India sees 500% rise in anti-Christian attacks since 2014, per UCF data; 4,959 incidents documented amid BJP rule, anti-conversion laws.
Newsroom (07/11/2025, Gaudium Press ) Christian leaders in India sounded the alarm Thursday over explosive new data revealing a more than 500 percent increase in anti-Christian violence over the past ten years, attributing the surge to political hatred and anti-conversion laws.
“Between 2014 and 2024, incidents of violence against Christians rose sharply—from 139 to 834—a staggering 500 percent increase,” A.C. Michael, national convenor of the United Christian Forum (UCF), told UCA News on Nov. 7.
The UCF, a New Delhi-based inter-denominational organization, documented 4,959 incidents over the decade targeting individuals, families, communities, and institutions nationwide, Michael said during a Nov. 4 press conference in the capital.
From January to September 2024 alone, 579 incidents were reported across India, yet only 39 led to police cases—leaving a 93 percent justice gap, according to Michael.
He blamed the escalation on anti-Christian propaganda, fabricated allegations of forced religious conversions, and politically motivated animosity. Christian leaders link the violence spike directly to the 2014 rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Twelve of India’s 28 states, most under BJP governance, have passed anti-conversion laws that critics argue enable harassment of Christians through bogus police complaints.
In response, Christian groups announced a nationwide protest march in New Delhi on Nov. 29 to highlight ongoing persecution, the exclusion of Dalit Christians from government welfare schemes, and mounting threats to tribal Christians’ rights.
Participants will converge from across the country, particularly from five states accounting for nearly 77 percent of cases: Uttar Pradesh (1,317 incidents), Chhattisgarh (926), Tamil Nadu (322), Karnataka (321), and Madhya Pradesh (319).
UCF president Michael Williams described conversion accusations as “consistently used as a political weapon before every election by the current government.” He noted that socially and economically vulnerable Dalit and tribal Christians are prime targets, with at least 22 Dalits and 15 tribal Christians attacked in 2024 so far.
Rights advocate Tehmina Arora highlighted tribal Christians’ plight, including coercion, social boycotts, violence, denial of burial rights, housing, and basic dignity. “They are also pressured to reconvert to Hinduism—the real form of forceful conversion,” she said.
Fellow activist Minakshi Singh deemed the violence rise “deeply alarming” and pressed the government for immediate action.
The UCF demanded mandatory police registration of complaints, fast-track courts, and state-level monitoring committees to protect minority rights.
Christians comprise 2.3 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population, per the 2011 census.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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