Christians in India suffer from rising number of religious attacks
As Christians in the Middle East and Africa continue to suffer from persecution from extremist groups, there is also an increasing number of attacks on Christians in India.
Based on reports from Fox News, 26 cases of religiously motivated violence were recorded in the first two months of the year, targetting Christians in the country.
According to the report, the attacks are allegedly attributed to Hindu radicals who believe that they will not be held accountable for their actions since a Hindu Nationalist is in power.
"They are wolves in sheep's clothing. There has been an increase in attacks because these nationalists feel emboldened with [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi in power," Jeff King, president of the International Christian Concern said.
Christians have already appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Indian People's Party, to take action on the rising incidence of religious persecution but have lamented the lack of action by the government to deal with the attacks.
Some parties have expressed the belief that the BJP's position on Hindutva—a cultural nationalism which favors Indian culture over westernisation - plays a part in the lack of drive to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes.
"Since 2014 there has been a significant increase in attacks on Christians and Christian communities by radical Hindu forces in India. The government, which came into power with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has strong Hindu nationalist ties. As a result, radical Hinduism, which was already present under the previous government, has increased steadily," David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA said.
He added that while the central government has not condoned the activities, it also did not condemn them, further encouraging the assaults.
So far, a letter was sent to Modi by eight US senators and 26 members of Congress, asking the Prime Minister to condemn the acts of persecution but so far, there has been no response.
