Indian Christians call for religious freedom protections

NEW DELHI (BP)—Two thousand Christians gathered in India in November to urge the government to protect religious freedoms as violence and legalized discrimination increase in the world’s most populous country.

Representatives of more than 200 Christian denominations advocated for religious freedoms at the day-long National Christian Convention Nov. 29, spotlighting a 500 percent increase in targeted attacks against Christians from 2014 to 2024, religious persecution watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.

More than 830 attacks against Christians were recorded in 2024, based on a report from the United Christian Forum, representing an increase from 139 such cases in 2014.

Physical assaults on pastors based on unverified allegations of forced conversions, and mobs vandalizing churches were among reported incidents. Anti-conversion laws and concerns over the Presidential Order of 1950, which continues to deny Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians and other Dalits, were also discussed.

“Speakers emphasized that this policy continues to trap millions in generational poverty by denying access to education reservations, employment opportunities and land rights,” CSW said in a press release.

“Delegates from tribal communities highlighted mounting pressure in mineral-rich belts like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha where tribal Christians are at risk of being delisted from the Schedule Tribe list.”

Dalits in India are historically considered “untouchable” and broken, and have suffered decades of persecution in the system that puts them at the bottom of a rigid caste system, despite constitutional protections outlawing such persecution.

Protests near the Indian Parliament

Coinciding with the convention, about 3,500 Christians and others publicly protested near the Indian Parliament Nov. 29, decrying the government’s failure to curb the violence. Instead, protestors said, officials often arrest Christian victims instead of perpetrators.

In 80 percent of the cases the United Christian Forum tracked, police did not investigate because First Information Reports were not filed, as required by law.

CSW also urged the government to intervene to protect the rights of Christians in the nation whose constitution claims religious freedom.

“CSW stands in solidarity with India’s Christian community and joins them in their call on the government of India to uphold constitutional protections for freedom of religion or belief, to ensure accountability for perpetrators of targeted violence, and to remove discriminatory provisions that impact vulnerable communities,” said Mervyn Thomas, founding president of CSW.

Convention attendees vowed to draft a national manifesto calling for religious freedom protections for all Christians, equality for Dalits, and justice for those facing persecution.

Concerns about influence of Hindu nationalists

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its January 2025 annual report, urged the U.S. State Department to designate India a Country of Particular Concern, citing systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Christians comprise about 2.3 percent, or 27 million, of India’s 1.4 billion people, according to censusofindia.net. Hinduism is the mostly widely practiced religion there, cited by 79.8 percent of the population, with Muslims the largest minority religion at 14.23 percent. A few states are majority Christian, with believers concentrated in certain areas, Pew Research Center reported in 2021.

An interconnected relationship between the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elected in 2014, and the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works to strengthen religious persecution, USCIRF said in a November update.

“Despite offering some constitutional protections for FoRB (freedom of religion or belief), India’s political system facilitates a climate of discrimination toward religious minority communities,” USCIRF said, citing discriminatory legislation limiting citizenship, and criminalizing religious conversion and the slaughter of cows.

“The enforcement of such laws disproportionately targets and impacts religious minorities and their ability to freely practice their religion or belief as outlined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a signatory,” USCIRF wrote.