village where Hindus recently have twice attacked Christians, who in turn have agreed to stop holding meetings in a prayer hall. The first attack came Dec. 30, when Adivasi tribal Christians living in the village of […]
India: Recent incidents of persecution
India is No. 32 on the World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian. “While most Indian Christians are relatively free, many parts of the country remain key battlegrounds between Hindu extremists and Christians,” according to the list. “Violence against pastors […]
India briefs: Recent incidents of persecution
In towns across India, Hindu extremists continued to pressure Christian churches in September. The usual pattern: After the disruption of church or worship services, Christians were physically assaulted and sometimes arrested and jailed on suspicion of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity. Three of the Indian states included in this roundup […]
Analysis: India’s narrow path to religious freedom
In August, the high court of India’s Himachal Pradesh state rejected a portion of the state’s laws regulating religious conversion. World Watch Monitor asked Steven David, director of the Centre for Contemporary Issues, in Bangalore, to provide his perspective. By Steven David Shimla apples are world-famous. They are grown in […]
Extremist Hindus rout Christians from rural Indian village
Hindus twice assaulted a Christian community in a rural India village early this month, beating Christians, forcing them into Hindu worship rituals, and damaging their homes, according to Christian witnesses. The Sunday worship meeting was underway Sept. 2 at the home of a new Christian, Daminbai Sahu, in Bhanpuri, a […]
Christians bury a brother, then exhume his body after Hindus protest
Hindus angry at the burial of a former Christian pastor in a new cemetery Thursday forced church members to exhume his body, church leaders said. The body was buried again Thursday in an older, Christian cemetery that already is full and prone to flooding during India’s monsoons, now in full […]
Christians tormented with music, then attacked
For months, a group of Hindu extremists in southern India had been blasting high-volume movie music at the prayer meetings of a local Christian ministry. In early July, the harassment crossed the line to assault when the Hindus burst into the prayer meeting of End Time Ministries, knocked three worshippers […]
Indian Christians forced into Hindu worship, driven from homes
JAWANGA, Chhattisgarh state, India, July 17 (World Watch Monitor) – Hindu extremists forced 15 Christians to participate in Hindu worship rituals, then beat them up and rousted them from their village, according to an evangelical organization in India. The Evangelical Fellowship of India said that on June 19, 150 Hindus […]
India briefs: recent incidents of persecution
Police arrested three Christians on charges of “abetment of a thing” in Hubli, after Hindu extremists verbally abused them and seized tracts from them on June 21. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at about 2:30 p.m. Pastor Manju Nath and two Christians identified only as Stella […]