09/20/2019 India (International Christian Concern) – A Christian advocacy group in India reports that they have documented over 200 incidents of anti-Christian violence in just the first eight months of 2019. This averages to 27 incidents of violence per month.
The report released by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), India, documents 218 incidents of anti-Christian violence. Out of those incidents, 159 were reports of intimidation and threats by vigilante mobs.
ADF notes that although 218 incidents were documented in their report, only 25 First Information Reports (FIRs), the Indian equivalent of a police report, were filed. This low number of FIRs is most disturbing as it shows that the vast majority of the violence incidents being reported by Christians are not being investigated by authorities.
Incidents of anti-Christian violence have steadily increased since the rise of the BJP-led government in 2014. According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), Indian Christians reported 147 incidents of anti-Christian violence in 2014. That number has since skyrocketed to 325 incidents documented by EFI in 2018.
Much of the increasing violence is fueled by the BJP-led government’s adherence to and use of Hindu nationalism. According to this ideology, India should be a Hindu nation. Religious minorities, especially Christians and Muslims, are considered followers of foreign faith and are thus treated with suspicion and hostility.
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