Acts of persecution are on the rise in India, as evidenced by several acts of violence and exclusion carried out against the Christian community.
According to Open Doors USA, ADF India said that six acts of violence against Christians took place in April, even as the nation was locked down due to COVID-19.
According to CBN News, several of the incidents involved Christians being forced to attend village meetings where they declined to take part in Hindu rituals. They said that they would not take part because it would violate their conscience. As word of their non-participation spread, large mobs attacked them.
ADF India also reported that there were three incidents in which Christians were not allowed to bury deceased relatives in the village cemetery. They were told that since they did not participate in the village rituals, they would have to pay restitution and a fine before they could bury their dead.
ADF India took the case to police. The police protected the funerals from attacks and in a couple of cases provided the land for the burial. Christian leaders reported that they plan to petition the government for protection from these acts of “social exclusion and physical violence.”
India’s current government came to power in 2014 and attacks from Hindu radicals against Christians have increased significantly since then. Open Doors USA has India ranked 10th on their World Watch List which ranks countries by how dangerous they are for Christians to live in.
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Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/FilmColoratStudio
Scott Slayton writes at “One Degree to Another.”
