Members of the Christian community, on Sunday February 19, held a national level protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, raising slogans and placards against targeted hatred and violence against Christians and Christian institutions in certain states of India.
More than 15,000 people from different major Christian churches and organizations participated in the protest. The president of the United Christian Forum Dr Michael William, Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad were among several other prominent Christian leaders who participated in the protest.
National Newspapers reported that the protest is staged in the national capital to draw the attention of government, Judiciary, and civil society to the “rising incidents of crime against the community.”
The protesters expressed serious concern over attack on persons, churches and institutions and registration of malicious FIRs against Christians along with illegal detentions and non-registration of FIRs despite complaints filed by victims.
"We are facing false accusations of forcibly converting people to Christianity. This has resulted in a series of violent attacks on churches and physical assaults, as well as the arrest of group members. As a result, there is a prevailing sense of fear and insecurity among the community," Steven from Uttar Pradesh said.
He claimed that the country saw "525 cases of atrocities against the members of the community in 2021 and 600 cases in 2022".
"Churches are being attacked and our community members harassed in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and many other states. Cases are being filed against Christians based on false charges. We have come here to express solidarity with our brothers and sisters," a protester who came from Delhi's Punjabi Bagh said.
"In Uttar Pradesh, the number of such cases increased from 70 in 2020 to 183 in 2022," one protester from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh said.
"We are not even allowed to pray in our houses. A few women were arrested for offering prayers during a birthday celebration," he continued.
The protesters tied black ribbons on their hands during a protest over alleged targeted hate and violence against Christians, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
The community signed a memorandum to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, asking for a National Redressal Commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, with the representation of the community, to address the issues of vile hate speech and “targeted” violence against the community.
The memorandum also seeks the strengthening of human rights monitoring mechanisms like the National Commission for Minorities and National Human Rights Commission, speedy closure of cases where false allegations had been leveled against Christians.
It has been observed that of particular concern were the States of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, and Jharkhand, where number cases increased over the years, reaching its peak in first two months of 2023.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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