The Protestant Church of Pakistan condemned what it described as the Indian government’s extremist policies that have inspired attacks on minority Christians in the country.
“India takes pride in being the world’s largest democracy, but its brazen violations of religious freedom have laid bare its claims of being a truly secular country,” said Bishop Azad Marshall, president and moderator of the Church of Pakistan, a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
The bishop cited recent reports by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom highlighting India’s push for Hindu Nationalist policies.
“The attacks on religious minorities, vandalism of minorities’ worship places, enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 and persecution of Christians under the guise of action against religious conversions should be the issues of serious concern for the world,” said Bishop Marshall.
Several human rights groups have earlier raised alarms on India’s “rapid decline in human rights religious freedom.”
Matias Perttula, director of advocacy at International Christian Concern, welcomed the statement of Bishop Marshall, saying that “more must be done by the international community to keep India in check.”
Last month, a fact-finding report said Christians in India were the targets of 305 violent incidents in the past nine months.
The report, produced by three civil rights groups, concluded that Christians faced persecution in 21 of the country’s 28 states.
The fact-finding report was published by United Against Hate, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, and the United Christian Forum.
A.C. Michael, national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, said: “This indicates that organized violence against Christians is spreading across the country.”
The report found that the violence peaked in September when there were 69 violent incidents, compared to 50, the next highest figure, in August.
India, the world’s second-most populous country after China, is ranked 10th on the World Watch List for the persecution of Christians compiled by the advocacy group Open Doors.
According to a 2011 census, 79.8% of India’s 1.38 billion population is Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, and 2.3% Christian.
