By INDIAN AWAAZ
Staff Reporter
The number of communal riots in India declined sharply in 2025, falling by more than half compared to the previous year, according to monitoring data released by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS). The report recorded 28 communal riot incidents in 2025, down from 59 in 2024, marking a decline of around 52 per cent.
However, the report cautioned that the reduction in large-scale communal violence has not translated into a broader easing of identity-based tensions. While the frequency of riots dropped, incidents of mob lynching showed a marginal increase. In 2025, 14 cases of mob lynching were reported across the country, resulting in eight deaths.
CSSS noted that communal conflict in India appears to be taking new and less visible forms. Instead of street-level violence alone, the report highlighted a rise in institutionalised discrimination, particularly targeting Muslim and Christian communities. It pointed to the increasing prevalence of hate speech, alongside what it described as the forced invisibilisation and marginalisation of Muslim and Christian cultures from public spaces.
Recent attacks on Christmas celebrations in multiple regions of India, reportedly perpetrated by Hindu right-wing groups, as well as sustained campaigns targeting Muslim rulers of the yore and places of worship of minorities, serves as an indicator of communal hostility. Together, these developments underscore a shift from episodic communal riots toward more systemic and normalized forms of communal exclusion and violence.
The year 2025 witnessed a significant escalation in incidents of violence targeting Christian communities across various regions of India. According to data compiled by the United Christian Forum (UCF), a total of 706 incidents of violence against Christians were recorded nationwide as of November 2025. A majority of these attacks were carried out under the pretext of preventing religious conversions, reflecting the growing instrumentalisation of anti-conversion narratives to legitimise coercive and violent actions.
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