|PIC1|India began its month long election process last week. All over the subcontinent, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and others will be going to the polls to decide who should sit in the country’s parliament.

The main focus of the election will undoubtedly be on the two main coalitions led by the Indian National Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), although this year regional parties making up the "Third Front" are expected to play a crucial role as neither of the big hitters are thought capable of gaining an absolute majority.

Also in the limelight will be Rahul Gandhi, who many see as a Prime Minister in waiting. He is the fourth in the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has ruled India for most of its 62 years since gaining independence in 1947.

For many years he appeared to stay away from politics. Now, however, he has taken to the streets and is trying to shore up support for the Indian National Congress Party.

On the other side of the political fence is Rahul’s cousin, Varun Gandhi who has been supporting the BJP since 2004.

Varun was recently released on bail from prison after being accused of inciting religious tensions. He is accused of saying he would “cut off the hands” of anyone who dared to harm the country’s Hindu majority.

Other members of the BJP, which promotes a Hindu nationalist ideology, have been arrested for similar comments. Ashok Sahu, a BJP candidate in Orissa, was arrested earlier this week for making a hate speech against Christians, in which he blamed them for last year’s murder of Hindu radical Swami Lakshmanananda.

The murder sparked anti-Christian pogroms which killed dozens of Christians and left thousands more homeless. Sahu claimed that the riots were justified because of last year’s murder, despite the fact the Maoist rebels claimed responsibility for killing Lakshmanananda.

The source of this hatred towards Christians comes from a misguided sense of what it means to be an Indian. Organisations such as the BJP follow the concept of Hindutva, in which the idea that one can be an Indian but not a Hindu is considered unthinkable.

This ideology has extremely dangerous implications for minorities in India such as Christians and Muslims. The only ideology similar to this in style in the Western world would be that of groups like the British National Party, or taken to its most extreme level, Nazi Germany.

In early 20th century Europe, many welcomed the rise of nationalist ideoligies such as Nazism in Germany and Fascism in Italy. It was seen as a way to rebuild countries whose confidence and power had been shattered, and as protection from the forces of Communism.

That initial optimism was swiftly destroyed when it led to the most destructive war and the most horrible genocide the world has ever seen. It would be terrible if India, a country of such great potential, fails to learn the lessons of history and makes the same mistakes as Europe.

While a BJP victory is highly unlikely to mean Christians and other minorities will face the extreme persecution that the Jews faced in Nazi Germany, one can guess that authorities will turn a blind eye to anti-Christian persecution, and may even give a helping or protecting hand to those that perpetrate it.

Even under the more moderate and secular Congress party, the national and state governments are often unable to grant protection to Christians from violent mobs.

A resurgent BJP could also spell trouble with India's neighbours. Pakistan increasingly seems to be falling to pieces in the face of Islamic terrorism, which as Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali pointed out is a concern not just for South Asia but for the whole world.

An increasingly nationalistic India could end up weakening Pakistan even more and give even more strength to Islamic extremism there.

It is a tragedy that the country of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi - who promoted peace and tolerance of all religions while leading the struggle for independence - is also sometimes home to such virulent intolerance and religious extremism. It was of course one such Hindu extremist who killed Gandhi shortly after independence.

Gandhi’s vision was to establish political freedom for all Indians but further than that he wanted to give them moral, social and spiritual freedom.

While he was successful in the first aim, the others have yet to materialise. Despite India's strong economic growth, in which an increasing number of Indian's are finding great prosperity, the recent film Slumdog Millionaire helped shine a light on some of the extreme poverty still facing many Indians every day.

HIV and Aids is also becoming an increasing problem in India, often as a result of prostitution. The problems of sin, inherent in every country in this fallen world, have not gone away.

Neither Congress, the BJP, nor any other party can solve these problems. Human beings have tried for centuries to perfect society with politics but still have come nowhere near eliminating human unhappiness.

The only way for this objective to be achieved is for every person to come into a perfect relationship with a loving God. When people truly know the love of God for themselves and for all people then the world can change.

When this happens, India will have become a country greater than even “Mahatma” Gandhi could dream of. Here's hoping these and future elections will help foster an environment in which Christianity can flourish.