In India, the world’s most populous country, celebrated as the cradle of spirituality, the Christian faith survives under siege: between anti-conversion laws, mobs that attack with impunity, and international silence, the myth of tolerance is crumbling.

The situation of Christians in Hindustan is increasingly worrying. Let’s not talk about Pakistan now, where they are clearly persecuted and condemned to terrible sentences for blasphemy. Instead, let’s focus on India, which still retains an undeserved reputation for respect for minorities.

This great country is indeed considered a paradise for New  Age followers and their gurus, and for all religions within the Hindu cultural sphere, such as Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and countless other Hindu sects… but it is a hell for the large, increasingly oppressed monotheistic religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians.

However, despite constant persecution and some pogroms for obvious reasons of size and geopolitics, India, like China, is “untouchable.” In reality, both are potential socioeconomic models for the future, highly valued by certain current elites…

And the reason for this “forgetting” is very simple: whenever there is a massacre of Christians in Africa, the Middle East or Asia, the mass media say nothing or they mention the news, which is “buried” or “pushed into the background.”

However, they should be concerned about the persecution of people who share the same religion that we had and that enabled our progress, or at least take care of those who for hundreds of years acquired their faith largely thanks to our European missionaries.

But the mainstream media is no longer run by Christians. Neither are they, nor are they run by the EU, nor are they run by several European countries like Spain itself.

India, once a country with a distinguished reputation as one of the world’s first “consociational democracies,” the birthplace of the Gandhian spirit of tolerance and nonviolence and the tolerant, almost equidistant secularism of Nehru and his secular Congress party, no longer has that reputation under the Hindutva fundamentalism of Modi’s BJP.

Therefore, we should remind them again and again of their obligation to protect the rights of their 33 million Christians. And also, obviously, of their 210 million Muslims, although they are much better at protecting themselves. In fact, their threat lies in their numbers, and the threat to Christians seems negligible in comparison. And yet, they are persecuted just the same, and their societal and cultural threat is far more dangerous to the dominant sectors of society, empowering the casteless, tribal, and other dispossessed who convert, often to escape their abject conditions.

Specifically:  

In the central state of Madhya Pradesh, those who dare to try to persuade someone to convert to Christianity face death.

In March, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh proposed amending the state’s current anti-conversion law to include the death penalty. The proposal not only dangerously crosses the threshold of bizarre oddity, but also further strengthens the constitutionally controversial anti-conversion laws.

In the hills of the northern state of Uttarakhand, those accused of inappropriate conversions can rot in prison for life. And Muslim men in interfaith relationships suffer the same fate. In the northern state, the cabinet approved a bill proposing to introduce stricter penalties under its anti-conversion law. The state has already become the first in the country to impose a Common Civil Code that essentially prohibits remarriage for Muslims but allows polyandry for some indigenous groups.

The Uttarakhand bill goes far beyond the usual definitions of “force” and “fraud,” which constitute the core of anti-conversion laws in ten states across the country. Now, “promises of a better life or free education” will carry a sentence of three to fourteen years if offered to women or tribal members. It should be noted that states near the Himalayas, home to Hinduism’s holiest sites and previously untouched by Christians, both Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are witnessing a process of tribal conversion that greatly worries local elites.

The Indian Constitution, in its Article 25, guarantees all citizens the right to profess, practice, and propagate their religion, a fundamental principle in a nation of 1.4 billion people, where even the meager 2.3% Christian population translates to more than 33 million people, the majority of whom, unlike in Europe, perhaps precisely because of the identity given to them by their minority status, and in many cases out of gratitude and pride in having escaped the yoke of casteism and the status of Dalits or pariahs, attend church regularly. There are quite possibly more practicing Catholics there than in Spain itself…

In India, a religious country if there ever was one, there are hardly any agnostics, and even atheists are Hindus or follow the rather abstract, and perhaps panentheistic, concept of Brahman.

Despite this constitutional protection, from the 1967 Orissa law to proposed amendments to the death penalty in Madhya Pradesh, anti-conversion laws have quickly become weapons against Christians in India.

Rooted in the “Hindutva” vision of a Hindu nation, implying one people and one religion (since a single language and race are currently impossible), these laws exploit vague definitions, empower vigilantes, and facilitate police complicity, resulting in over 800 documented incidents of violence against Christians in 2024. In other words, they violate constitutional and international commitments, fostering the social and economic exclusion of those who are different.

In India, the death penalty was only prescribed for heinous crimes, including murder, especially when it involves sexual violence or other aggravating circumstances. Other crimes that may carry the death penalty include waging war against the country, instigating riots, terrorism, or kidnapping for ransom.

But maximum sentences also appear to be influenced by political and religious criteria. Asaram Bapu, a convicted serial rapist and spiritual leader and founder of more than 400 ashrams, was also accused of complicity in ritual murders. He was sentenced to prison but was released on parole after a period. Another religious leader and serial rapist, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, whose crimes include the forced castration of his religious servants, is also serving time, but much of it is being served on parole. Some accused murderers are exonerated (in Indian English, they get “clean shit”) by special courts.

