Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Official Claims Indian Christians are Part of American Conspiracy

3/2/2016 Washington D.C., (International Christian Concern) – Following the delivery of a bicameral, bipartisan letter from the U.S. Congress criticizing India’s lack of protection of religious freedom, radical Hindu leaders have intensified their rhetoric against religious minorities. This letter followed extensive efforts by International Christian Concern (ICC).

Bastar District’s President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Suresh Yadav, publically accused Christian missionaries in the Indian newspaper Patrika, of “converting Adivasi (Tribal) at the behest of America. The American senator’s letter to Prime Minister Modi regarding Bastar religious matters have further confirmed their intentions.” Since sedition is punishable by death in India, these baseless statements are at least, careless, and at worst inciting more attacks against Christians.

While the Congressional letter condemned attacks on all of India’s religious minority communities, it specifically expressed concern over the treatment of Christians in the Bastar District of India’s Chhattisgarh State.

“On June 17, 2014, more than 50 village councils in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh adopted a resolution banning all ‘non-Hindu religious propaganda, prayers, and speeches’ in their communities. The Christian minority community has been dramatically affected: the ban effectively has criminalized the practice of Christianity for an estimated 300 Christian families in the region one day after a mob, which included members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, seriously injured six Christians in the village of Sirciguda. Since the ban was implemented, Christians in Bastar district reportedly have been subjected to physical assaults, denial of government services, extortion, threats of forced expulsion, denial of access to food and water, and pressure to convert to Hinduism,” the letter read.

While India’s Ministry of External Affairs has continued to say that these incidents of religious persecution are “aberrations,” the comments of this VHP leader are further evidence of the hostility that Christians and other religious minorities face in the Bastar District and throughout India.

In just the first six weeks of 2016, ICC has documented 26 incidents of Christian persecution in India, ranging from assaults to false imprisonments. These incidents include an assault on a Catholic priest and three church officials in Tamil Nadu and an attack on a Christian prayer meeting in Telangana in which the Christian victims were hospitalized due to the severe injuries they received at the hands of Hindu radicals.

Nate Lance, ICC’s Advocacy Manager, stated, “These baseless accusations are indicative of the persecution that Christians and other minorities face in India, and further evidence of the need for Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government to take action to uphold the rule of law. Words have consequences, and the VHP and those who are aligned with them ideologically, need to be held accountable for their words. If India’s Ministry of External Affairs, (Vikas Swarup) calls 26 attacks against Christians in six weeks an aberration, we would suggest this rhetoric to be ignorant of the facts on the ground or turning a blind eye to the suffering of religious minorities. This creates an environment where impunity reigns and religious minorities suffer egregiously.”

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