(LifeSiteNews) — A Christian NGO in India has raised the alarm with a report showing that violent attacks against Christians have increased by 500 percent over the past ten years.
“Between 2014 and 2024, incidents of violence against Christians rose sharply – from 139 to 834 – a staggering 500 percent increase,” A.C. Michael, national convenor of the United Christian Forum (UCF), told UCA News.
The UCF, an inter-denominational organization based in New Delhi, documented almost 5,000 attacks on Christians in the past ten years in India (not all of them were considered “violent attacks”).
The five leading states with the highest number of anti-Christian incidents are: Uttar Pradesh (1,317 incidents), Chhattisgarh (926), Tamil Nadu (322), Karnataka (321), and Madhya Pradesh (319).
Michael said that between January and September of this year, 579 incidents had already been reported nationwide, with only 39 resulting in police cases. He attributed the rise in attacks to false allegations of religious conversion, anti-Christian propaganda, and politically driven hatred.
Christian leaders have reported an uptick in violence against Christians since the victory of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
Twelve of India’s 28 states have introduced anti-conversion laws, forbidding Christians to spread the Gospel. Critics have argued that these laws are being used to harass Christians and file false police reports against them.
Earlier this year, the arrest of two Catholic nuns caused a national scandal. The two sisters were assaulted by members of a group closely aligned with the BJP and charged with human trafficking and the alleged forced conversion of Protestant Christians. The Indian Catholic bishops condemned the arrests and said they were based on “false accusations.” Many politicians also spoke out against the religious persecution of Christians at the hands of the Modi-led BJP.
READ: Two Catholic nuns arrested in India, sparking major political scandal
Michael Williams, president of UCF, said accusations of religious conversion are “consistently used as a political weapon before every election by the current government.”
Christian groups plan to hold a protest march in New Delhi on November 29 against the continuing persecution of Christians. One of the issues the groups want to address is the exclusion of Dalit Christians (those who have converted from Hinduism to Christianity) from state welfare programs. Dalit Christians also face pressure to convert to Hinduism as they are still seen as part of the caste system in Hindu society, one Christian rights activist said.
The UCF has advocated for mandatory police registration of cases, state-level monitoring committees, and fast-track courts for persecuted Christians.
