Karachi, A recent report in a French daily afternoon newspaper has brought to light the worsening plight of the Christian minority in India, particularly since Narendra Modi assumed power in 2014. The report focuses on the use of anti-conversion laws by Hindutva activists to intimidate evangelical communities and the increasing incidents of violence against Christians.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the French newspaper detailed the discriminatory treatment faced by India’s Christian population. It highlighted that Hindu nationalists are not just active in Uttar Pradesh but across North India, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and nationalist networks have strong footholds. The report pointed out that eleven of the twenty-eight Indian states have enacted anti-conversion legislation.

Between January and July of this year, the newspaper reported sixty-three cases of forced conversions against Christians and the imprisonment of thirty-five pastors. A lawyer, who has approached the Supreme Court and requested anonymity, criticized these laws as tools for Hindu nationalists to target Christian institutions. The laws, the lawyer argues, unjustly reverse the burden of proof, forcing victims to demonstrate their innocence.

The newspaper also emphasized the deteriorating conditions for the thirty million Christians in India, including Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, and Pentecostals. The United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCF), based in Delhi, has documented a significant rise in acts of violence against Christians: from 147 incidents in 2014 to 328 in 2019, 599 in 2022, and 687 between January and November 2023. This escalation equates to roughly two attacks per day against Christians and churches, predominantly in northern India and especially in Uttar Pradesh.

This report sheds light on the growing concerns regarding religious freedom in India and the challenges faced by minority communities in the current political climate.