By Alishan Jafri
New Delhi: On November 4, Christian rights activists assembled at the Press Club of India to release a report about an alarming and sustained annual surge in incidents of violence against the religious minority in India. A statement released at the press conference alleged that there’s been a 500% rise in the number of hate crimes targeting Christians since 2014.
“Between 2014 and 2024,” the statement notes, “incidents of violence against Christians increased from 139 to 834 incidents – a 500% surge over just ten years. The total number of documented incidents across this 12-year period reached 4,959 cases, affecting Christian individuals, families, and institutions nationwide. This represents an average annual increase of 69.5 incidents, demonstrating not episodic violence but sustained, systematic escalation.”
Speaking at the conference, Sister Minakshi cited multiple instances of attacks against Christian by Hindutva groups. “There is an organised effort,” she said, “to divide people on the basis of religion.” Rights activist Michael Williams said that the bogey of conversion is routinely “weaponised before every election by the present government”.
Advocate Tehmina Arora spoke about the abuse against tribal Christians who she alleged are being subjected to gruesome atrocities and exclusion for adopting the Christian faith.
“There are about seven million tribal Christians across India. These people live in some of the most remote locations of the country and are extremely vulnerable, which is why they are classified as Scheduled Tribes,” she said.
Citing examples from Chhattisgarh, Arora alleged that there is a systematic attempt to persecute Christians who belong to tribal communities.
“In January 2025, a woman named Kanika Kashyap from Bastar was brutally assaulted because she had converted. She was pregnant at the time and suffered a miscarriage. She filed a police complaint, but the police did nothing. Then, in Jamshedpur in July 2025, some people were attacked in their own home during a small gathering. Someone overheard that a “conversion” was happening there and alerted others. A mob assembled and attacked them. Later, the police investigated and found it was just a dinner, not a conversion meeting,” she said.
Arora added that even ordinary things – taking a train, having dinner or being a nun – can lead to accusations of conversion. “That’s why we haven’t even arranged tea here today – lest anyone think we are trying to convert them!”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.