ICC Note: An open letter by the Archbishop of New Delhi, calling for a year of prayer before the 2019 general elections in India, has been misconstrued as an attack on Indian democracy by the country’s Hindu nationalists. In that letter, the Archbishop said, “We are witnessing a turbulent political atmosphere which poses a threat to the democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution and the secular fabric of our nation.” While not speaking specifically about the BJP-led government, BJP leaders and other Hindu nationalist supports have spoken out against both Christianity and the Archbishop.

06/15/2018 India (National Catholic Reporter) – A six-paragraph letter by the Archbishop of New Delhi is being called a church-led attack on Indian democracy. Archbishop Anil Couto published the letter in May to parish priests calling for a year of prayer before the 2019 general elections in India, which has long struggled with protecting religious minorities.

“We are witnessing a turbulent political atmosphere which poses a threat to the democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution and the secular fabric of our nation,” Couto wrote before asking for a weekly fast and prayers for the nation on Fridays.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, and Hindu nationalists responded to Couto’s letter saying it was an attempt by the Christian church to divide the country, although the letter did not mention any political party or politician. Couto also clarified that his words were not directed at the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the call for prayer was not a call for elections.

Subramanian Swamy, a member of Parliament, went as far as to say the Indian government should stop any relationship with the Vatican. Alok Kumar, working president of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad organization, said the letter is “a direct attack by the Church on India’s secularism and democracy.”

Experts in and out of the country emphasized how innocuous Couto’s letter is and how a similar call to prayer would not receive such an emphatic negative response in other nations. However, the reaction is part of the ongoing struggle of religious minorities in India, who are often viewed as a threat.

Nearly 80 percent of the 1.3 billion citizens is Hindu, while Muslims make up nearly 15 percent and Christians just more than two percent, according to India’s 2011 census. Open Doors, a Christian-based organization that specializes in working in oppressive countries, ranks India as the 11th worst nation in the world for religious persecution. Attacks on Christians doubled in 2017 and violence against all religious minorities is increasing in recent years. There are cases of attacks on Christian choirs and lynchings of Muslim cattle traders.

Human Rights Watch reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party government rarely acts to stop or investigate violence against religious minorities. Some leaders even publicly promote the idea of Hindu supremacy, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

“With the BJP now in office, many supporters of this ideology feel empowered, which has led to mob violence,” Ganguly said. “The vigilante groups are banking on political patronage to protect them from accountability. And in a number of cases, we have seen that alleged perpetrators are yet to be held to account.”

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