by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Hindu extremists in India are continuing to persecute Christians in their zeal to ensure Hindu nationalism is the dominant ideology in this vast country: in a recent incident, a mob of Hindus in Chhattisgarh state attacked and hospitalized eight Christians who were on their way home from their weekly house church meeting, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
India has been ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party almost continuously since 2014. The country now ranks 11 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted; it ranked 31 on the WWL prior to the ascension of the BJP.
Reporting on the recent attack in Chhattisgarh, the ICC said the assailants had accused the believers of forcing Hindus to become Christians. “According to a witness to the event, the mob began harassing the pastor and several of his congregants after they left the service,” ICC said. “The attackers beat them with sticks and clubs for some time before emergency services had to transport them to the ICU in order to care for their injuries.”
A local believer told ICC after the recent incident: “The Christian community has been going through psychological trauma, as both radical Hindu nationalists and the successful administration of the state target the Christian minorities.”
The narrative that Christians are out to convert Hindus forcibly is widespread among Hindu extremists and is so powerful it has led to the passing of harsh anti-conversion laws in 12 out of India’s 28 states so far.
“Christians around the nation of India find themselves increasingly under threat,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains in a website statement.
“This hostility is often driven by an ongoing belief among some Hindu extremists that Indians ought to be Hindu—and any faith outside of Hinduism is not welcome in India. This mindset has led to violent attacks across the country and impunity for the people who perpetrate this violence, especially in places where the authorities are also Hindu hardliners.”