INDIA COUNTRY PROFILE
2025 saw over 700 incidents of anti-Christian violence including disruption of worship, physical assault and vandalism of churches — a decline from 814 in 2024 73 — with nearly 50 of these occurring over Advent and Christmas. In Assam’s Nalbari District, Hindutva extremists burned Christmas decorations at St. Mary’s School on Christmas Eve and smashed festive items in local shops. 74 In Kerala’s Palakkad District, children singing carols were assaulted and their instruments destroyed. 75 Allegations of forced or duplicitous conversions to Christianity help drive attacks. Rajasthan saw a rise in reported incidents, with over 75 cases by August 2025, after it became the twelfth state to implement a Freedom of Religion Act, or as critics call it an “anti-conversion law," in February 2025. In early 2026, Chhattisgarh 76 and
Maharashtra introduced new legislation bringing the number of states to fourteen — both states have a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) majority in their legislature. Since the BJP came to power nationally in 2014, Hindutva nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and affiliated organizations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, have increased their influence. The People’s Union for Civil Liberties documented instances of police colluding with Hindutva groups when Christians were attacked. 77 In tribal regions, Christians were denied burial and even forced to exhume the dead. Over 2024-25 there were 49 cases in Chhattisgarh, 8 in Jharkhand, and 6 in Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal. 78 AUGUST 2025 Around 70 members of Bajrang Dal assaulted two Catholic priests, two Sisters and a catechist leaving Gangadhar village, Odisha State, after Mass was celebrated there. They accused them of converting Hindus. Father Jojo, one of the priests, said: “I had only come to celebrate Mass. I never imagined such hostility for such a peaceful and sacred gesture.” 81 JANUARY 2026 Protestant pastor Bipin Bihari Naik was publicly forced to bow before a Hindu temple and chant the praises of the Hindu deity Ram before being paraded with religious symbols. c. 20 members of Bajrang Dal disrupted a prayer meeting at a private residence in Parjang, Odisha State before beating the pastor. It was alleged he had converted Hindus. 82 JUNE 2026 26 Christian families were expelled from Bharanda village, Chhattisgarh State for refusing to renounce their faith. 83
SELECTED INCIDENTS
DECEMBER 2024 A VHP mob disrupted a Christmas Day service in Mahuva, Gujarat State claiming the Church needed permission to hold it. APRIL 2025 Hardliners in Nabarangpur, Odisha State stopped the burial of 21-year-old Saravan Gond on Wednesday, April 16, demanding his family convert to Hinduism. After the family refused and buried him on their own land, his mother and 16-year-old sister were assaulted. Residents exhumed and burned the body. The family fled. 79 JULY 2025 A mob disrupted a communion service in Solapur, Maharashtra State accusing the minister of “distributing blood." Although the pastor explained it was grape juice not blood, members of the mob confiscated it and beat him. 80
20 | Persecuted and Forgotten?
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