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India

• Released Murderer Receives a Hero's Welcome

  

  On January 23rd, 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines, along with his two young sons Philip and Timothy, were burned to death by Hindu nationalist militants. Initially, authorities denied that the assailants had any connection to the Hindu nationalist group, Bajrang Dal, though such ties were later substantiated. While 14 men had been arrested in connection with the incident, 12 of the perpetrators were acquitted due to lack of evidence. The other two men, Mahendra Hembram and Dara Singh, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

• Christian Pilgrims Harassed by Hindu Nationalist Group

  

  Two busloads of Christians that had embarked on a Lenten pilgrimage tour were stopped by members of a Hindu nationalist group on March 31st and subsequently handed over to police. The incident led to the physical and verbal assault of some Christian leaders.

• Call for Death Penalty for Coercive Religious Conversions

  

  The Chief Minister for the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has publicly announced plans to impose the death penalty on those convicted of forced or fraudulent religious conversions. In a public meeting for International Women's Day on March 8th, Mohan Yadav equated such conversions with child molestation, stating that both crimes warrant the imposition of capital punishment. Later that evening, the state government released a statement affirming the announcement made by Mohan.

• Large Mob Attack at Pastors' Gathering

  

  On February 19th, a group of pastors had gathered in Kusumba Village, a town located in the Jalgaon District of Maharashtra, India. As the meeting was taking place, a mob of approximately 400 Hindu nationalists suddenly attacked, brutally assaulting many of the pastors. As a result of the violence, two of the church leaders were left in critical condition.

• Arrests for Alleged Conversion Activities

  

  Multiple Christians were recently arrested by authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, resulting in charges of coercive religious conversions. In each case, allegations against the Christians by Hindu nationalist groups led to sudden police raids.

• Christian Couple Released on Bail

  

  In a Persecution & Prayer Alert report published earlier this month, it was revealed that a pastor and his wife in India had been convicted of allegedly attempting to convert Dalit villagers within their community. Pastor Jose Pappachan and his wife Sheeja were both fined and sentenced to five years in prison (see our previous report).

• Ministry Couple Sentenced for Alleged Conversions

  

  On July 30th, 2024, an amendment to Uttar Pradesh's anti-conversion legislation was passed in an effort to strengthen the state's existing laws. In particular, major changes were made to the severity of punishments imposed on convicted individuals. Since the amended law was brought into effect, a pastor and his wife were found guilty on January 22nd and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. They were also fined 25,000 rupees (about $420 CAD) each.

• Attack Leads to Miscarriage

  

  Kunika Kashyap was more than six months pregnant when she went to visit another Christian in her village who had been ill. While Kunika was sitting at the ailing believer's bedside, a relative of hers named Ganga Ram Kashyap began recording the pregnant Christian woman on his mobile phone, hoping to obtain video evidence of her praying.

• Hindu Nationalists Disrupt Christmas Celebrations

  

  A wave of violent incidents marred Christmas celebrations across India, even as Prime Minister Modi extolled the virtues of "love" and "harmony" in his Christmas speech and social media posts. The recently occurring acts of violence against followers of Jesus, which took place in at least ten states across India, were particularly instigated by Hindu nationalist groups in their determination to rid the nation of Christian influence.

• Christians Banned from Eight Villages

  

  On November 17th, the leaders of eight villages in Sukma, a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, passed a joint resolution that prohibits Christians from staying in their communities. As a result of the decision, all Christian residents have been required to renounce their faith or leave. The order impacts around 100 believers, whose fields, properties and belongings were threatened with confiscation if they did not comply. One local chief who supported the decree claimed that the village council supersedes the Indian Constitution, thus negating any arguments about the believers' right to freedom of belief.