In the first 212 days of 2023, 525 incidents of violence against Christians have been reported from 23 states of India, which is a significant increase compared to the total of 505 incidents reported for the entire year of 2022, according to United Christian Forum.
Breaking down the figures by month, June 2023 recorded the highest number of incidents with 89 cases, followed by July with 80, August with 68, March with 66, February with 63, January with 62, May with 50, and April with 47.
As per the reports recorded by the United Christian Forum (UCF), the incidents of violence against Christians have been increasing sharply and steadily since 2014: 147 incidents in 2014, 177 in 2015, 208 in 2016, 240 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020,505 in 2021, 599 in 2022 and 525 incidents in first 212 days of 2023.
“As we Indians are feeling proud of world leaders assembling in our country under the presidency of India led by the charismatic Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi for the G20 summit, there are Indians facing incidents of violence for practicing a faith that is of their own choice,” read a statement by the Christian body.
“There are 13 Districts in India wherein practicing Christianity is becoming dangerous. Bastar is leading with 51 incidents of violence against Christians followed by 14 each in Kondagaon and Azamgarh, 13 each in Jaunpur, Raebareli and Sitapur, 12 in Kapur, 10 each in Hardoi, Maharajganj, Kushinagar and Mau, 9 each in Gazipur and Ranchi,” it added.
Three large states in North India have reported a significant number of incidents of violence against Christians. Uttar Pradesh leads with 211 incidents, followed by Chhattisgarh with 118, and Haryana with 39. It’s worth noting that Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are governed by the BJP, while Chhattisgarh’s government is led by the Congress party.
“All these incidents of violence are by mob violence led by so called vigilante groups of particular faith who are allegedly receiving support from people in power. Attacks against Christians do not stop with mob violence, only there are 520 Christians who have been arrested accused of false forced conversions with any proven evidence,” the statement added.
“There are 54 cases of social ostracism predominantly occurring in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. This exclusion involves denying victims access to basic resources such as village water sources, common roads, etc. Additionally, in certain situations, victims are prevented from harvesting their own crops, leading to adverse economic consequences,” the UCF alleged.
The UCF said it’s statement does not include the details of Manipur wherein, according to media reports, over 300 Churches belonging to various communities were destroyed, nearly 200 people died and over 54, 000 were displaced since May 3, 2023.
“While the situation remains tense and volatile, we will await the official report of the Government’s inquiry and investigation,” it added.
