New Human Rights Report: Hindu nationalist violence threatens religious freedom in India

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to Chancellor Angela Merkel to promote religious freedom, and an end to violence against Christians and Muslims carried out by Hindu nationalists, during her forthcoming trip to India.

In a new 45-page human rights report released on Wednesday,  the STP documents 163 attacks on Christians and Muslims between March and September 2015. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over in May 2014, more than 760 attacks have been carried out on members of religious minorities. ‘Religious freedom in India is in acute danger. Prime Minister Modi must follow up on his meager lip service regarding religious freedom in order to ensure peace between religious communities in India and to guarantee basic levels of human rights in Asia’s largest democracy,’ explained the STP’s Asian Consultant Ulrich Delius in Göttingen on Wednesday.

The STP’s report documents that religious minorities in India are not exposed to diffuse violence, but are rather targeted victims of planned attacks by nationalistic Hindu organizations, closely linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Prime Minister Modi must take responsibility, as leading representatives of this Hindu organization, that is heavily linked to the BJP, are calling for actions to ensure there are no more Muslims or Christians in India by the end of 2021. Due to measures such as the anti-conversion laws, Hinduization of the school system, and more and more bans on the slaughtering of cows and the sale of meats, the rights of religious minorities are being systematically mistreated and their room for manoeuvre in society is getting smaller.

The massive increase in violence against Christians and Muslims in rural areas is of particular concern. Priests and other believers are being attacked with axes and iron bars by Hindu nationalists, and driven out of their villages. Muslims are having their beards or headscarves torn from them. Dozens of Christians have been excluded from their villages simply on grounds of their religion, because they refused a forced conversion to Hinduism. 600 Hindu activists surrounded the home of Pastor Pratap Singh in Nakhnool in the state of Rajasthan on 19th July 2015, and forced him and his family to convert to Hinduism. Hindu nationalists claim to have reconverted 33,974 people to Hinduism in 2014 alone.

It is not only violence against individual Christians and Muslims that has increased. The report also documents that the Hindu nationalists’ rhetoric of hate has also encouraged violence between groups of religious minorities. In the first five months of 2015, such mass conflicts have increased by 24% compared to the previous year. ‘If Prime Minister Modi does not mitigate hate speech by Hindu nationalists, India is threatened with yet more violence and unrest,’ explained Delius.

Here you can download the Human Rights Report! (currently only available in German)

Header Foto: Meena Kadri via Flickr