Why are attacks on Christians increasing in India?

Ground Report | New Delhi: Why are attacks on Christians increasing in India; Attacks on Christian congregations, churches, and educational institutions have steadily increased across India, especially in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states. Other minorities in India, a country of 1.3 billion people, are also under intense pressure and insecurity at the moment, but Christians, who make up about two percent of the total Indian population, are more intimidated by their small numbers.

Why are attacks on Christians increasing in India?

In the Taj Mahal city of Agra, members of right-wing Hindu groups set fire to Santa Claus in front of various missionary schools. These groups accused Christians of propagating their religion through their festivals and associated symbols, DW reported.

In another incident, angry mobs stormed a church in Assam on Christmas night and disrupted prayers. These Hindu extremists demanded that all Hindus in the church leave the church. In Haryana, members of a Hindu extremist group stormed a school during a Christmas Eve celebration and chanted Hindu slogans.

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A month earlier, a 50-member Hindu extremist group attacked a Catholic school in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Although the school administration had informed the police before the attack, the mob, armed with sticks and stones, damaged the school property and chanted 'Jai Shri Ram.

What is the purpose of the attacks?

All these attacks and incidents had one thing in common and that allegation has been made by various Hindu extremist groups for a long time. It is an accusation of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity. The Christian community denies the allegations, while police investigations into the incident have so far uncovered no such allegations.

In the first nine months of 2021, there were at least 305 attacks on Christians in India, according to the United Christian Forum, an organization working for the civil rights of Christians. Of these, 32 occurred in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

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Historian Father Pius Malekandathil told DW "These attacks are a constant trend. Their aim is to create an atmosphere of segregation and division and to target minorities. The attacks on churches and educational institutions are actually part of an attempt to get attention and intimidate the Christian community. "

Zoya Hasan, a political scientist, said that attacks on minorities, especially Muslims, have been part of India's growing religious intolerance in recent times. "The objective is clear. This plan would translate to isolating and demonizing minorities so that the Hindu order is consolidated and a Hindu state is established," Hasan said. "It is well thought of and purposeful."

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