By Rita Joseph
A report recorded a 500 per cent increase in hate crimes against Christians in India, amounting to 4,959 incidents recorded in the past decade.
“Enough is enough. We are not going to take this lightly,” said Michael Williams, president of the United Christian Forum (UCF), an ecumenical watchdog monitoring persecution, as he announced the findings on 4 November.
“We will hold a national Christian convention on 29 November in New Delhi to draw the government’s attention to the growing concerns of the community.”
The convention, with the theme “Towards a self-reliant, progressive, and united India”, will bring together a coalition including parliamentarians, ministers, heads of churches, civil society leaders and inter-religious representatives.
It will address three key problems: escalating violence against individuals and institutions of the Christian community, the exclusion of an estimated 8-10 million Dalit Christians from Scheduled Caste benefits, and threats to tribal rights including potential delisting from Scheduled Tribe status.
Williams said the convention is structured around four pillars: the promise, the problem, the price and the pathway.
The promise is the convention’s commitment to honour the constitutional vision for Christians and safeguard constitutional guarantees.
The second is the problem: a litany of over 4,959 incidents recorded over 12 years representing systematic targeting of vulnerable groups including Dalits, women and tribal Christians. Violence against Christians surged from 139 cases in 2014 – when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – to 834 in 2024, representing an average annual increase of 69.5 incidents.
Just five states accounted for 76.9 per cent of all documented incidents incidents in that time: Uttar Pradesh with 1,317 incidents, Chhattisgarh with 926, Tamil Nadu with 322, Karnataka with 321 and Madhya Pradesh with 319.
Between 2016 and 2020, over 21 Christians lost their lives, including a pastor who was “intentionally electrocuted” in Rajasthan, according to a statement by the organisers of the National Convention.
Though 579 incidents were recorded between January to September 2025, only 39 police cases were registered – a “justice gap” of 93 per cent, the UCF statement said.
“We will seek mandatory police case registration for all reported incidents, establishment of fast-track courts for religious violence cases, and creation of state-level monitoring committees among other demands,” said Williams.
Dalit Christians suffer the worst discrimination. An estimated 8-10 million Dalit Christians are excluded from benefits like reservations in government jobs extended to Schedule Castes. A further 5 million tribal Christians face threats to their Schedule Tribe status and cultural identity.
This story was originally published in thetablet.co.uk. Read the full story here.