A ministry working with the persecuted church called on Christians around the world to pray for fellow believers in India as parliamentary elections got underway on Thursday.

The election is the largest in the democratic world and will span four weeks. The main focus will be on the battle between the more secular Congress Party, which was instrumental in winning independence from the British Empire and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is an extreme Hindu nationalist party.

Some BJP politicians, such as Varun Gandhi, have been arrested for inciting hatred against minorities, such as Christians. Religious minorities are fearful that political parties will intimidate and coerce them into voting for candidates they do not want to support or force them to stay home.

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) estimates that as many as 70,000 Christians, who would normally vote for opposition political candidates, may be affected by Hindu extremist political parties in a way that would allow them to go unchallenged.

In response to the threat of unfair elections, Christian leaders across India have called on all political parties to guarantee safety for religious minorities, ensure their participation in the elections, defend freedom of religion and bring to justice those who discriminate against Christian minorities.

“India is a democracy, but unfortunately in practice the law is being restricted in its application in favour of the Hindu majority – 80 per cent of the population – and to the disadvantage of minorities such as Christians and Muslims,” said Abhishek Singh, director of Open Doors in India.

Singh described the violence against Christians as “quite great” and noted that not a day passes without there being two or three attacks against Christians somewhere in India. The police, he said, are under the influence of Hindus so in many cases they do not act to protect religious minorities, and when they do act, it is with leniency towards Hindus.

“The violence against Christians is not the random work of a few break-away gangs,” Singh said. “There is a close-knit network of Hindu fundamentalist organisations. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is nothing other than the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the umbrella organisation which promotes the ideal of a national state for Hindus.”

Christians in India are particularly afraid during this year’s elections because of the extraordinary violence against believers over the past nine months. Following the death of a Hindu fundamentalist leader, mobs of extremists have brutally attacked Christians in the eastern state of Orissa and elsewhere in India.

At least 60 Christians have been killed – although some Indian leaders say hundreds have died - and some 18,000 have been wounded. More than 250 churches have been razed or destroyed, 5,031 Christian have been homes burned down, and more than 50,000 Christians have been displaced in Orissa alone since August.

Hindu extremists accuse Christians of being behind the murder of their leader, even though Maoist rebels have publicly stated that they are the perpetrators of the assassination. Hindu assailants also justify their attacks by accusing Christian missionaries of using bribery or coercion to convert poor Indians, mostly the lower-caste Dalits, to Christianity.

“Unfortunately, 2008 saw the worst kind of regression in our society as the church in India experienced a wave of violence and persecution unprecedented since the origin of Christianity in India 2,000 years ago,” said Dr Sajan K George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians.

Earlier this year, Indian Christians called on election authorities to postpone the elections, as many Christians may not be able to vote without facing violence and intimidation. This is especially the case in Orissa, where thousands of Christians are currently living in relief camps following anti-Christian violence last year.

Dave Stravers of Mission India, said, "We need to pray that the people who do vote will also value the freedom of religion that is enshrined in the Constitution of India. Also pray that voters will call their leaders to account to enforce laws that protect people who convert from one religion to another."

The government has taken steps to ensure the safety of voters. Over two million security personnel are to be rotated around the country for the five phases of voting, which will come to an end on 13 May.

Stravers added, “Pray that there will be a peaceful election and that whatever political environment emerges from these elections will be friendly to the Gospel. People in India are very responsive to the Gospel; the church is growing fast."

Open Doors, which works with partner organisations in India to help the displaced Christians with basic food supplies and medicines, listed India at No 22 this year on its World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most severe persecution. India jumped eight spots since last year when it was listed at No 30.

Christians are asked to pray for:

• officials in the government ignoring persecution of Christians will be replaced by officials who support and protect religious freedom
• the freedom and liberty of the church and missionaries in India to share the Gospel and disciple believers
• God would move in the culture to remove the caste system and create equal opportunities and rights for all people

On the Web: www.opendoorsusa.org