ICC Note: A BJP Member of Parliament from Mumbai recently claimed that Christians did not contribute to the country’s freedom struggle. In this hate speech, the MP went on to call Christians ‘foreigners’. Hate speech against Christians in India is commonly used by the ruling BJP as a means to excite their Hindu nationalist voting base. An unfortunate result of this hate speech has been increased intolerance of Christians and other religious minorities.

07/06/2018 India (Economic Times) – A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty kicked up a row when he said that Christians did not contribute to the freedom struggle.

He also called them ‘angrez’ (foreigners).

The BJP MP also claimed that it was only the Hindus and the Muslims who played a role in India’s freedom struggle.

“Christians were British, hence they didn’t participate in India’s freedom struggle. India was not freed by Hindus or Muslims, we fought as one for our independence,” he can be heard as saying in the video.

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