ICC Note: Seventeen incidents of anti-Christian persecution have been recorded by religious freedom advocate ADF India in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana since the beginning of 2018. These incidents include a church demolition, physical assaults, and even the suspected murder of an elderly Christian woman. Some attribute this growth anti-Christian violence to the expanding influence of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
08/07/2018 India (The Express) – At least 17 incidents of anti-Christian persecution have been recorded by religious freedom advocate ADF India in the first seven months of 2018.
Among them, there is also the murder of an elderly Christian woman, found in a pool of blood on March 21 on the terrace of her house where she prayed.
All these acts have taken place within or close to Hyderabad, the capital of southern India’s Telangana state, created in 2014 following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
On the same year, Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was voted to power.
ADF India volunteer told World Watch Monitor that the episode of violence against Christians has since escalated.
He said: “Although the state governments – both Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Telangana and Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh – do not openly support Hindu fundamentalism, most of their party workers at ground level belong to either RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] or any of its affiliates.
“The secular image they flaunt is only for vote-bank politics. BJP has spread its wings to non-BJP ruling states as well. This is the reality. Telangana felt safe and calm till June. In just a few weeks, everything changed.”
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For interviews with William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
