300 Christian leaders demand action from US gov’t over persecution in India
More than 300 Christian leaders in the United States, including denominational leaders, are calling on the U.S. State Department to designate India as a "Country of Particular Concern" amid escalating violations of religious freedoms, especially against Christians.
A letter sent earlier this month responds to increasing violence and systemic persecution under the Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The signatories include a wide range of church leaders from various denominations, with 18 bishops, three archbishops and numerous clergy and leaders from theological schools and Christian organizations.
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The leaders say the persecution of religious minorities in India has worsened considerably since Modi's regime began in 2014. The letter marks the first concerted effort by U.S. Christian leaders to address religious persecution in India.
"This surge in violence is propelled by a Hindu ethno-nationalist or Hindutva supremacist political ideology, which conflates a militant Hindu ideology with Indian citizen identities," reads the letter. "As a result, both the Hindu religion and India's Constitutional secular democracy have been severely distorted, leading to alarming levels of state-sanctioned violence against Christians, lower-caste Dalits, and other religious minorities both on the streets and within state structures."
The letter, organized by the Federation of Indian-American Christian Organizations in North America, refers to a January 2024 petition signed by more than 3,000 ecumenical Christian leaders in India, condemning the Indian government's alleged state-sanctioned human rights abuses against religious minorities.
Citing a report by the United Christian Forum, the letter notes a drastic rise in attacks on Christians, from 127 incidents in 2014 to 720 in 2023.
The persecution has led to over 65,000 people being displaced in Manipur and more than 400 churches being destroyed or damaged as of May 2023, the letter points out. Another report from Chhattisgarh noted over 2,500 Christians were forcibly displaced between December 2022 and February 2023 due to their refusal to convert to Hinduism.
Showing the severity of the situation, the letter draws on international rankings such as the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, which places India as the third-worst persecutor of Christians globally.
The letter's signatories call on the State Department to take several actions, including the designation of India as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act. Countries designated as a CPC face the possibility of negative consequences, including potential crippling sanctions.
The Christian leaders urge the State Department to hold Indian government officials accountable for violations of religious freedoms, consider targeted sanctions and support independent religious and human rights organizations both in India and the U.S.
The letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken argues that the U.S. silence on these issues contrasts sharply with its geopolitical alliance with India and urges the State Department not to ignore these severe violations.
"The Indian government has cut off funding to hundreds of Christian schools and hospitals which have educated and cared for all people regardless of caste or religion," the letter notes. "International support is severed by draconian application of India's Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, impacting thousands of internationally respected organizations such as Amnesty International, Compassion International, World Vision and Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. This leaves Indian Christians isolated, fearful and precarious."
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Indian government for advocating violence against minorities with impunity. The letter also refers to the "anti-conversion" legislation enforced in at least 10 Indian states that criminalize religious conversion, resulting in the arrest of thousands of Christians.
In January, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan commission that advises the federal government and Congress on international religious freedom matters, criticized the State Department for its refusal to include India and Nigeria on the CPC list.
"We met with the State Department on many occasions to sound the alarm about these countries, but not all of our recommendations have been followed," then-USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper and Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie said in a January statement.
In its annual international religious freedom report, the State Department addressed concerns about religious freedom in India. During a press conference in June to launch this year's report, Blinken discussed the "concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities" in India. The report stated that at least 10 of India's 28 states have passed policies that restrict "religious conversions for all faiths."
"Christian communities reported that local police aided mobs that disrupted worship services over accusations of conversion activities or stood by while mobs attacked them and then arrested the victims on conversion charges," U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain said at the press conference.
