Pastor Shot Dead in Gujranwala, Pakistan
December 8, 2025 ICC News — A wave of sadness and fear has spread through Pakistan’s Christian community after Pastor Kamran Salamat, 45, was shot and killed in a targeted attack on Dec. 5 outside his...
South Asia
From angry mobs livestreaming their attacks on Christians to laws changing the definition of national citizenship, the many manifestations of religious nationalism in South Asia are working to pressure and eliminate Christianity’s influence throughout the region.
Under growing religious nationalism and Islamic extremism, Christians increasingly face discrimination and violence. Strict blasphemy laws in Pakistan and some Indian states are weaponized against Christians, leading to violence and imprisonment. In South Asian countries, Christian women and girls are vulnerable to forced conversions and marriages. Law enforcement often neglects to protect Christians, emboldening extremist groups. ICC’s 2025 Global Persecution Index featured Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.
Despite all of this, Christians in South Asia continue to proclaim the gospel of Christ, even to their persecutors. See regional updates and projects below.
Our Efforts
ICC’s assistance team is active in South Asia on several fronts.
Emergency Relief
Our Emergency Relief Program supplies immediate aid to Christians who have suffered violence and persecution. Relief packages cover medical expenses, groceries, child support, and living expenses for up to three months.
Persecution Readiness Training in India (Gospel)
Amid rising persecution and tightening anti-conversion laws, front line Christian workers urgently need practical tools to stand firm in their calling and respond wisely to hostility. We prepare pastors on how to respond well when they face persecution.
Hope House in India (Education)
Across rural India, many Christian children face systemic educational barriers, poverty, and marginalization. Our Hope Houses break these cycles by creating safe spaces where children can thrive.
Empowering Young Christian Entrepreneurs in Pakistan (Community Development)
The incubator is a nonprofit initiative to help young Christians build business ideas into real-world startups. Through the incubator, students develop entrepreneurial skills and grow their ideas under experienced mentors.
Vocational Training for Marginalized Christians in Pakistan (Community Development)
The Vocational Training Center that ICC partners with provides free, comprehensive training in high-demand fields, empowering students to secure better-paying jobs and creating stronger families and communities.
Read more inspiring testimonies of faith
News in South Asia
India’s Supreme Court Upholds Christian Army Officer’s Dismissal
December 2, 2025 ICC News — The Supreme Court of India on Nov. 25 called a Christian Indian Army officer a “misfit for the Indian Army” while declining to interfere with a regional court order upholding the termination of his services from the defense forces. The Christian officer, Lt. Samuel Kamalesan, had allegedly refused to...
Two Indian Missionaries Cited Under Anti-Conversion Law
November 24, 2025 ICC News — Police in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan recently registered the first case under the state’s recently enacted anti-conversion legislation against two missionaries. The Christians were accused of carrying out...
Priest Rescues Christian Slaves in Pakistan
November 21, 2025 ICC News — Three Christian families in Pakistan have been freed from modern-day slavery, thanks to one Argentine missionary priest and a young layman who paid for their release. Father Rico, a priest...
Christian Advocates Call for National Convention as Persecution in India Increases
November 18, 2025 ICC News — Due to a sharp increase in violence against Christians in India, several advocacy organizations have called for a national convention of Christians this month to raise concerns about Christian persecution...
Punjab Organization Pushes for Anti-Conversion Law Citing Growing Christian Population
November 18, 2025 ICC News — The Punjab Bachao Andolan on Nov. 12 announced plans to pursue legal measures against large-scale “illegal” conversions using “miracle cures” being done by Christian missionaries in the northern state of...
Cathedral, Catholic School Bombed in Bangladesh
November 14, 2025 ICC News — On Nov. 7, a Catholic cathedral and school in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were bombed hours before a worship event that drew bishops from across the country. A suspect on a motorbike...
India’s Supreme Court Seeks Rajasthan Response on Challenge to Anti-Conversion Law
November 10, 2025 ICC News — India's Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Rajasthan government over a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the state's new anti-conversion law, which critics say violates fundamental rights...
Christians in Chhattisgarh District Organize Protest
November 4, 2025 ICC News — The Christian Community in the district of Kanker in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has planned to organize a public rally in protest of the ongoing discrimination against Christians...
Progress Without Freedom: How Global Development Has Failed to Protect Persecuted Christians
November 4, 2025 — By Lisa Navarrette, ICC Fellow During the past 20 years, the global development agenda has achieved remarkable progress. Tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of people have been lifted out of extreme poverty....
From Hopeless to Hopeful
October 30, 2025 ICC News — For a while, 9-year-old Badal had little interest in going to school. Coming from an economically challenged and socially discriminated community in India, Badal had lost hope of ever improving...
Christian Missionaries Attacked in Jammu, India
October 27, 2025 ICC News — Eight police officers in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state were suspended for their failure to stop an attack on Christian missionaries by Hindu nationalists on Oct. 23. A group of...
A Way Out of Poverty for the Persecuted
October 22, 2025 ICC News, Project Highlight — Growing up as a Christian in India, Sunil witnessed his parents struggle endlessly to provide for their family. Despite his parents’ tireless work as unskilled laborers, Sunil had no...
Punjab Moves to Ban TLP as Years of Religious Violence Reach Breaking Point
October 21, 2025 ICC News — The Punjab government is moving to ban Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, or TLP, a far-right religious party that follows the Barelvi school of Sunni Islam. Formed in 2015 by Khadim Hussain Rizvi...
India’s Supreme Court Rejects Religious Conversion Case
October 20, 2025 ICC News — The Supreme Court of India on Oct. 17, rejected a prominent religious conversion case against officials of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), a noted agricultural university...
Anti-Conversion Law Puts Spotlight on ‘Healing Crusades’
October 17, 2025 ICC News — The government of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has prepared a new draft anti-conversion law containing stringent provisions, claiming that it is imperative to maintain religious stability in the...
Pakistani Pastor Dies Days After Acquittal in Blasphemy Case
October 15, 2025 ICC News — After spending 13 years behind bars for a crime he had always denied, Pastor Zafar Bhatti finally walked free, only to die three days later. His death has cast a...
Religious Freedom Advocates Challenge Revival of Dormant Anti-Conversion Law in India
October 14, 2025 ICC News — The All-India Catholic Union (AICU) wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, expressing its objection to the revival of the dormant 1978 anti-conversion law known as the Arunachal...
Taliban Enjoys Growing International Acceptance Despite Ongoing Persecution
October 10, 2025 ICC News — Afghanistan (International Christian Concern) — On Sept. 30, the last day of the U.N. General Assembly’s High-Level Week, the U.N. Security Council temporarily lifted a travel ban on Taliban Foreign...
22 Hindu Villages Decide to Strip Christians of Basic Rights
October 8, 2025 ICC News — India (International Christian Concern) — More than 400 people from 22 villages in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, India, gathered on Oct. 5, deciding to strip Christians of their burial...
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47+
Countries we serve in
2MILLION
Christians served in 2024
890K+
Victims assisted with long-term care
260K+
Christians provided Assistance, Advocacy, and Awareness