India is around 80% Hindu. 14.23% of the population is Muslim, and 2.3% are Christian. Many Hindus regard Christianity as a foreign faith, although it was brought to India by the Holy Apostle Saint Thomas.
“Rising arrests and attacks on Christians in India,” by Kelly Valencia, Premier Christian News, August 26 2024:
Hostility towards Christians in India is escalating, according to Release International. Over the past four years, nearly 1,700 individuals have been arrested under anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh alone, according to the Times of India. This state has registered 835 cases primarily targeting Christians and is now pushing to tighten these laws further. A new bill proposes increasing the maximum penalty for fraudulent or forced conversions to 20 years, with the possibility of life imprisonment. The rise in anti-conversion laws reflects a broader trend of growing Hindu religious nationalism. Since the election of the nationalist BJP government in 2014, intolerance towards Christians has surged. The BJP’s re-election in June has emboldened Hindu militants, and states governed by the BJP are at the forefront of enforcing anti-conversion laws. The Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported a record 601 cases of persecution against Christians in 2023, marking a 45 per cent increase. The United Christian Forum (UCF) documented 361 attacks against Christians in the first half of 2024. These laws, which disproportionately target Christians, are part of a broader Hindutva nationalist agenda aimed at maintaining India as a Hindu nation….
