The gutted alter of the St Sebastian Church. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
In 2014, 147 cases including the death of at least two persons in 2014 killed for their Christian faith were recorded by Alliance Defending Freedom India and The Evangelical Fellowship of India along with other Human Rights and Civil Society groups. The vicious hate campaigns, physical violence, police complicity and State impunity contribute to the persecution of the Christian community in many states of India.
The report titled ’Hate and Targeted Violence against Christians in India – Report 2014’ shows Chhattisgarh topping the list with 28 incidents of crime, followed closely by neighbouring Madhya Pradesh with 26, Uttar Pradesh with 18 and Telengana, newly carved out of Andhra Pradesh, with 15 incidents.
The violence peaked between August and October with 56 cases, before zooming up to 25 cases during the Christmas season. Much of the violence, 54 percent, is of threats, intimidation, coercion, often with the police looking on. Physical violence constituted a quarter of all cases, 24 per cent, and violence against Christian women, a trend that is increasingly being witnessed seen since the carnage in Kandhamal, Odisha, in 2007 and 2008, was 11 per cent. Breaking of statues and the Cross, and other acts of desecration were recorded in about 8 per cent of the cases, but many more were also consequent to other forms of violence against institutions. Police inaction and its failure to arrest the guilty in most cases, its propensity to try to minimize the crime, and in rural areas especially, its open partisanship has almost become the norm.
The violence has continued well into the New Year 2015 with at least 27 incidents already being recorded by SpeakOutAgainstHate.org.
Download and read the full report here:
- Report 2014 Hate and Targetted Violence Against Christians in India
