India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been urged to tackle Christian persecution following reports that during the last two weeks, Indian Christians have suffered at least 15 attacks, according to International Christian Concern.
Modi’s rise to power has gone hand in hand with growing Hindu intolerance of Christianity and Islam in India. Mr Narendra Modi will visit Uganda on July 24 for the first time as prime minister on the invitation of President Museveni, sources report. The two leaders will hold bilateral talks at State House Entebbe before meeting Parliament, and later driving to Kololo Airstrip to meet with the Indian community.
For years, India’s Christian and Muslim leaders have been lobbying their government and the supreme court to grant Muslim and Christian dalits their constitutional rights as a matter of social justice — but to no avail. In the past year, National Review reports that chronic suspicion and disdain of Christianity and Islam have evolved into outright hostility and aggression.
This is happening in the form of mob violence at the grassroots but also at the level of state legislatures, in the form of discriminatory legislation.
The incidents include forced conversions away from Christianity, false accusations of forced conversions to Christianity, physical assaults and a church demolition.
Among the incidents reported by ICC, on July 6, six Christians were forcefully converted to Hinduism in the Kunti District of India’s Jharkhand State. On the same day, six Christian families from a village near Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, were given an ultimatum to recant their Christian faith by July 15 or face ‘severe consequences’.
According to ICC, the incidents demonstrate a ‘growing anti-Christian sentiment’ in India.
Dr John Dayal, President of the United Christian Forum told Christian Today: ‘We [Christians] are becoming increasingly concerned at political, social, and economic developments in our country that may fracture, if not irretrievably impact, the very foundations of conditional democracy.’
William Stark, ICC’s regional manager, said: ‘Every day, new reports of persecution come in from what seems like every corner of India. Many Christians fear that this may be the new normal for their community as Hindu radicals have been allowed to attack Christians and other minority communities with impunity. India must take concrete steps to counteract this wave of intolerance and violence. Until then, the attacks will likely continue to increase in both number and severity.’
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
