03/24/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – The number of attacks on Christians and their places of worship in India continued to rise in 2019. This is according to a new report released by the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI).

According to EFI, Indian Christians endured at least 366 violent incidents of persecution in 2019. These incidents included reports of physical violence, threats, harassment, and the disruption of church services by radical Hindu nationalists or police.

“Disruption of prayer meetings and Sunday worship is not a trend across many states,” EFI reported. “Many Christians have been falsely accused and detained on charges of forced conversion.”

The 366 violent incidents recorded by EFI in 2019 documents a continued increase on the 325 incidents EFI documented in 2018. Many blame the current BJP-led government and its ideological commitment to Hindu nationalism as the reason for rising levels of religious intolerance and persecution.

BJP and other Hindu nationalist leaders often use religiously divisive rhetoric for political gain. This rhetoric incites anti-minority violence perpetrated by existing radical Hindu nationalist groups across India. When police fail to bring these perpetrators to justice, it completes the escalating cycle of violence and impunity that has continued since the BJP took power in 2014.

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