Greater than 300 Christian leaders in the USA, together with denominational leaders, are calling on the U.S. State Division to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” amid escalating violations of spiritual freedoms, particularly in opposition to Christians.
A letter despatched earlier this month responds to growing violence and systemic persecution below the Hindu nationalist authorities led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The signatories embrace a variety of church leaders from varied denominations, with 18 bishops, three archbishops and quite a few clergy and leaders from theological colleges and Christian organizations.
Get Our Newest Information for FREE
Subscribe to get day by day/weekly e-mail with the highest tales (plus particular gives!) from The Christian Submit. Be the primary to know.
The leaders say the persecution of spiritual minorities in India has worsened significantly since Modi’s regime started in 2014. The letter marks the primary concerted effort by U.S. Christian leaders to deal with non secular 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 greater than 3,000 ecumenical Christian leaders in India, condemning the Indian authorities’s alleged state-sanctioned human rights abuses in opposition to non secular minorities.
Citing a report by the United Christian Discussion board, the letter notes a drastic rise in assaults on Christians, from 127 incidents in 2014 to 720 in 2023.
The persecution has led to over 65,000 individuals being displaced in Manipur and greater than 400 church buildings being destroyed or broken as of Might 2023, the letter factors out. One other report from Chhattisgarh famous over 2,500 Christians had been forcibly displaced between December 2022 and February 2023 attributable to their refusal to transform to Hinduism.
Exhibiting the severity of the state of affairs, the letter attracts on worldwide rankings such because the U.S.-based persecution watchdog Worldwide Christian Concern, which locations India because the third-worst persecutor of Christians globally.
The letter’s signatories name on the State Division to take a number of actions, together with the designation of India as a CPC below the Worldwide Non secular Freedom Act. Nations designated as a CPC face the potential of detrimental penalties, together with potential crippling sanctions.
The Christian leaders urge the State Division to carry Indian authorities officers accountable for violations of spiritual freedoms, contemplate focused sanctions and help impartial non secular and human rights organizations each in India and the U.S.
The letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken argues that the U.S. silence on these points contrasts sharply with its geopolitical alliance with India and urges the State Division to not ignore these extreme 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 Worldwide and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Indian authorities for advocating violence in opposition to minorities with impunity. The letter additionally refers back to the “anti-conversion” laws enforced in at the very least 10 Indian states that criminalize non secular conversion, ensuing within the arrest of 1000’s of Christians.
In January, the U.S. Fee on Worldwide Non secular Freedom, a bipartisan fee that advises the federal authorities and Congress on worldwide non secular freedom issues, criticized the State Division for its refusal to incorporate India and Nigeria on the CPC checklist.
“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 stated in a January assertion.
In its annual worldwide non secular freedom report, the State Division addressed considerations about non secular freedom in India. Throughout a press convention in June to launch this yr’s report, Blinken mentioned 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 acknowledged that at the very least 10 of India’s 28 states have handed insurance policies that limit “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-Giant for Worldwide Non secular Freedom Rashad Hussain stated on the press convention.
“Well bless their hearts.”
