Seeking signatures from Christian clergy and lay leadership. The cut-off date for signing is May 17, 2024.
Open letter advocating for India’s persecuted religious minorities
The Honorable Mr. Secretary Antony Blinken,
We write as laity leaders and clergy representing a diversity of Christian traditions and offering our unwavering solidarity with a January 2024 petition signed by more than 3,000 ecumenical Christian leaders in the Republic of India who are speaking out against the rapidly escalating state-sanctioned violations of human rights directed at religious minorities, including Christians, Muslims, Dalits and indigenous tribal peoples.
Our conviction in the inherent dignity and freedom of every individual is grounded in the belief that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). All people are entitled to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, as enshrined in Article 18 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Faith-based and civil society background
Before the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came into power, there were significant but sporadic incidents of persecution targeting Indian Christians and other religious minorities. The situation has radically changed for the worse.
The ecumenical Delhi-based United Christian Forum reports 720 attacks in 2023 against Christians, a stark increase from 127 in 2014 when Modi first came to power. The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations, in 2022, documents 1,198 attacks, up from 761 in 2021. International Christian Concern ranks India as the 3rd of ten “persecutors of the year.” Open Doors USA ranks India in the top 11 “most dangerous countries in the world in which to be a Christian” a persecution level categorized as “extreme,” alongside Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan — and worse than Saudi Arabia or China.
This surge in violence is propelled by a Hindu ethno-nationalist or Hindutva supremacist political ideology, which conflates a militant Hindu ideology with Indian citizen identities. As a result, both the Hindu religion and India's Constitutional secular democracy have been severely distorted, leading to alarming levels of state-sanctioned violence against Christians, lower-caste Dalits, and other religious minorities both on the streets and within state structures.
The New York Times, in December 2021, reported: “Anti-Christian vigilantes are sweeping through villages, storming churches, burning Christian literature, attacking schools, and assaulting worshipers. In many cases, the police and members of India’s governing party are helping them. In church after church, the very act of worship has become dangerous.”
Two years after that report, we are witnessing a massive increase in attacks. Two recent major attacks vividly illustrate the rapid descent into widespread violence.
In the Indian state of Manipur, from May 2023 to date, over 65,000 people, predominantly Christians, have been violently displaced while over 400 churches have been bulldozed or set on fire with the sanction of the Indian state. In the state of Chhattisgarh, between December 2022 and February 2023, over 2,500 Christians were forcibly displaced as mobs attacked, looted, and destroyed homes because they refused to convert to Hinduism. Local village councils even prohibit Christians from practicing their faith in their own homes.
Since January 2024, the United Christian Forum has documented over 150 attacks on Christians and warns of an escalation of the erosion of basic civil rights including denial of access to water, prohibition of Christian burial rites, and mass allegations of “forced conversions” targeting those who simply pray in their homes or churches.
At least ten of 28 Indian states enforce "anti-conversion" laws criminalizing religious conversion. Thousands of Christians have been arrested under these laws. Many remain incarcerated without trial. The ecumenical Evangelical Fellowship of India reports that at least 648 Christians were arrested under these laws, with 440 arrests occurring in a single state alone. The BJP frequently suggests passing a national anti-conversion law.
Conclusion
Violence against Indian Christians is the result of Hindutva nationalist government policies which use religion and majoritarianism to reinforce a Jim Crow style caste system to exploit millions of people and their labor to generate wealth for a few. As Christians do not practice caste and practice a minority religion, they are considered a national threat.
As a result, the Indian government has cut off funding to hundreds of Christian schools and hospitals which have educated and cared for all people regardless of caste or religion. International support is severed by draconian application of India's Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, impacting thousands of internationally respected organizations such as Amnesty International, Compassion International, World Vision, and Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. This leaves Indian Christians isolated, fearful, and precarious.
Call to action
Considering this distressing situation, we request the U.S. Department of State to:
Adopt the repeated recommendation of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern.
Hold the Indian government accountable for advancing equal human rights for all religious communities.
Consider targeted sanctions on Indian government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom and human rights.
Support independent religious organizations and human rights groups in India and US who are targeted for their advocacy of religious freedom and human rights.
Yours sincerely,
The following Christian leaders signing:
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For further information contact:
The Rev. Neal Christie, Executive Director, Federation for Indian American Christians of North America, NealChristie@fiacona.org/www.fiacona.org.
Mr. Pieter Friedrich, Journalist, pieterjfriedrich@gmail.com
The Rev. Peter Cook, Executive Director, New York State Council of Churches, Pcook@nyscoc.org
