Jahnavi Sen 
New Delhi: Civil society groups have once again raised the alarm about rising incidents of violence against Christians in India. New data released by the United Christian Forum (UCF) states that 2024 witnessed 834 such incidents, up 100 incidents from 734 in 2023.
“The alarming frequency of attacks translates to more than two Christians being targeted every day in India simply for practising their faith,” UCF said in a press statement on January 10.
These incidents take on a number of forms: attacks on churches or prayers meetings, harassment of those following their faith, ostracisation and limiting access to community resources, and false allegations and criminal cases, particularly those pertaining to ‘forced conversions’. The institution of controversial, stringent anti-conversion laws in several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states has also served as a weapon in the hands of Hindutva activists and the state to act against minority groups.
As The Wire has previously reported, there has been a sharp increase in the number of such incidents since 2014, when the BJP under Narendra Modi first formed the Union government.
The highest number of incidents in 2024 were reported from Uttar Pradesh (209), followed by Chhattisgarh (165). In many of these cases, rights activists have pointed out, no First Information Report is filed – sometimes despite there being a police complaint on the matter. In other situations, victims are afraid to approach the police because they believe that the police will try to turn the matter around, and side with the perpetrators while filing false charges against the victims.
“Most of the time, FIRs are filed against the victims of violence, while the perpetrators are allowed to go scot-free,” A.C. Michael, national convenor of the UCF, had told The Wire in 2023. “Otherwise the police usually tries to pacify the victims, saying if you file a case then they [the attackers] may become more aggressive, and then your life will be more dangerous.”
Marginalised groups are more likely to be the target of these attacks, UCF has found. Of the 73 incidents the group recorded in December 2024, in 25 cases the victims were from Scheduled Tribes and in 14 they were Dalits. Women were victimised in nine of these incidents.
A recent series of reports by Omar Rashid for The Wire has highlighted how Hindutva activists have filed false conversion cases against people from marginalised castes who choose to follow the Christian faith. The victims in these cases have often not formally converted their religion, yet they are accused of forcing or coercing others to convert from Hinduism to Christianity. While most cases filed under the new anti-conversion laws have not reached any sort of conclusion, in some situations the courts have thrown out the cases after finding the state prosecution’s narrative to be unconvincing.
On December 31, 2024, a group of over 400 senior Christian leaders and 30 church groups had appealed to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi to address the rising violence against the community. Their appeal came after a number of such instances were recorded around Christmas. This is not the first time such an appeal has been made, and it remains to be seen whether the president and prime minister take note of the matter.
While ignoring appeals of this kind, Modi has been attempting to reach out to sections of the Christian community over the last few years. On December 23, 2024, he attended Christmas celebrations hosted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Speaking there, he referred to violence against Christians – but only in other parts of the world, like the Christmas market attack in Germany and the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka.
Journalist and rights activist John Dayal told Catholic News Agency that this speech had brought out Modi’s “duplicity”. “After expressing his ‘pain’ over incidents of violence, Modi did not mention a single incident from daily two cases of targeted hate violence in 2024 in the country. Instead, he cited the bloody Christmas market attack in Germany as an example. This is duplicity and this is what encourages the belligerent Hindu fundamentalists,” he said.
Leaders of the opposition too have questioned the prime minister’s attitude towards the Christian community. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, for instance, said that Modi needs to be asked “tough questions” about issues faced by the community.
“I have no problem if you (bishops) want to have Christmas lunch with Modi, but, you have to also ask tough questions. The church has to ask difficult questions, like why you are trying to change Christmas into Good Governance Day. Why are they weaponising FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act)?” O’Brien said, addressing a gathering organised by Christian organisations in Ahmedabad on January 9.