The first anti-conversion law, paradoxically called the Orissa (now Odisha) Freedom of Religion Act of 1967, set a precedent for restricting religious conversions under the guise of preventing coercion. It prohibited conversions by “force, fraud, or inducement,” terms vaguely defined to include promises of social or material benefits, often associated with Christian humanitarian work.

Madhya Pradesh followed with its 1968 law, and over the decades, nine other states—Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand—adopted similar laws. These laws now cover 11 states, most of them ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also leads the federal government under Modi.

Growing international and national concern.

The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), in its 2025 report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, describes these laws as the “legal backbone of anti-Christian persecution,” noting their role in fostering fear, violence, and discrimination.

This year’s report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlights three common features: a ban on conversions, mandatory reporting requirements, and provisions regarding the shifting of the burden of proof. All of these provisions violate international human rights law, including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a signatory.

The ECLJ notes that these early laws laid the groundwork for a culture of suspicion, portraying Christians as threats to Hindu identity. This legislation exploits ambiguous definitions, allowing authorities and Hindu nationalist groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal to attack Christians with impunity.

The Kandhamal riots of 2007 and 2008 in Odisha, in which more than 40 Christians were officially confirmed dead and 6,000 homes and 400 churches were burned, exemplify how anti-conversion laws provided legal protection to Hindu mobs, with the police often complicit or inactive. These laws and the subsequent judicial practice emboldened vigilantes, as convictions for them were rare.

Since the rise of the BJP in 2014, anti-conversion laws have become stricter, aligning themselves with Hindutva ideology, which views India as a Hindu nation. The ECLJ report documents a 555% increase in anti-Christian violence between 2014 and 2024.

Uttar Pradesh, with its Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021, amended in 2024 to allow third-party complaints and increase penalties to life imprisonment, has become a hotbed of violence, followed by Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

The aforementioned amendment proposed by Madhya Pradesh this year, which introduces the death penalty for certain conversion-related offenses, marks an alarming escalation.

Anti-conversion laws are exploited through vague terminology, procedural abuses, language distortion, and selective enforcement. Terms such as “force,” “fraud,” and “incitement” are broadly interpreted to include acts such as distributing Bibles or providing medical care. The ECLJ cites cases where singing Christmas carols or organizing birthday parties were considered “incitement.”

In Uttar Pradesh, a 2024 amendment allows anyone to file complaints, leading to frivolous accusations by Hindu nationalists. More than 60% of cases are initiated by third parties unrelated to the alleged conversion.

The burden of proof falls on the accused, which contradicts standard legal principles.

In 2025, Jose and Sheeja Pappachan in Uttar Pradesh were sentenced to five years in prison for alleged conversions while drying clothes at home, without any evidence being presented.

Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, Pastor Ramesh Ahirwar and his wife faced two years in prison in 2024 for charity work, despite later being granted bail.

USCIRF notes that these laws have a chilling effect, discouraging religious expression and isolating Christian communities.

Police complicity exacerbates this problem. In Rajasthan, a February mob attack on 50 Christians was followed by police accusing them of conversions. Social media, including posts like @subhi_karma’s about Hindus being lured to Christianity, amplify false narratives, fueling vigilante action.

These laws violate Article 25’s guarantee of religious propagation and the protections of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The ECLJ argues that India’s failure to protect religious freedom undermines its constitutional and international obligations. The USCIRF report recommends designating India as a Country of Particular Concern, citing systemic persecution.

However, India’s growing geopolitical influence has muted the global response, with no UN Special Rapporteur on religious freedom visiting since 2008.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule definitively on the constitutionality of these laws, despite petitions, such as those by Citizens for Justice and Peace in 2025, challenging the Uttar Pradesh amendments.

The situation has perhaps taken a turn internally very recently with the recent arrest of two nuns from Kerala and a young man at the Drug railway station in Chattisgarh, accused of trafficking and forced conversion by anti-Christian Hindu groups. Christian groups and even politicians have addressed the issue, and it has finally reached parliament.

A great uproar arose in the country and the three had to be released.

In  conclusion , urgent reforms are needed, including the repeal of these laws and the implementation of appropriate protections, to restore India’s Gandhian legacy of tolerance and defend the rights of its 33 million Christians.

The underlying problem is that behind all these measures lies a fear of the increasing number of conversions to Christianity among certain tribal and outcast strata, even in states where there was no Christian presence in the past, such as Uttarakhand.

The measures reflect panic over a possible revolt by those at the bottom, fed up with their submission to social discrimination and alleged karmas that could bring about the real, not just legal, but perhaps revolutionary end of the atavistic and oppressive caste system.

And that is the Achilles heel of this emerging superpower.

John Dayal and José Félix Merladet

Dr. Dayal, a leading expert on issues relating to minority abuses, was born in 1948. He is a renowned Indian writer, editor, and courageous human rights activist. He has served as National President of the Catholic Union of India, a member of the National Integration Council, and Treasurer of the Editors’ Guild of India. He resides in New Delhi.

José Félix Merladet was a European civil servant and spent five years as a diplomat in India, a country he loves, in charge of cooperation. He also served in Uruguay and Mozambique. He has taught at the universities of Deusto and Navarra on the latter country and on international development cooperation.