The Anglican Church of South India Diocese of Madras has held a “Condemnation Protest Demonstration” against religious discrimination in the country.
Anti-Christian action in India often takes the form of social ostracism, mob violence, harassment and intimidation, usually by Hindu nationalists.
Christmas in India was marked with a whole range of incidents, ranging from Christmas hat sellers being harassed to Christmas events being violently attacked.
In their protest the Church of South India (CSI) denounced such acts, saying they “not only threaten the freedom of faith communities but also undermine the constitutional values of equality, fraternity and justice”.
Speaking at the protest was the General Secretary of the CSI, Adv. C. Fernandas Rathina Raja, who emphasised “India’s pluralistic ethos” and called for all religious communities in India to respect each other’s religious festivals and expressions of faith.
Although organised by Anglicans in the region, representatives from Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Lutheran traditions were also present at the protest.
According to Open Doors, which has just released its annual watch list of anti-Christian persecutors, India has fallen one place to 12th worst persecutor in the world and the organisation says that “the gravity of persecution remains much the same” in the country.
As well as violence and intimidation from Hindu nationalist mobs, who often face little or no sanction, Christians also have to contend with so-called “anti-conversion” laws, active in many Indian states.
Theoretically such laws are to protect people from being converted by force, coercion or bribery. In practice such laws are used to target Christians and other minorities and to prevent people leaving Hinduism. No one has ever been punished or sanctioned for converting someone towards Hinduism.
According to Open Doors, the state of Chhattisgarh has banned the existence of house churches in order to maintain “cultural harmony”.
